Today on -- where has the oil gone...

[richhemmings]

Might give some of you a laugh, might make some of you cry...

Like a fool, I decided to do the verge cutting today in the 32C, and like a double fool, I had left some areas of the c.4800sq/m extra long for "no-mow" may.
Said areas had now grown to about 18" tall and despite taking it easy with a half cut, the combined load on the engine and (I suspect) not enough oil caused this mess (see pictures).

There's a dent in the cylinder wall, caused by the wonky thread that still resides in the conrod, but judging by the witness mark, the cylinder doesn't go that far down the cylinder, so I'm hopeful that a new conrod, gaskets and a valve (exhaust doesn't seat properly - might be a long-lived issue) gets me back to mowing without the need for a second hand engine or sending this mower to the scrapheap in the sky!

I read earlier that the B&S 13HP I/C engines are worth keeping, so hoping it's salvageable.
Off to our local shop tomorrow morning for an opinion...

[Mick]

Oops,    that's unfortunate.  Does look like lack of oil based on the blackening on the conrod and aluminium transfer onto the crank. You're lucky the balance weight or conrod didn't burst through the block. Is the camshaft still straight because they can get hit quite bad too. Also check where the two cam followers go through the block, because it can break the block there too.

Keep us posted with what you decide to do.