Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - bolens g16 xl tecumseh engine

hi i have a bolens g16 xl riding mower with a 16 horse power tecumseh overhead valve engine that smokes could this be that the rings are bad or is there someting else i could check and is it a difficult job to put rings in this engine also if i need a piston where can i get 1 thanks in advance and god bless

Hello richyd36!

How long has it been smoking? Did it start gradually, or all at once? Have you checked the oil? Is it too full and/or thin and gassy smelling?

Could be rings, breather problem, head gasket, gas in the oil, etc... The answers to the above questions can help to determine the cause.

it started all at once this mower had a new piston and rod and rings put in it about a year or so ago and was fine and just started smoking all at once thanks and god bless

What about the other things mentioned?

RichyD,

Good idea to check the things Cheese suggests. Often, these
cast-iron block engines are "rebuilt" or "re-ringed" as cheaply
as can be gotten by with. It's been my experience over the
years, the ONLY way to "INSURE" a professional rebuild is to
do a THOROUGH JOB of measurement followed by machine
work, and THEN....rebuilding. You're talking about an engine
that's probably (at least) 20-25 years old. I've rebuilt MANY
of the HH and OH engines, and I won't do one now UNLESS
I bore the block, turn or build-up the crankshaft, and measure
ALL bearing surfaces. If you'll go thru these steps....the 'ole
girl will run for ANOTHER 20 years or so. Let's HOPE, however,
this smoking problem is only a breather, seal, gasket, etc that
could cause a crankcase pressure and cause the blowby and
smoke you see. GOOD LUCK !!

Tcumcman

hi i checked a lot of different things on this mower i cant see any thing that would cause it to smoke a couple of things i did find that i did find that i have questions about the breather tube that comes out of the valve cover just comes out of the valve cover about an inch according to pictures ive seen this tube is supposed to go down the side of the engine and go into some part of the engine can you tell me where it is supposed to go and the other question is this engine supposed to have valve seals if it is supposed to have them they are not there the only thing i see is the metal that the valves come up through and if it is supposed to have valve seals where can i buy them thank you very much and god bless

The breather tube most likely connects to either a port on the intake or the bottom of the air cleaner box. With the engine running, does smoke and oil come out of the breather tube? You may have a bad breather. If the breather does not allow the crankcase pressure to vent, the pressure will cause the engine to smoke, by pushing oil into the cylinder past the rings and valves. The engine does not have valve stem seals to my knowledge.

yes it does have some smoke and oil coming out of the tube thanks and god bless

Well, that means it is not clogged at least, but it may be stuck open. Take the breather off and see how it looks. If it is full of gunk, you may be able to clean it...or just replace it to eliminate it as a possibility. Sometimes they look fine and seem to be operating fine off the engine, but are bad nonetheless.