Engine Snapper 28" Hi-VAC Blowing oil out of the exhaust.

[RCM]

I have a Snapper 28" 2812523BVE. Built March 14, 2011. 12.5 HP Rear Engine Rider. I couldn't believe that my mower has the exact same problem as the other fellow. I had my mower fixed twice by the local repair shop. Same darn thing, gas is blowing out the exhaust. Last year, he put on a fuel shut off valve and I just turn it off after mowing. I never thought about turning it off and running it for a short time after mowing. This seems like a great thing to do. My question is: Why is this carb always acting UP? All my other lawn equipment runs fine, I add Stabil every fall and everything starts up just fine, except for my Snapper? Did I get a bad model? I called Snapper and they do not have a replacement engine for my 2011. This tells me that perhaps this type of engine is failing? It has the Intek 12.5 344cc OHV? The engine is Model 219977 Type 0174 B1. I guess I will have to clean out the carb every fall? Any comments/suggestions are well appreciated.
thanks
Ron
Flat Rock, Michigan

 

[robertsc]

I could just cut&paste the last post, except my Snapper 12.5hp intek engine is a B&S 219907-0131-e1. It was down for over a year when my son asked me to see what I could do. He said gas was "pouring out of the engine" when he last filled the tank. When I took it from him, the tank was bone dry, the pull rope was missing & it had a bad battery; I bought a new battery. Then, after viewing this thread, I did the following:

Checked the Oil: it was way overfilled, so I drained two+ quarts of oil, ~5w consistency (no water, and didn't notice a gas odor, but gas is all I can think of to cause the thinning if spec 30w had been put in). Refilled the oil to the full mark ... took 1 1/3 qts 40w. Then I installed a fuel stop valve, removed the spark plug & cleaned it...a light oil coat was on it; otherwise it looked like new. With the plug out, I easily hand-spun the engine (it turned freely, with no odd noises) , then I spun it for ~5 seconds using the starter motor: new oil sprayed on the garage floor from the rear of the engine. At the time, I thought the oil was coming out the spark plug hole, as anticipated, but it was probably from the exhaust pipe, because when I reinstalled the spark plug, added 1/4 qt more 40W to get back up to the full mark & tried to key start it for ~5 seconds, ~1/2 qt more oil definitely sprayed out the exhaust.

Has the piston got a hole in it or something? Any ideas on what to try next? I still could do a full carb rebuild ( or replacement... aftermarket carb is $13 new on ebay)... but the carb wouldn't cause oil spewing out the exhaust, would it?

 

[Fish]

It takes a pretty long time to get out all of that oil.
Lose the 40 weight oil, drain it completely, and fill back with 30w.

 

[slomo]

1/2 quart of oil on the floor, is a lot of oil. Are you filling the dipstick tube up to the top?

40w oil?? Never seen any manual recommend 40w oil yet. Like Fish said, plain old 30w is all you will ever need.

slomo