If this is a late 70's single cylinder Tecumseh OHV, they had an overheating problem by design. Craftsman, Bolens, and probably other OEMs used this engine thinking that it would be a great new technology for small engines. But it was put into the marketplace before it was perfected. At that time I had gone to Tecumseh tec school and was a certified tec. We were seeing a lot of these engines failing from overheating at about 200 hours, and the factory would not stand behind the customer, the OEM, or the shop.
The problem.... The valve box sat on top of the aluminum head's cooling fins. Of course the rocker arms and push rods needed to be oiled, and so they were. But the heat of the head transferred up into the base of the steel valve box and the rubber O rings on the attachment (head) bolts could not take the heat and so cracked and failed. Now the oil was leaking down onto the head's cooling fins and forming hard crispy chunks that continued to grow from more oil escaping and baking until the cooling fins below the box were totally blocked. The heat would now warp the head, dropping the steel valve seats and destroying it.
In later series OHV engines, they found a better quality O ring that could stand the heat, and so the problem was solved. The cast iron cylinder and crankcase and lower end parts were plenty substansial, commonly giving an engine life of about 1500 hours.
Of course, mouse nests mean big trouble for these engines and all air cooled engines as well.
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Today's Featured Article - Talk of the Town: Diesel Vs. Gasoline - by Staff. Another neat discussion from the Tractor Talk Discussion Forum. The discussion started out with the following post: " I am in the market for an older tractor (to be read... cheap). I have been told a diesel holds up better than a gasoline engine as far a wear, tear, neglect and abuse. Since I am looking at older tractors that have probably been through it all, is it better to buy diesel? I do expect to have to do a good bit of work on
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