Ouch

[44man]

I was cutting grass with my zero turn and it made a huge noise and quit. It ran out of oil and blew the crankshaft end of the connecting rod to pieces. If you have one of those twist and pull oil drains, REMOVE IT AND PUT A PLUG IN. Mine was still locked but failed and threw oil behind me that I did not see.
I saved the crankshaft and the damage was only the rod and some vanes on the governor oil slinger but it cost $95 for parts.
It took all day to take the engine apart, remove it from the mower and clean parts. I still have some cleaning and power washing to do.
I found it cheaper to order right from Briggs and Stratten. I went on line and the parts were shipped the same day.
I have an oil pressure switch that is supposed to stop the engine when pressure drops but it failed. Don't trust it.
Now to get the thing back together!

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Sorry to hear of your troubles ... B&S does have good service, and a site with a good way to find the parts you need.

[sundog]

Those twist and pull drains are the biggest *** ever pushed on the consumer. Replace them IMMEDIATELY.

[44man]

Hard as heck on SS to keep fixing things too. I can't imagine what a shop would charge. I bet it would be $500 easy.

[mroliver77]

I am surprised the crank is not damaged with the rod coming apart! I hate lawn mowers! I hate mowing lawn! What a waste of time!

They ought to design them things to use a small block chevy rod and piston! You can almost buy a complete overhaul kit for $100. for the sb chev!

I took some scrap in today to supplement the SS. The owner showed me a gaylord box with mebbe 500 lbs of fired brass and mebbe 4 - 5 hundred lbs of WW ingots. Seems a fellow died and his wife is scrapping his loading stash! I bought WW for $.60. lb. He wants $1.50lb for the brass. It is 80% 9mm and .40 brass with .223, .308 and some other mixed in. He said he had sold 700lb of shot for .60 lb already!
J

[44man]

Yeah, I was lucky. The journal was plated with aluminum and I was able to polish it off to the steel. There are no galled spots. This engine has an oil pump plus splash.
It's good that your scrap dealer will sell you lead. Our big dealer will not sell anything to the public.

[FISH4BUGS]

I was cutting grass with my zero turn and it made a huge noise and quit. It ran out of oil and blew the crankshaft end of the connecting rod to pieces. If you have one of those twist and pull oil drains, REMOVE IT AND PUT A PLUG IN. Mine was still locked but failed and threw oil behind me that I did not see.
I saved the crankshaft and the damage was only the rod and some vanes on the governor oil slinger but it cost $95 for parts.
It took all day to take the engine apart, remove it from the mower and clean parts. I still have some cleaning and power washing to do.
I found it cheaper to order right from Briggs and Stratten. I went on line and the parts were shipped the same day.
I have an oil pressure switch that is supposed to stop the engine when pressure drops but it failed. Don't trust it.
Now to get the thing back together!

I have always admired people that can take things apart, repair them, then put them back together. Hell, I can hardly boil water much less rebuild an engine.
I can help you with computers but other than that I am out of luck. I am the guy that pays the $500 to fix it.
Personally, I would be grateful for your skills and ability to do that kind of work.

[MtGun44]

Good luck that it didn't blow a hole in the crankcase. I've had that happen before.

Bill

[hiram1]

i hate it happend .but your lucky it did not do in the hole motor i had that happen to me 2 years ago

[alamogunr]

Good luck that it didn't blow a hole in the crankcase. I've had that happen before.

Bill

That did happen to me on a Sears mower that I bought used last spring. Not a hole but it cracked the block. Local guy had a block and he rebuilt it for $150. I'm selling the @#$% thing next spring. My yards isn't big enough to need a rider. I'll use a self-propelled as long as I'm able.

[ss40_70]

mroliver77 , dont laugh to hard but its pretty commen for the lawn mower pullers to use a smallblock chevy piston with the skirt cut off

[Lloyd Smale]

I dont want to bring bad news and i hope im wrong but i cant imagine a crank was coated with aluminum. Id guess its nickecil (spelling). they coated snowmobile pistons and cylinder walls with it because its harder then the steal and doesnt wear and ive rarely seen a motor last long after it was honed out.

[44man]

I dont want to bring bad news and i hope im wrong but i cant imagine a crank was coated with aluminum. Id guess its nickecil (spelling). they coated snowmobile pistons and cylinder walls with it because its harder then the steal and doesnt wear and ive rarely seen a motor last long after it was honed out.
It was aluminum, I could scrape some with a fingernail. Not hard and shiny and came right off with some 320 paper. Chunks here and there.

[Lloyd Smale]

new one on me! Wonder what they figure its suppose to accomplish?

[44man]

new one on me! Wonder what they figure its suppose to accomplish?
I will take a picture of the rod. I never seen one blow up the way it did. :holysheep It had seized on the the crank, that is where the aluminum came from.