Wheel Horse Died! But how bad??

[moored4]

What happened? It was foggy yesterday and sunshine today so I thought I would mow the yard one more time before it gets to wet to do here in the pacific northwest. Went up the drive about 20 feet and out comes nothing but WHITE smoke and the motor dies! So What Happened? No odd sound or anything to give me warning. No time to look at it tonight! What are your ideas on what happened?

 

[Baby Grand]

What happened? It was foggy yesterday and sunshine today so I thought I would mow the yard one more time before it gets to wet to do here in the pacific northwest. Went up the drive about 20 feet and out comes nothing but WHITE smoke and the motor dies! So What Happened? No odd sound or anything to give me warning. No time to look at it tonight! What are your ideas on what happened?

Can you pull the plug, look at it & run a quick compression check? Sounds like you had enough oil dumping into the combustion chamber from somewhere to either foul the plug or swamp the engine. That or something ruptured and you lost the seal between crankcase & combustion chamber & compression. The fact that it died so quickly makes me think it's not the head gasket or a valve stem.

 

[moored4]

UPDATE!

I took the motor apart yesterday and found ablown head gasket! Went thru the carb while I had it on the bench and after 15 years it had a little bit of a gumme residue in the bowl! I changed all the filters and also put a shut off valve on the gas tank so I can run the carb dry In the winter. So the grass got mowed today and the mower is ready for next spring. One thing off my winter to do list! :cool2:

 

[Baby Grand]

Glad (?) to say I was wrong about the head gasket ... Congratulation!

 

[moored4]

Glad (?) to say I was wrong about the head gasket ... Congratulation!

Yea! Me also! I just new that I had a piston bad or something bad. This machine is an old one but Good one. The top of the piston looked brand new and everthing was clean.

 

[546cowboy]

Everytime I have seen that or heard that, it was gas leaking through to the crankcase. Haven't heard that with a Kohler though.

Happens all the time with a B&S or Techumseh and that is why I always install a shutoff in the fuel line. If one with that problem starts and runs for a minute or two you'll need a new rod at least. That white smoke is the tell tale sign. I always pull the dipstick and check the oil. You'll know by feel and smell whether you have gas in there.