Briggs 19.5 HP burning oil and fouling plugs

Hi and thanks for the help. Its a john deere d110 with 230 hours. I change the oil filter once a year and change the oil 2-3 times per year. I change the air filter every year, change the plug, sharpen the blades. Seemed to be running fine at the end of the season last year but when I went to change the plug, I noticed the old one had black charcoal all over it, it looked like I dropped it inside my bbq grill. I now remember adding a considerable amount of oil 8+ ounces late last fall. I changed the oil and started it up. It was blowing a bit of blue smoke but tends to do that when I fill the oil too high. I ran it at 1/2 speed for a 1/2 hour while dethatching. It started running awful so I took the plug out and it was pretty nasty. I wire brushed it, threw it back in and it ran great. This time I kept the throttle on full. It ran fine for an hour and I checked the plug. It was starting to get nasty but didn't get nasty as fast. I checked the oil and it looked a little low but I didn't want to add any yet as I figured she'd just start burning the extra again. Attached is a pic of the plug after about an hour of running on my last trip today. Should a bs 19.5 mower be at end of life at 230 hours? Should it have more motor life - everything else is fine on the tractor. I was thinking maybe it had the wrong plug in it and it wasn't burning the oil fast enough to keep it clean. I do use seafoam in the gas often and also stabilized the fuel really well from last year. I figured blowing some blue smoke was burning some oil but figured I could just keep topping it off rather than needing to have the engine rebuilt or new rings put in. Should I expect the motor to give me some more life than 230 hours, what do you think? Thanks a ton!!!!!!

My bet is you have a blown head gasket on that cylinder. Not an uncommon problem and a rather easy fix.

I just want to caution against running it at 1/2 throttle. It can cause the hydros to overheat. Also are you screwing the dipstick in to check your oil level. You should be on a Briggs.

Yes I agree with Rivets......

A blown head gasket is a very common thing on those engines....... Watch for gas in the oil also....

Like Rivets and Bert always say and me too, Warm up your engine for a while and kill it. Take the dip stick out and watch for smoke or pressure coming out..... Sure sign of a blown gasket...

Easily changed .................

Let us know Mon Ami ~!~!

I did a video on one like that not long ago ~!~!

Boudreaux In Eunice La. said:

Yes I agree with Rivets......

A blown head gasket is a very common thing on those engines....... Watch for gas in the oil also....

Like Rivets and Bert always say and me too, Warm up your engine for a while and kill it. Take the dip stick out and watch for smoke or pressure coming out..... Sure sign of a blown gasket...

Easily changed .................

Let us know Mon Ami ~!~!

I did a video on one like that not long ago ~!~!

Click to expand...

Thanks guys. I don't have 2K for a new tractor so I'll give it a shot. I'm not a mechanic but maintain motocross bikes and atvs so I can follow a manual and criss cross torque a pattern to spec if needed. I used to do 2 stroke rebuilds a million years ago and remember changing head gaskets as part of that process. Bad head gasket just sounds bad but ill take your word for it that its not too hard. I can say that when I checked the oil, smoke was coming out of the oil filler tube - like a cigarette was at the bottom burning out. I did not screw the cap in when checking the oil, just placed it on top so maybe I have been running the oil a little high. Should I grab a model # of my motor .... google the part # and try to find micro fiche for it .... and then look for a youtube video on how to change a head gasket on a briggs motor? The motor is air cooled so am I literally taking a plastic cover off, then finding the cylinder head, pulling the old gasket out, putting a new one in and torqing it back up or is there more to it than that? Am I doing any damage running it now? And... is there anything else I can look for to further confirm that it is a bad gasket.... or take a pic of something? Thanks!!

Well we are helping a guy out right now with a similar issue........ His issue is with a cam though......

Like you said you got fumes/pressure coming out of your dip stick tube..... Sure sign of a head gasket that's blown.....

Let me find a video that's funny and informative for you ....... Or I'll make my own and post it for you ~!~!

Ok Jamie I got you a funny video with a skit in it for the first part..... Watch the whole video for your info... It's so easy to do and you already said that you work on stuff so it will come natural to you .......


Ok this is for all the other guys on here that watch Taryl .... If you will notice Taryl doesn't have his fake teeth in from 3;24 to 5;05 and he sounds different in his talking ............

Ok nuff a dat here's the video link

https://youtu.be/NM28FSoUGLQ

Thanks for the input. Should I just look for a model # on the engine and then google the model # with the words ‘heat gasket’ to find the part online? Also, if fuel is getting into the oil, I should change the oil again even though it’s brand new. Am I doing anymore damage running it? It fouls plugs and uses oil but if that’s all that is being lost by continuing to run it, maybe I’ll mow the lawn once more before I talk it apart. Thanks for the help!!!!!!

BEfore you change the oil you need to stop the fuel getting into there in the first place, so that is a carb clean .
You will be a busy boy.
Nice photo instructions here http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/
After acarb clean & rebuild. I like to connect a fuel line to it without the float bowl so I can move the float and confirm the fuel is really stopping before the float hits the carb.

With a fuel contaminated sump you will need to do a couple of oil changes and a filter change.
I use cheap oil as it is only going to be in there for a very short time.

Do you know if I can use the tractor as-is one more time? Maybe clean the spark plug a few times during the mow and keep checking the oil?