B&S plastic camshaft

[Bud Soda]

Had a 6.5 HP Intek Pro irrigation pump running Saturday. Ran about 20 minuets and stopped. Checked everything out and looked like it had jumped timing. Took it home and tore in to it. Plastic cam broken in half. Who would have thought

 

[Kernopelli]

Now lets be fair to B&S, I could be wrong but I vaguely remember tearing into one of their engines several years ago and it seems like it was just the gear that was plastic...I'm pretty sure the cam was made from a very solid chromed pot metal or similar "durable" material Now I am certain this wasn't the Intek "PRO" engine I was in so maybe that is the difference. With a name like that, I am sure it is chock full of space age materials that look like regular old plastic but are actually something of much better quality/durability.... the cheap stuff would surely be reserved for the Intek "Amature" or the Intek "Residential" models.

20 minutes of run time before your pump quit. Kind of reminds me of calling Troy Built ( wasn't actually TB, I had to call several different companies before I could talk to someone who would take credit for making it)and complaining about my pressure washer after I had replaced the engine and pump. They asked me how much I used it and I told them maybe 200 to 300 hrs in 6 years. They flat out told me that they were designed to be used by "residential" users and that meant someone who would run it ( something like...this is from a distant memory) for an average of 10 to 20 minutes at a time, no more than 10 times a year and the warranty was for 2 years. Man, I got all the good out of that thing the first time I used it! They should use me as a product spokesman because mine lasted way longer than they EVER thought it would!

 

[Bud Soda]

Yep, gears and lobes are plastic. Gear broke off metal shaft. I try to look after all my engines, change oil on time, ect. I only use it in the spring when setting out Apple trees so even though it is 5 years old it has low hours. Rest of the motor looks like a new one. If it was an all metal cam the motor would probably last me a lifetime. Order the same cam(about$40.00) but then found a all metal one from Comp Cams. Maybe next time I will spend $100 for that one.

 

[Eagleview]

Never seen a good one yet , buy a Honda .

 

[RickB]

Kohler Courage are the same deal.

 

[arrabil]

They flat out told me that they were designed to be used by "residential" users and that meant someone who would run it ( something like...this is from a distant memory) for an average of 10 to 20 minutes at a time, no more than 10 times a year and the warranty was for 2 years.

There was a Black & Decker sander I was looking at in Lowe's. I opened the box to look at the instructions. It specifically said in the fine print that it was designed to last 8 working hours. Why it was so cheap became instantly obvious.

 

[clemsonfor]

A sander to last 8 hours?

GM i think had nylon timing gears in some of its vehicles from the 80's i think.

 

[arrabil]

8 hours. You can imagine the "man of the house" that was built for.

 

[oldnslo]

A sander to last 8 hours?

GM i think had nylon timing gears in some of its vehicles from the 80's i think.

Most of their small blocks had nylon in the 70's through xx? This was to help make the engine quieter. They would occasional break usually from back fires. Nice thing about them Vs Over head cam engines is that you would rarely damage a head or valve when this happened.

Roy

 

[Eagleview]

They were Nylon coated steel teeth .

Our early 6 cylinder GM engines used Bakerlite timing gears which used to fail .

 

[valley]

When they make a part out of garbage just to see how long it will work, it should be replaced free of charge.

 

[ray66v]

When they make a part out of garbage just to see how long it will work, it should be replaced free of charge.

They know exactly how long it will last. Because, both B&S, and the equipment manufacturers who use their engines, test them.

I have seen the test chambers at a major manufacturer of outdoor equipment. They run the you know what out of everything, and make sure they know the failure point.

Also, a hollow camshaft does not mean it has to fail. Aircraft often have hollow cams, and cranks.

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

And if a few of them were to fail, what would the FAA do?

Issue an Airworthiness Directive.

 

[ray66v]

Yes, and what does the NTHSA, DOT, and GM do?

It is also not a matter of life, and death, if a lawn mower engine fails.