Engine Toro Timemaster exhaust leak and governor

Hello all,
Please excuse my long post, but I am trying to give a little background. I have a toro timemaster 30 and have had great luck for the first two years of ownership. Might have about 75 hours on it, only used on my flat fescue lawn under 1/2 acre. About a month ago I noticed what seemed to be an exhaust leak at the muffler, since then I have replaced the exhaust gaskets, thermostat and finally muffler and still have the issue. When I first removed the muffler most of the threads on the forward bolt came out with it. I have since installed heli coils and have no issues getting 85 in/lb torque on the bolts. As I was ordering some parts for the engine I decided to replace the belts, but not the blade timing belt. All seems to be adjusted fine, but I did notice a lack of power (governor). I searched this site and did find some insight on the governor adjustment but it did not help. I know I should have taken it to a toro service shop and had my problem taken care of under warranty, however I purchased it at the home depot and in the past shops have not wanted to service what they did not sell, my experience anyway. So in closing, I have what sounds like an exhaust leak and a governor out of adjustment. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I typically fix more than I break, but not in this case.

Post all engine numbers from engine data plate as well as engine manufacturer.

https://www.briggsandstratton.com/n...nginemanuals.html?searchrequested=121s02-0130

http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Briggs-&-Stratton-Spec-Charts/ your engine repair manual is 276781, click & download at bottom left of screen, you may choose to save manual.

Thanks Mark,
It is a Briggs and Stratton, 121s02-0130-f1, 13030563. The mower itself is a 2013 model, 20199.

Looked thru the link you provided. Model 120000, 190cc.

Thanks again Mark. I found the manual online a couple of weeks ago, but did not read thru it carefully. I will go thru it and post what I find.

Mine did that. thinking it was the head gasket.

It is the head gasket. Blown right next to the spark plug which ends up being adjacent to the muffler. In the end, I am glad I found the problem, just very disappointed. What did I do to cause this? I typically run 93 octane premium exxon in my stihl equipment and run it in the mower as well. Thought I was doing the right thing. Anyone know if this is a design flaw? This is certainly not typical of my experience with Toro products, although I know I am disappointed with the briggs at this point.

GMFI said:

It is the head gasket. Blown right next to the spark plug which ends up being adjacent to the muffler. In the end, I am glad I found the problem, just very disappointed. What did I do to cause this? I typically run 93 octane premium exxon in my stihl equipment and run it in the mower as well. Thought I was doing the right thing. Anyone know if this is a design flaw? This is certainly not typical of my experience with Toro products, although I know I am disappointed with the briggs at this point.

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Mine did the exact same thing in the same place so likely a design/component flaw rather than operator error. The head gasket on my mower went out at likely less than 50 hours but since I use it commercially there was no warranty. Some have had great luck with these Briggs engines while many others like us have had lots of problems. Hopefully, another manufacturer will develop an engine in this class that is more reliable/powerful. Have spoken with a Toro rep about this engine and his comment was the other options had problems in the supply line with parts, etc. If the market share grows so will the variety of engine offerings. Btw, Sarlo is/has come out with a heavier duty 30" mower with a different engine but it is around $2000.

I think it is probably a design flaw as well. I emailed Toro to ask about the problem, but it will probably be a few days before I hear back. I guess I will just fix it and hope for the best. I thought about purchasing this mower for a year before I finally pulled the trigger. It was a want, not a need as I just cut my small yard with it. I really enjoyed it and hope to get it back together next weekend. I have a SR621 cub cadet as my backup, but it is hard to go back to a 22" mower. Thanks for letting me know about the head gasket, I just knew it was an exhaust leak.

GMFI said:

I think it is probably a design flaw as well. I emailed Toro to ask about the problem, but it will probably be a few days before I hear back. I guess I will just fix it and hope for the best. I thought about purchasing this mower for a year before I finally pulled the trigger. It was a want, not a need as I just cut my small yard with it. I really enjoyed it and hope to get it back together next weekend. I have a SR621 cub cadet as my backup, but it is hard to go back to a 22" mower. Thanks for letting me know about the head gasket, I just knew it was an exhaust leak.

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You are quite welcome.

Have had no further head gasket problems since having the first one replaced. Perhaps Briggs got a defective batch of gaskets.