Toro Mower Engine

My customer's mower blew up. It's aToro with a 13hp Briggs. Anybody know where I can order a replacement engine for the guy? I thought maybe it was repairable, but found it threw a rod as suspected. Also found 2 dead mice under the shroud.

Heres the B&S Intek 13.5HP......

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_20 ... _200305357

They don't run so good without air circulation. I'm pulling a mouse nest out of mine every year. Started hanging a bag of moth balls near the cowling this year. It kept them out.

Thanks Chris. I want to get the exact engine; but I hope I can find it. Checked a place called brandnewengines.com. I want to ask the local mower shop, but don't want to offend them; I'll see if I can approach them correctly, don't want them to see me as competition. I just opened my big mouth and told my customer I could fix his mower.

Engine is a Briggs 13hp. I/C Synchro-Balanced (R) Model 28M707 Type 1122-E1 Code 980130ZA

I might have to get something close. That place had a 16hp that was cheaper than the 13.5! I wouldn't mind souping it up for the guy! Just don't want to run into various problems like flywheel fit, drive pulley fit, coil mounting etc. The engine mounting bolts also carry belt guide pins under them too, I wouldn't care about relocating mounting holes on the frame, just don't want to get into a nightmare.

Code indicates it was made in 1998. Likely a replacement is made in China, which makes me sick.

He might be better off to buy a new mower, When you see the price of new engines you might have to call 911. It will be a lot of money to put into an 11 year old mower even if it's a good one.

Dann757 wrote: I just opened my big mouth and told my customer I could fix his mower.
Engine is a Briggs 13hp. I/C Synchro-Balanced (R) Model 28M707 Type 1122-E1 Code 980130ZA
I might have to get something close.

Yeah, that original engine is too old, you'll find a direct replacement, but a newer model number.
You can easily swap it out yourself, just need a pully/gear puller to get the main pulley off the shaft.
Just make sure whatever you buy, has the same shaft length and shaft dia. That 16HP engine you saw might have a thicker shaft?

I have a 42" Bunton mower that I've had for about 26 years. The motor started to give me fits, the muffler had holes in it and the carb needed to be replaced. Instead of farting around with replacing parts of such an old motor I decided to dump it. I bought a brand new engine from small engine wharehouse. I replaced the Briggs that was on it with a Honda motor. It bolted right on and the install took about an hour and I spent another hour to get the old motor off. The Honda is so much more civilized. It has electric start too. I paid around 450.00 for the motor and it even came with a large tank which I didn't use.

Here ya go Dann!
**Broken Link(s) Removed** That'll mow some serious lawn!

I've had good luck with this place: http://www.jackssmallengines.com/index.html although I never bought a motor there, they're pretty cheap on certain parts. Bought a 120V electric starter for a snowblower that was cheaper than anywhere - & almost 50% than local shops (no surprise there... ) .

Or you could fix it with THIS! http://durafix.com/ I bought a bunch of these & they work GREAT! Material has to be SUPER CLEAN though. Takes a little practice on the prep, but if you've welded before you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. So many things you can do with this stuff from welding cases to repairing threads.

Forgot the link. Here u go: http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/ That Duralink stuff is beyond cool.

Smitty, I want that 383 for my junky ole GMC now. Thanks for all advice. I was wondering about the repair option. Looking through the "crankcase opening", I see the crank bearing surface is chewed.
Wondering about cause, might be just plain ole metal fatigue, my other buddy accused him of not checking the oil; but he didn't know there was a flak hole in the fuselage. Or overheating due to gremlins. The cylinder looks ok, maybe I'll split the case today and peruse the innards.
I like the idea of a Honda engine, I'll check one of those places tomorrow. They both look like they're in the heartland, a little leery of 15% restocking fees though.
Maybe it just needs a crank and a piston rod, and a patch on the case.

One thing for sure, when that engine stopped, the flywheel wanted to keep going, the shaft key was half sheared!
Not worried about the price, customer bills $800/hr. (retired federal judge practicing law for fun and profit now); and being a nice guy that always finishes last, I won't charge him exhorbitant labor.

Would be easier to replace whole engine, but more $$$. That looks very fixable - cyl. & piston are probably fine. Could get away with just replacing the crank, bearings & closing that hole up for cheap (er).

Me & my buddy did that to a sears tractor back when we were 14. We used to mow lawns for his ol' man, & when we were done, we'd roll backwards downhill onto pavement & pop the clutch! Wheelie & burnout central. Took about 2 weeks of that for the con-rod to decide it had had enough & exited the case in a similar fashion.

Thanks for the leads, I went with smallenginewarehouse.com, after going around to a couple expensive local mower shops. The first time I called, the guy was rude, like New Jersey rude, so I gave up. He acted like he was doing me a favor and couldn't be bothered. He said they didn't have anything for me.
So I went all day and finally emailed and told them about the idiot.

The guy that emailed me back was totally cool and helped me out like I expected someone from the heartland to do. You'll usually get top service from an owner of a business.

Hopefully I'll be able to convert this engine to electric start easily with the old alternator and flywheel.
http://www.smallenginewarehouse.com/Product.asp?P ... 8B702-1148

The old crankshaft rod journal is burnished up with rod bearing aluminum. I guess only a machine shop could find out if the crank could be cleaned up.

As long as you have the correct shaft size you should be able to put a variety of engine on the deck. For 450.00 youshould be ablel to get an engine that is setup with electric start.

Unless it is a multi-cylinder big money engine, very few rebuild them. No cooling croaked the existing one. I have rebuilt a
few with good luck. Thing you have to remember is these engines are not high revving, so they are "fairly" forgiving on
"some" tolerances. You can find a match no problem. If you poke around, many shops have a "scrap" pile and you may find
something more suitable for a rebuild .

That engine in the link has the bolt holes present for mounting a starter. Probably has the flywheel too, I would imagine.

If your brave you could always torch the aluminum off. Alot of heat real fast, so the journal doesn't heat up much -- aluminum will curl right off.

Probably failed due to fatigue. I swear they manufacture the con-rods out of bamboo... If it overheated you'd have had the piston swell & scuff the cylinder, along with sludge-like burnt oil everywhere - especially in the valve cover area.

It's always easier to replace the whole motor. If it were me, I'd buy the new motor & get it back to the owner & get my cash, then rebuild the old engine & throw it on Ebay or Craiglist, depending on the market. Always nice getting paid twice!

Dann757 wrote: The old crankshaft rod journal is burnished up with rod bearing aluminum. I guess only a machine shop could find out if the crank could be cleaned up.

Soak the journal in a cup of lye (Draino) for a few minutes, the AL will dissolve without harming the iron. Rinse well with water, dry, oil to prevent surface rust. If any AL is left, polish it off or a 2nd bath in Draino. Have saved few that looked like that and worse.

It's sad but replace vs. repair is the order of the day on most OPE until you get into the bigger stuff (diesels, twin cyls)