My wife got the riding mower out a couple of weeks ago, and it was
initially smoking and running rough. I attributed it to old gas and her
tendency to over-choke the engine when starting. It eventually settled
down and ran ok. Today she tried again and got LOTS of white smoke and
poor power, and eventually it wouldn't run well enough to mow. I
checked it this afternoon and found the same problem. Lots of white
smoke, it would sort of settle down, then it would quit. Investigation
eventually turned up gas in the crankcase, probably a couple of quarts.
Apparently the float in the carb stuck open over the winter and flooded
the crankcase (yes, I failed to close the fuel shut off valve last
fall). I drained the oil and refilled the crankcase with good oil, and
now have the mower on the charger as I ran the battery down during my
troubleshooting process. I'll try to start it again later; when it ran
earlier it didn't make any really scary metal on metal noises; I haven't
taken the oil filter apart to check for debris in it, either.
The mower is a Kubota T1670, about 13 years old, with a 15 HP OHV engine
and 40 inch deck. Until now it's been flawless. One new battery and
annual oil changes, sharpen the blades at the beginning of the season.
A new comparable mower from Kubota has a MSRP of about $3500, and I am
not expecting much of a discount based on past history with Kubota. The
new model is 18 HP with a 42" deck.
Do you think the engine's toast? If so, do you think it would it be
economical to have Kubota rebuild it? (Yes, it's well within my skill
set to rebuild it. No, I'm not going to. Other than routine
maintenance, I'm done wrenching on small gas engines.) Other options?
Thanks
Dave
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