Man oh man you guys are gonna kick my bu** when you hear this. Okay, so I drain the gas out of the BCS walk behind tractor and bring it into the garage to dismount the engine. My buddy and I unbolt the engine and it comes off with the dry clutch attached. We notice that there is a lot of grey aluminum shavings inside the case...hmmm. We look closer and staring back at us, hanging out of the clutch is this 2" long set screw that has come loose, backed its way out and is grinding against the inside of the case. This caused the screeching, the stalling and the grinding feeling when turning it over. How putting MMO in the cylinder freed up this *seize* is a mystery to me but at the time it sure seemed like it did. I was happy to find this cause it meant that the engine is still good. The next day we got hit with a snow storm so I rushed to put it back together. The set screw got a few drops of LocTite blue just to be sure it dont come out again. Actually I was a little over zealous and broke the allen head on that set screw when I tightened it...hope I dont have to take it out. I also managed to cross thread one of the 4 mounting points on the engine pto side, forgot how delicate the cast aluminum threads are...mixed up some 15 min epoxy and put the bolt back in. By the time I got her all back together there was 5" of powder snow on the driveway. I put gas in the tank and she fired right up - not having the drag of the set screw cutting a rabbet into the aluminum case sure helps things a lot ;-) . It works fine. Thanks to all of you for all your help and suggestions expecially *mownie* who said back in the beginning "....Check the components that deliver the engine power to the wheels and make sure something there is not seized or locked up before you devote all your time to the engine per se." Maybe I got lucky with the set screw backing out and causing all this. It sure prevented the engine from seizing up due to gas diluted oil and now I know how exactly gas in the oil can ruin an engine. In addition, I know how to go about rebuilding it and have looked through the B&S rebuilding steps on their web site. This isnt the same as the experience of actually doing it but its something. Thanks again, Tim

With all things considered, the op may do well with a shiny new penny. As far as steering repair on these, I always recommend installing a new sector kit. 167903 is the pre-built sector. Off the deck comes, the drag link end, the steering wheel and adapter, the fuel tank gets moved aside- plus4 bolts and the sector finds its way out. The part is ~ 80$. The drag link itself should be inspected and replaced if the joints are sloppy and may pull apart, Of course, that adds ~ 50$ to the bill.You will want to know too that the upper steering bushing has its mounting screws in place yet . The crosslink that runs between the two axle spindles can bend and create a poor steering response too, so have a look at that to ensure it is straight. While you can pull the sector and replace the plastic support for $10. I never do as it seems that the rest also has enough wear once problems develop- that skipping can still occur or it will come back soon enough to bite you.

Hi all, I'm not mechanically inclined, so if you could give me some thoughts on what has happened I would appreciate it much. I have a Craftsman Pro Lawn Tractor, it has the B&S 24 hp ELS V-Twin with a 24" cut, that I just use here at home,(2 Acres) I've had it about 2 maybe 2.5 years and it is out of warranty. I was riding it from the garage to the yard (blades were not engaged yet) when a very loud pop happened and it died. After that, when I tried to restart it, the motor just turns but it will not start as if something in the engine broke..... I DO think this is MY fault (and I'm embarrassed to say this), but I think I was low on oil - could you give me a suggestion as to what may have broke, due to my ignorance, so I can at least have some idea of what to tell someone it may need when I try to find someone to give me an estimate to repair it? BTW, I live in a rural area and do not have any authorized B&S centers within approx. 80 miles of me (Sears store is about 58 mile away too). One last thing, I have always put new oil and filter, and air filter on it each year, and last year I put a new spark plug on it in addition to the other maintenance - I have tried to keep it running well, but this year I just made a MAJOR/stupid mistake that is gonna cost me......... Thanks for any suggestions guys (and ladies) :-)

Won't work on this model of stamped steel frame. the engine is recessed down inside the flat steel frame, plus a valley is stamped into that so the engine is sunk down into this. The oil filter mounts about 1/4" off the frame at the bottom down in to the recess area and the holes are no where near the filter plus it's not stamped out in the recess but up a 1/4", for the oil to drain it has to run around the engine block to the other side to the inch hole provided in the recess for the drain plug which is nowhere near the drain plug. I did come with a kit and hose to run the hose out that hole, but I didn't like that, plus is was near impossible to work the valve and keep the hose on. when you remove the filter the oil immediately runs right for the engine mount flange on the block, then it proceeds to run around the entire engine block and drip several places underneath the frame. No room for cardboard, verily enough room for a sheet of paper towel. To solve this I drilled two holes and reamed out a square under the filter, so when I loosen the filter alittle the oil runs through the hole and into a drain pan. There is a big oval shaped hole cut into the frame by the factory, but it don't align up with anything on my model engine. the other side I plumbed it out so it runs through the frame hole about 4" away. I sure this frame is a standard stamped steel frame used on several models and different sized ZTR's. Which has Briggs, Kolher, Kaw, singles and twins. Mounted in differently, but there is no standard location of the filters or drain plugs on the different manufactured engine blocks. But they stamped if for one engine that I haven't seen yet on different models where the filter aligns up with the hole. Anyway, most don't even see it as a problem or care, but for a clean nerd like me I can't stand it.