JHZR2
Staff member
I bought this 3.5hp Briggs engine craftsman mower in 2005 or 2006. It runs great and strong. Starts first pull every time. Change the oil yearly, clean the filter, sharpen the blade, and it just keeps going.
It started to run a little bit rough in the last year or so. Not in terms of how it sounds or runs, but that it vibrates more than maybe it should. It has ultimately cracked the top cover in multiple places.
So today the cover kind of had its last stand and shook and broke in a second spot. Couldn’t mow. So I pulled the cover, plugged the dipstick hole with a plugged 3/8” npt air fitting, and used a rope around the crank to start it. Started perfectly with that old school style start all the same.
I mowed as usual, about 30 mins. A few weird things happened.
First, I did NOT fill the tank to full, but the cap started spewing gas. Never saw that before:
The cap owes me nothing. It does have its paper gasket inside.
Then I tried to turn it off. It dieseled. I pulled the spark plug cable, nothing (I guess that’s expected since the dead man handle was released). I ran the mower around back, struggled to find a flat screwdriver, and was about to pull the filter and clog the intake when it slowed and stopped. Here’s what happened:
Then after that, the whole thing smoked like crazy, from one point at the head I think.
Now, my makeshift 3/8NPT air fitting in the dipstick tube (it is threaded in there but I can’t tell what) did come loose and the engine sprays a nice fog of oil out the dipstick hole. But that should have been burned off long before this as it was at least 15 minutes of operation since that had happened.
So, is my lower dead? Is it worth it to buy a new/used cover given these running conditions? I’m fairly concerned something bad happened with it… not sure what.
Thanks!
It started to run a little bit rough in the last year or so. Not in terms of how it sounds or runs, but that it vibrates more than maybe it should. It has ultimately cracked the top cover in multiple places.
So today the cover kind of had its last stand and shook and broke in a second spot. Couldn’t mow. So I pulled the cover, plugged the dipstick hole with a plugged 3/8” npt air fitting, and used a rope around the crank to start it. Started perfectly with that old school style start all the same.
I mowed as usual, about 30 mins. A few weird things happened.
First, I did NOT fill the tank to full, but the cap started spewing gas. Never saw that before:
The cap owes me nothing. It does have its paper gasket inside.
Then I tried to turn it off. It dieseled. I pulled the spark plug cable, nothing (I guess that’s expected since the dead man handle was released). I ran the mower around back, struggled to find a flat screwdriver, and was about to pull the filter and clog the intake when it slowed and stopped. Here’s what happened:
Then after that, the whole thing smoked like crazy, from one point at the head I think.
Now, my makeshift 3/8NPT air fitting in the dipstick tube (it is threaded in there but I can’t tell what) did come loose and the engine sprays a nice fog of oil out the dipstick hole. But that should have been burned off long before this as it was at least 15 minutes of operation since that had happened.
So, is my lower dead? Is it worth it to buy a new/used cover given these running conditions? I’m fairly concerned something bad happened with it… not sure what.
Thanks!