having this trouble after replacing the head last summer. I didn't have a torque wrench at the time and just guessed... Pretty sure this is on point for my issue. Thanks for posting!
Good thorough video! hopefully you have kept up this good repair side hustle for people in your area. My recommendation for your repairs in general is what ever part of mower you are working on, put facing the sunlight coming into your garage to give you maximum lighting. Your back may get a little hot, but you can perfectly see what you are getting at (not that that was an issue in your video) just saying in general😊
wow I'm gonna try your troubleshooting steps. I have a troy bilt that is having literally the same issue. I heard a pop while mowing and then bam white smoke everywhere. Shut it off for 5 -10 mins. Worked fine no smoke for about 1 minute and then all the smoke came back. Now it won't stop smoking.
I have this same mower and this same engine. Its pretty common for that engine to blow the headgasket, Mine have never overheated and its just blew the headgasket and its smoking so bad i cant even see in front of me from all the smoke billowing out of it, Behind me looks like blue clouds
Might wanna put some 15w40 or 15w50 in it to take up that bearing slack it might also make it last a tad bit longer in its life i do this with worn out or abused mowers i get nice job
Is it possible for a lawn mower to have a blown head gasket but not burn oil? I ask because our Craftsman riding lawn mower wasn't running very good. After new carbs were installed, it ran like a champ then one day it didnt. Now it has to be slightly choked in order for it to run.
I use permatex on small engine head gaskets and I have never had one fail me. I know you don't need to but like Taryl says ' it aint the space shuttle, its a lawn mower.
I used the red high temp gasket maker for the head. I must have taken this engine completely apart and rebuilt it 5 times. Replaced the rings, grinded all the valves and replaced the seals. Turns out the issue was after putting the gasket maker on and bolting the head down. I would move onto doing the valve lash immediately. I figured out doing this and then turning the engine over by hand to set lash was creating enough compression to pop a pinhole through the still liquid gasket maker into the push rod area. I would put the thing back together and it still smoked the exact same everytime and I was loosing my mind because I replaced everything. Just redid the head gasket again and let it dry for 24hours before even touching any of the rest of the engine. Started it up today and no smoke at all now.
Or the fuel pump is bad and it’s sucking oil in from the crank and putting it in the carb and burning oil and then it can also put gas in the oil. It can happen. Pop fuel line off to carb and see if any oil is in with the gas and boom. Bad fuel pump.
It means the carb isnt seating or fuel solenoid isnt seating fully. Not stopping fuel flow and letting it just drain into the head. Which can seep into the crankcase and mix with your oil. To fix it clean out the carb well. Make sure fuel solenoid is working and cleaned off. Completely replace engine oil. Can add a fuel cut off valve when not in use to prevent this issue from happening again.
@@gointomexico Not necessarily, gasoline is thin enough to bypass piston ring gaps and also a blown head gasket can let gas in the crankcase through the pushrod valley.
Eh as long as it has oil and its changed and never ran low, As long as its ran like a normal mower it should last just fine, This particular Briggs&stratton engine have their flaws such as common broken compression release and Headgasket failures but its still a very good engine. Im not worried about it
Interesting, I thought I might have a ring problem as the oil is spitting out of the fill cap, but maybe it's just a head gasket issue - we'll see. Thanks for the video (I have a 16.5HP B&S in a Yard Machines rideon)
I know this is old now. Oil spitting out of the dipstick while the engine is running is normalish. If its a ring problem you will see smoke billowing out from your oil dipstick tube after turning off the mower. If there is no smoke in dipstick, its probably the head gasket. Leakdown tester can help pinpoint the exact part not sealing. Head bolts require more torque than cordless impacts provide.
my oil smells like gas slightly and when I did the open oil while it's running test, no smoke. What to do if the oil smells a little bit like gas? What's the problem then?
That's usually due to the carburetor overflowing into the crankcase. Most of the time because the needle in the bowl isn't shutting off fuel when it should.
@@danielmoore6711 I actually figured it out a day later and thankfully it wasn't anything serious. Just put too much oil in, the motor overheated and backfired. Drained the oil, put new oil in, wiped off all the oil from the exhaust and engine and ran the engine for a few minutes and the smoke cleared up. Did the yard twice now no issues
I have a Craftsman DGS 6500 and one day I was mulching leaves with it and it tripped the low oil sensor, the sensor dosent work all that right the pil level was ok tho, and the next day when I mowed for about 2 hours it overheated and was smoking awfully alot, to the point where I couldn't see very well
my craftsman lt1000 only smokes if I am cutting on slope with the left side pointing kind of down hill, and stops smoking soon as I change the angle or level out it does not smoke at all other then that. kind of crazy
Not crazy at all. It happens because on a steep slope with the left side down all the oil in the crankcase goes to the left side and starts coming out through the crankcase breather. Then it goes into the carburetor and from there it gets ingested into the engine and burned, which produces the smoke. It will stop eventually when the oil clears out but over time it might foul the spark plug if it happens too often. Also if you are mowing on a slope steep enough to do that be careful the machine doesn't roll over on top of you.
Was mowing with my 8 year old craftsman and made the mistake of thinking "What a great mower it's been"! Yep Jinxed it! Was driving it down the hill towards the shed to put it away and huge blue smoke started billowing out. Contemplated just replacing the whole engine for $850 but after watching this, might attempt it myself. Where did you buy the part from Briggs directly?
When this happens does the motor also shoot a ton of raw oil out the exhuast? I have a craftsman lt1000 that seemed to be running OK but it was shooting a ton of oil out the exhaust that it coated my shoe as well as a cloud of smoke? Thanks for any tips or info someone can comment on
Check for overfilled oil level, if not could be blown head gasket, less likely could be piston rings. Check for smoke in dipstick tube after running engine for a minute and turning it off.
what was the evidence that gave you the conclusion it was a head gasket? was it when you opened the oil stick while running and it was blowing out oil?
If there is no gas in the oil and you are using straight 30 weight oil and its still smoking its most likely the head gasket. If the gasket gets replaced and its still burning oil it probably has worn rings or worn valve guides.
What is funny, is that I had the same problem, and got bent gasket shipped as well. So it lasted one month, and now it is smoking again. Mostly under load, when I drive uphill. If I leave oil at the bottom mark it is not bad, but when I fill up between marks it is smoking heavily. Is it gasket again?
You said if there is not gas in the oil then it is head gasket. Mine smokes and also got gas in the oil. I replaced the carb and its still burning oil. If its not the carb would it have to be the head gasket or is there another possible problem?
It sounds like you have a few problems. The carb was causing gas in the oil but you fixed that. Next, did you change the oil and filter? The old oil was probably diluted with gas so it needed to be changed. Next, these engines run best on straight 30 weight oil. If you use multigrade oil like 5W-30 they tend to burn it because the weather is warn in the summer. If that doesn't fix it then you have a bad head gasket
Yes but not to that extreme. Normally the crankcase is fairly sealed. Opening the dipstick lets air in and the bottom of the piston going up and down creates suction and blow force with air being able to enter and exit through the dipstick tube. Also there is a little oil splasher that spins with the cam gear rpm to splatter oil all around inside.
Hey tried this, and it worked, only thing is my gasket came in a lot more bent up so since this was a last ditch effort I added permatex, it ran perfect for about two weeks and then cut off like running out of gas, it will start on low throttle (turtle) for a few seconds putter a bit and cut out. Watched a couple videos and fuel solenoid on bottom of carb is fine, any suggestion before I try to take apart the carb?
Hopefully someone is still replying to comments here. My lawn tractor is doing the same thing and I imagine has a blown head gasket as well. Where can I buy parts for my tractor? I want to make sure I get the right one.
What was the compression before the repair? I have the same problem and I get 110 lbs of pressure in the cylinder but still smoking and running rough. Starts up great, but under a bit of load it starts smoking.... Is that head gasket or something else???
Question - I recently was given a craftsman YT3000 with a 21HP motor that blows smoke until it hits the bottom of the safe oil level. Any ideas on what it might be?
@@oogboog7049 I thought of that, however if it has bad rings I would think it would blow oil until all the oil is gone and not stop. Perhaps the dipstick is not the proper length...
Sounds like as soon as the oil level gets low enough where it cannot reach into the lowest port into the pushrod area, which is where its getting sucked out of and burned. Could be bad head gasket.
Why didn't you contact the seller and tell them they messed up with their packaging and you received damaged goods? Wouldn't they get you a new one? BTW, I noticed all the safety stops were by-passed for starting the mower, leaving the seat with it running, etc. Schweet. LOLs . Stalkers, eh mister? You'll need to hide all your lawn "orniments" as well. HA Dead giveaway along with the dangerous, tail-wagging attack Beetle you have out front. :-) Just saying ...
You should consider a go fund me account. You some times dress like it must be a cold place to live. Again great content, bit over edited, could be a better channel in time. Im sure you will work it to be one soon. Ill keep checking back. Love the cars, your good with lawn mowers. Thank you uhh
Same mower, same problem. I was assuming rings but after watching this I'm going after the head gasket. Thanks 👍
having this trouble after replacing the head last summer. I didn't have a torque wrench at the time and just guessed... Pretty sure this is on point for my issue.
Thanks for posting!
Warren here ..helpful video ...put some Lucas Oil additive in my oil ...solved the problem!
Good thorough video! hopefully you have kept up this good repair side hustle for people in your area. My recommendation for your repairs in general is what ever part of mower you are working on, put facing the sunlight coming into your garage to give you maximum lighting. Your back may get a little hot, but you can perfectly see what you are getting at (not that that was an issue in your video) just saying in general😊
wow I'm gonna try your troubleshooting steps. I have a troy bilt that is having literally the same issue. I heard a pop while mowing and then bam white smoke everywhere. Shut it off for 5 -10 mins. Worked fine no smoke for about 1 minute and then all the smoke came back. Now it won't stop smoking.
My father has a craftsmen mower just like that one. It also blew a head gasket. Put a new one in works fine now.
Finally I found out what is really wrong with mine thank you good job sir!
Great job replacing that head gasket! It's never good when an engine seizes up due to running low on oil but glad that engine worked out.
Thanks!
It is impressive that you recovered it without any severe damage
I have the same mower. Guess I need to try my luck on replacing the head gasket or see what it cost to repair. Thanks for the video
It was so adorable when you didn’t want beadle to get harmed in the smoke 2:26. It makes me so happy that you care for her.
That is pretty impressive glad it worked out sometimes the valves bend and that would have sucked and I’m glad it worked out.
Me too thanks
@@ARuralVermonterQqjmcb182 excellent repair compliments
love the disc golf catcher!
Watching this is like therapy for me.
lol
I have those same noise cancelling headphones and they work amazingly
We got a smoker..Never seen one lock up like that...Hey you almost got that jet ski going there..hehe..
Roll Tide
I have this same mower and this same engine. Its pretty common for that engine to blow the headgasket, Mine have never overheated and its just blew the headgasket and its smoking so bad i cant even see in front of me from all the smoke billowing out of it, Behind me looks like blue clouds
Going to try this on my own. Wish me luck.
Might wanna put some 15w40 or 15w50 in it to take up that bearing slack it might also make it last a tad bit longer in its life i do this with worn out or abused mowers i get nice job
Yeah good idea
Exactly what my mower started doing 😁.. thanks for the video
Good job young man 👍
Thanks
Is it possible for a lawn mower to have a blown head gasket but not burn oil? I ask because our Craftsman riding lawn mower wasn't running very good. After new carbs were installed, it ran like a champ then one day it didnt. Now it has to be slightly choked in order for it to run.
Nope, you have another carb blockage, no doubt about it. Get that carb professionally cleaned or replaced
With a blown head gasket it should either burn or leak oil. Running only on choke sounds like a fuel supply problem, bad fuel or possibly an air leak.
I use permatex on small engine head gaskets and I have never had one fail me. I know you don't need to but like Taryl says ' it aint the space shuttle, its a lawn mower.
I used the red high temp gasket maker for the head. I must have taken this engine completely apart and rebuilt it 5 times. Replaced the rings, grinded all the valves and replaced the seals. Turns out the issue was after putting the gasket maker on and bolting the head down. I would move onto doing the valve lash immediately. I figured out doing this and then turning the engine over by hand to set lash was creating enough compression to pop a pinhole through the still liquid gasket maker into the push rod area. I would put the thing back together and it still smoked the exact same everytime and I was loosing my mind because I replaced everything. Just redid the head gasket again and let it dry for 24hours before even touching any of the rest of the engine. Started it up today and no smoke at all now.
I have the same mower! Thank you for the video. Any chance you can link in the part link? Having trouble finding the right gasket
Now a year later it does not smoke again ? I was thinking maybe the head or cylinder needed to be flatened ? Thanks for the upload.
Interesting the head gasket was bad. Now I’ll check ours. 👍🏽
Thanks for the video. If you did smell gas on the dip stick what would you have done?
That would mean that the rings are bad, so either replace the motor or rebuild.
Or the fuel pump is bad and it’s sucking oil in from the crank and putting it in the carb and burning oil and then it can also put gas in the oil. It can happen. Pop fuel line off to carb and see if any oil is in with the gas and boom. Bad fuel pump.
It means the carb isnt seating or fuel solenoid isnt seating fully. Not stopping fuel flow and letting it just drain into the head. Which can seep into the crankcase and mix with your oil. To fix it clean out the carb well. Make sure fuel solenoid is working and cleaned off. Completely replace engine oil. Can add a fuel cut off valve when not in use to prevent this issue from happening again.
@@gointomexico Not necessarily, gasoline is thin enough to bypass piston ring gaps and also a blown head gasket can let gas in the crankcase through the pushrod valley.
Great job! There's your profit.
Thanks!
I enjoyed the video. Very well done.
I wish you were my local mechanic
head gasket Good video good luck ! That bottom end knock might be fixable with new connecting rod bearings otherwise short life span !
It has no rod bearings but a new rod would take care of it instead of giving the customer a grenade back,
Eh as long as it has oil and its changed and never ran low, As long as its ran like a normal mower it should last just fine, This particular Briggs&stratton engine have their flaws such as common broken compression release and Headgasket failures but its still a very good engine. Im not worried about it
Getting it hot took the spring tension out of the rings.
i think it's burning oil from the cranck case try to replace the oil ring on the piston!
If other issues arise I might
Nice .. I have craftsman lt 2000 , just order the gasket let see it
I have the same mower. How did your repair go?
I just ordered my head gasket. How'd your repairs go guys??
Great job once again!!
Keep up the good work
Interesting, I thought I might have a ring problem as the oil is spitting out of the fill cap, but maybe it's just a head gasket issue - we'll see. Thanks for the video (I have a 16.5HP B&S in a Yard Machines rideon)
I know this is old now. Oil spitting out of the dipstick while the engine is running is normalish. If its a ring problem you will see smoke billowing out from your oil dipstick tube after turning off the mower. If there is no smoke in dipstick, its probably the head gasket. Leakdown tester can help pinpoint the exact part not sealing. Head bolts require more torque than cordless impacts provide.
LOL When you unscrewed that oil stick. umm yup, head gasket.
my oil smells like gas slightly and when I did the open oil while it's running test, no smoke. What to do if the oil smells a little bit like gas? What's the problem then?
That's usually due to the carburetor overflowing into the crankcase. Most of the time because the needle in the bowl isn't shutting off fuel when it should.
@@danielmoore6711 I actually figured it out a day later and thankfully it wasn't anything serious. Just put too much oil in, the motor overheated and backfired. Drained the oil, put new oil in, wiped off all the oil from the exhaust and engine and ran the engine for a few minutes and the smoke cleared up. Did the yard twice now no issues
Great video. Subscribed!!! 👍
I have a Craftsman DGS 6500 and one day I was mulching leaves with it and it tripped the low oil sensor, the sensor dosent work all that right the pil level was ok tho, and the next day when I mowed for about 2 hours it overheated and was smoking awfully alot, to the point where I couldn't see very well
my craftsman lt1000 only smokes if I am cutting on slope with the left side pointing kind of down hill, and stops smoking soon as I change the angle or level out it does not smoke at all other then that. kind of crazy
Mine is doing the same thing I am going to change the head gasket I will let you know.
Not crazy at all. It happens because on a steep slope with the left side down all the oil in the crankcase goes to the left side and starts coming out through the crankcase breather. Then it goes into the carburetor and from there it gets ingested into the engine and burned, which produces the smoke. It will stop eventually when the oil clears out but over time it might foul the spark plug if it happens too often. Also if you are mowing on a slope steep enough to do that be careful the machine doesn't roll over on top of you.
@@rickcoca2371 It might not be the head gasket. Read my reply to godswatcher.
@@joevignolor4u949 It was the head gasket all good now...
@@joevignolor4u949 Hey Joe, could this be a ring problem?
Was mowing with my 8 year old craftsman and made the mistake of thinking "What a great mower it's been"! Yep Jinxed it! Was driving it down the hill towards the shed to put it away and huge blue smoke started billowing out. Contemplated just replacing the whole engine for $850 but after watching this, might attempt it myself. Where did you buy the part from Briggs directly?
He said in an earlier comment that he order's them from Amazon or Ebay.
When this happens does the motor also shoot a ton of raw oil out the exhuast? I have a craftsman lt1000 that seemed to be running OK but it was shooting a ton of oil out the exhaust that it coated my shoe as well as a cloud of smoke? Thanks for any tips or info someone can comment on
Check for overfilled oil level, if not could be blown head gasket, less likely could be piston rings. Check for smoke in dipstick tube after running engine for a minute and turning it off.
what was the evidence that gave you the conclusion it was a head gasket? was it when you opened the oil stick while running and it was blowing out oil?
#1 burning large amounts of oil... #2 its very common on these engines #3 oil blowing out of dipstick
Mosquito killer! Great repair. Not showing the house is a smart move.
thanks!
How can I tell what is making my 26hp. Craftsman lawn mower smoke and use oil real bad ?
If there is no gas in the oil and you are using straight 30 weight oil and its still smoking its most likely the head gasket. If the gasket gets replaced and its still burning oil it probably has worn rings or worn valve guides.
What is funny, is that I had the same problem, and got bent gasket shipped as well. So it lasted one month, and now it is smoking again. Mostly under load, when I drive uphill. If I leave oil at the bottom mark it is not bad, but when I fill up between marks it is smoking heavily. Is it gasket again?
@Phillip Jackson Hey! I just changed head gasket again, and it was fine for the whole summer.
@Phillip Jackson Yes, it did.
What is the p/n for the head gasket?
What kind of price range would someone be looking at for this service?
This was $110 for my customer. Normally a shop would charge between 100 and 300 depending on their competence
@@ARuralVermonterQqjmcb182 Thanks
That mower is the same as mine
You said if there is not gas in the oil then it is head gasket. Mine smokes and also got gas in the oil. I replaced the carb and its still burning oil. If its not the carb would it have to be the head gasket or is there another possible problem?
It sounds like you have a few problems. The carb was causing gas in the oil but you fixed that. Next, did you change the oil and filter? The old oil was probably diluted with gas so it needed to be changed. Next, these engines run best on straight 30 weight oil. If you use multigrade oil like 5W-30 they tend to burn it because the weather is warn in the summer. If that doesn't fix it then you have a bad head gasket
If you take the oil cap off a good running engine, will the oil shoot up?
It depends on the engine, Some might still shoot oil up some some might not
Yes but not to that extreme. Normally the crankcase is fairly sealed. Opening the dipstick lets air in and the bottom of the piston going up and down creates suction and blow force with air being able to enter and exit through the dipstick tube. Also there is a little oil splasher that spins with the cam gear rpm to splatter oil all around inside.
Love the vids
You didnt set the valves
It's too bad that you are not close enough that you could help me with the mower I just got home I have electric Al issues
Nice info and nice shop. We know to look for a blue and green or yellow slide, right? LOL Good thing I'm colored blind.
The jungle is hiding the house, and it is too much like work to cut it back.
Hey tried this, and it worked, only thing is my gasket came in a lot more bent up so since this was a last ditch effort I added permatex, it ran perfect for about two weeks and then cut off like running out of gas, it will start on low throttle (turtle) for a few seconds putter a bit and cut out. Watched a couple videos and fuel solenoid on bottom of carb is fine, any suggestion before I try to take apart the carb?
Hopefully someone is still replying to comments here. My lawn tractor is doing the same thing and I imagine has a blown head gasket as well. Where can I buy parts for my tractor? I want to make sure I get the right one.
He gets em from amazon/ebay
What is the p/n for the head gasket?
What was the compression before the repair? I have the same problem and I get 110 lbs of pressure in the cylinder but still smoking and running rough. Starts up great, but under a bit of load it starts smoking.... Is that head gasket or something else???
Them stripes tho 👌🏼
Miiint
What if its leaking oil ?
Slow the videos down so we can see how to you the head back. Also can you substitute gasket silicone for a gasket?
My craftsman YT 3000 only smokes when it drinks 😎
what is a "craftsman" ? never heard of such a brand before
You must not be from america, it is a Sears brand
@@ARuralVermonterQqjmcb182 yeah...you got that right
@@ARuralVermonterQqjmcb182 I searched online for a new one and all they had were push mowers. Sears just isn't the same these days
what would like something like this cost to fix?
Around 200 bucks
Where do you buy your parts?
Amazon or ebay
Question - I recently was given a craftsman YT3000 with a 21HP motor that blows smoke until it hits the bottom of the safe oil level. Any ideas on what it might be?
It is burning oil it might have bad rings
@@oogboog7049 I thought of that, however if it has bad rings I would think it would blow oil until all the oil is gone and not stop.
Perhaps the dipstick is not the proper length...
@@fx6042 maybe
Sounds like as soon as the oil level gets low enough where it cannot reach into the lowest port into the pushrod area, which is where its getting sucked out of and burned. Could be bad head gasket.
That’s using your head, gasket!
Lol
How much does it cost to get the head gasket changed?
500 here in Australia
You need to check your audio levels for the music. Damn.
you need, like i need, a riding mower work bench
Movie is great
And the head gasket letting compression bypass into the crankcase is not helping anything.
Kid, you’re really talented but this job is not as easy as this video makes it. I don’t recommend a weekend warrior to even attempt this.
It’s Forest Gump!
My mower runs good but after a minute it start smoking black and white smoke
You seriously need ear muffs for am electric battery impact gun lol and wrenches
No it was for the music
Why speedup film,can't see what your doing?
Eyyyy I am the 1k Like
Hello
Why didn't you contact the seller and tell them they messed up with their packaging and you received damaged goods? Wouldn't they get you a new one? BTW, I noticed all the safety stops were by-passed for starting the mower, leaving the seat with it running, etc. Schweet.
LOLs . Stalkers, eh mister? You'll need to hide all your lawn "orniments" as well. HA Dead giveaway along with the dangerous, tail-wagging attack Beetle you have out front. :-) Just saying ...
Would have been smart. Who needs safety, right?
Putting a head gasket on an engine with a rod knock is like buying a happy meal for a dead guy. Not a great use of capital.
Lot of labor.
1st!
or 2nd!
Last..)
@@fightdhr8866 Not last! LOL
I laughed my ass off when you pulled the dipstick while it was running. Why didn't you look down the tube while you were at it. HAHAHHAHHAHA
Ok fine not first 16
You should consider a go fund me account.
You some times dress like it must be a cold place to live.
Again great content, bit over edited, could be a better channel in time. Im sure you will work it to be one soon.
Ill keep checking back.
Love the cars, your good with lawn mowers.
Thank you uhh
Real men don't use noise canceling headphones
What? Who said that??!!
.