Briggs engine to replace Honda GXV390

DRWDRW · May 16, 2018

Hello everyone,

Does anyone know which Briggs & Stratton engine would be a close(ish) replacement for my broken Honda GXV390?

I'm prepared to do a little modification to cables etc but I'd like to start with an engine as close as possible. I've checked the mounting holes on a Briggs PowerBuilt engine in my other riding mower, and they align perfectly.

Any suggestions for a 10.5-15hp Briggs would be great.

Thanks

John R · May 16, 2018

Why not replace it with another Honda?
Just wondering.

DRWDRW · May 16, 2018

John R said:
Why not replace it with another Honda?
Just wondering.

Fair question, John. The easy answer is because a Honda engine is twice the price of a Briggs.

I'm also considerably unimpressed by the Honda engines I've owned. Over the years, I've had much less trouble with Briggs engines.

This is the Honda...

primerbulb120 · May 16, 2018

Have you looked through the Briggs and Stratton repower catalog? https://www.briggsandstratton.com/c.../en_us/Files/FAQs/2016_RepowerEngineSpecs.pdf

bertsmobile1 · May 16, 2018

Most small engines are interchangable
If you stay within the same shaft diameter & length as mower makers like to offer a choice of engines but don't want to press a lot of different bases.
After that you are looking at things like the muffler fouling on the body or fuel tanks fouling on the handlebars.

Very rare to have any problems with the small Hondas apart from carb clogging because people are too lazy to turn the fuel off.
Only time I have seen a rod let go was on a mower the owner decided did not sound like it was running fast enough.

DRWDRW · May 17, 2018

primerbulb120 said:
Have you looked through the Briggs and Stratton repower catalog?

To be honest, that's what confused me more than anything... I assumed most engines would be interchangeable - and then I saw the pages and pages of different options...

DRWDRW · May 17, 2018

bertsmobile1 said:
Most small engines are interchangable
If you stay within the same shaft diameter & length as mower makers like to offer a choice of engines but don't want to press a lot of different bases.
After that you are looking at things like the muffler fouling on the body or fuel tanks fouling on the handlebars.

Very rare to have any problems with the small Hondas apart from carb clogging because people are too lazy to turn the fuel off.
Only time I have seen a rod let go was on a mower the owner decided did not sound like it was running fast enough.

Thanks for the confirmation. Ideally it'll need as little modification as possible, so I'm hoping there'll be a Briggs built to an almost-identical setup as the Honda. Eg my Honda engine has a choke operated by sliding the throttle to the top, whereas my Briggs has a separate choke lever and cable; I'm guessing there will be a Briggs with the same kind of system..?

I really don't have a clue what happened to the Honda engine. I'd bought a used mower to use on a temporary basis (my Briggs-engined ride-on had bent a pushrod) and it lasted only a few days. It went from running normally to seizing solid, along with a clunk of doom. I've stripped a few seized car engines in the past but never seen the kind of carnage presented by this little Honda.

bertsmobile1 · May 17, 2018

DRWDRW said:
Thanks for the confirmation. Ideally it'll need as little modification as possible, so I'm hoping there'll be a Briggs built to an almost-identical setup as the Honda. Eg my Honda engine has a choke operated by sliding the throttle to the top, whereas my Briggs has a separate choke lever and cable; I'm guessing there will be a Briggs with the same kind of system..?

I really don't have a clue what happened to the Honda engine. I'd bought a used mower to use on a temporary basis (my Briggs-engined ride-on had bent a pushrod) and it lasted only a few days. It went from running normally to seizing solid, along with a clunk of doom. I've stripped a few seized car engines in the past but never seen the kind of carnage presented by this little Honda.

Well that explains a lot.
You got the bannana skins in the diff used mower special.
Vertical shaft engines have no sump so when something breaks it drops into that passes for a sump and gets chewed up by all that is down there.
If the sump casting is not broken and the bore not mutilated then that looks like a fairly easy rebuild.
Rod piston seals & gasket.
you don't even need to pull the head.

DRWDRW · May 17, 2018

bertsmobile1 said:
Well that explains a lot.
You got the bannana skins in the diff used mower special.
Vertical shaft engines have no sump so when something breaks it drops into that passes for a sump and gets chewed up by all that is down there.
If the sump casting is not broken and the bore not mutilated then that looks like a fairly easy rebuild.
Rod piston seals & gasket.
you don't even need to pull the head.

Hmm, I suspected there was a 'genuine reason for sale' - in that it was genuinely living on borrowed time.

Sadly, I think the engine is scrap. The crank feels pretty scored, the camshaft has snapped, and part of the internal block casting has snapped off.

Check out the bits I found floating around. There's even what appears to be a carb spring in there.

bertsmobile1 · May 17, 2018

Yeah, Ok
forget my previous post a donner engine for a starter motor carb & alternator.
The spring is from the decompressor.

Any engine will go in.
However you will most likely have to make up a new throttle cable and engine plug.
Most mower repair shops keep bulk cable so when the new engine is in just measure the distance from the control slide to the throttle control. add about 4" to 6" and buy a length of bowden cable.
If you ask them nicely and bring the old one with you most workshops will cut it to the right length and put the Z bends in both ends.
Cut the plug off the old engine leaving a good 2" to 4" of cable for a splice.
It works best if you cut every cable to a different length then all the splices are not together making a big bundle.

Most consider a replacement as some thing that will drop directly in and hook up to all your existing controls which is where it gets confusing.

Briggs engine to replace Honda GXV390

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