Briggs Peco engine burning a lot of oil!

[CK82]

I have an older model (At least 4 or 5yrs.) Briggs engine that is burning quite a bit of oil and wont idle without reving. I believe it is a 5.5hp. Any suggestions whats going on. I am debating tearing it apart, since I dont know what is exactly wrong with it. Any suggestions? Is it worth taking to a small engine repair shop?

Thanks,
Chris

[Restrorob]

Chris,


Sounds like it may have ingested quite a bit of sand if it's smoking pretty bad, Over rev is a sign of governor issues....

If the engine ingested enough sand to wipe the rings out the sand most likely has worn everything else including the governor.

IMO, It's not worth trying to repair much less taking it to a repair shop with hourly rates.....

[CK82]

The filter gets dirty quickly as a result of being a peco bagging engine on my mower, but I dont think it has sucked up a lot of sand. Over time I guess maybe its possible. The engine has had some use, so replacing the rings and what not wouldnt be feasible? Buy a new one? I like the engine and if it can be fixed inexpensively I would like to do so. New is always a good option though.

[topsites]

Not taking the oil burning into consideration...

The oil or the filter (or both) going dirty fast is a sign of two possible things:
One is there is sludge inside of the engine due to the oil not having been changed as per scheduled maintenance specifications,
regular oil changes should alleviate this issue thou in the case of an oil burner it can not fix that.

Two is the rings are worn and exhaust is getting into the oil, and age of the engine unfortunately has but so much to do with it...
This could be caused by a faulty gasket in the carburetor, allowing gas to seep into the oil,
even on newer engines if this were the case it could start burning oil within a season's use.

But to rebuild it, the only guys I know who fool with it have experience, and I suppose the only way to get
experience is to do a few, but if you want a good running engine sometime this year for sure then get a new one.

I've looked at more than one I thought I would rebuild...
As Restrorob says, by the time you're done assessing the damage and the cost of the
parts and the hours and hours of labor, it's just as well buying a new one.
Also there are no guarantees with a rebuild.

[topsites]

I did want to add, now that I've learned a few things after spending ALL day with a 20-year old Kohler engine.

It might not need a rebuild at all, but when's the last time the engine and all the parts that go with it have been completely gone over?
Could it be, has it been, say, a little teensie bit of a while?

Because...
Mine also wouldn't idle unless the throttle was up from stop, and when it ran I had to half-choke it so it wouldn't surge,
to make matters worse the fastest I could get it to run sounded like about half throttle, and you know it, blue smoke
out of the tailpipe.

I tell you what I learned:
Changing the spark plugs and air filter, then changing the oil and filter didn't do a whole lot, but it needed doing and it didn't hurt.
Oh, it was bad, the oil was pure black and the air filter, I ain't seen one this dirty in a long time.
> This I would do instantly, and without hesitation, unless it just got done.

Yes, mine still ran like sheeat.

Pulling the air cleaner assembly off revealed a rubber pcv hose wrapped in electrical tape, removing this revealed a
totally decrepit pcv hose, the thing was literally made of more electrical tape than rubber tube.
I replaced that, temporarily, with some 3/8" tubing I happen to have laying around, I'll get around to ordering the actual piece
soon enough, but in the meantime this cured the blue smoke problem.

Sure it still didn't run right...
But I'll cut this short, does this kind of crap sound familiar?

Inspect and if necessary remove that pcv tube, replace it if it's even a little cracked or corroded.

Check, and clean, with either carburetor cleaner or compressed air or both, all carburetor and governor and linkage and any moving parts thereabouts.

Go over everything, clean dirt out of the fins, compressed air at this point is almost required thou I suppose
you could use a strong jet of water, then maybe some warm water and soap and give it a good, thorough cleaning.

Download or acquire a repair, service, parts, or at the very least the owner's manual, the more of these you can get, the better.

Replace, fix, or take care of anything that you can that doesn't look right, isn't right, shouldn't be that way, etc.

Beyond this, you'll likely have to fool with adjusting needle settings.
And there might be more, I spent a whole day with mine.

But she RUNS now, omg!

[CK82]

That is very true. The diagnosis is the toughest part. In order to resolve certain engine issues you almost have to go down the list as you have stated. I will definitely look into them.

Thanks,
Chris