Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hello,

I have a Briggs 28n707-012101 from 1994 on a Craftsman 42" Lawn Tractor.  It began to burn oil when riding uphill on a left hand tilt.  (toward the air cleaner)

Last week it died on me while cutting on a flat spot in the yard with relatively no load. It was almost as if the plug wire was pulled off.  I checked it and it was fine,  I pulled the plug and checked for spark, and it was ok. If I waited a few minutes and tried to start it again; it would fire, then quit.

I began to investigate further and found quite a bit of oil in the air cleaner assembly.

I'm looking for suggestions on where to start diagnosing the problem.

Thanks in advance!

Is your air filter an oiled foam or paper unit.  Oiled foam is supposed to have oil on it.  Not a huge amount but enough to catch dust.  If you have excessive oil dripping from the foam or in the area of the carb intake, the engine could be over-filled with oil.  As the oil heats up and becomes more fluid, it can vapourize and be forced out of the crank case through the crank case ventilation line which terminates in the engine's air intake area.  Usually inside the air filter housing.  Did you do an oil change recently and if so, was the correct amount of oil put in?

Thanks, I found over the weekend that I had a blown head gasket.  I haven't had time to get it back together yet.  The combustion chamber was a real mess.