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

Shusby: With all the work and replacement components go a few bucks further and do what I recommend numerous other do. 1st never use starting fluid via the carb venturi , if required only through the spark plug hole and only a short blast. Ether based starting fluids may dry and damage carb seals o-rings and gaskets and diaphrams within the carb. Use only carb cleaners for carburator starting spray use. Also drain out your old fuel by draining from the fuel line , do not tip over the mower to drain , you may drain crankcase oil into the breather housing and into the carb . Once drained add some carb cleaner & dry gas combination in case you have moisture within the fuel system. Let the new fuel and fuel treatment sit for about 30 minutes minimum. Then try the starting sequence via Carb cleaner sprayed within the carb venturi (throat) . Once started (may take a few tries) keep engine running until it will idle . This has been successful 90 % of the time . If not the carb jets will require removal and carb spray and compressed air may be needed to further remove dirt , debris within the carb circuits. Good Luck and let us know how you make out . I always try the KISS approach when gas starvation is indicated . Rather than throwing Time and $$$ at engine and component tear downs and Parts replacements that are not warranted.

The netbook is sitting on a hard table. I certainly watch Youtube videos on occasion, but not most of the time. I am usually just on line like right now. When the fan began running louder and began exhausting far more heat, it was doing it continuously, day and night and now it is quiet and cool. I just ran a couple of youtube videos without an increase in heat or fan. I also finally just remembered the name Task Manager to determine activity and see that not much is happening (one percent right now, idle processes 99 percent). Unfortunately we weren't looking at it yesterday when things were running so much warmer.

No training help from me, but I thought I'd let you know my dog suffers from religious intolerance too. :) As a young lad, he was tied up and tortured by some Muslims from Mozambique. This guy is a therapy dog, and there is almost no one he doesn't love. But even today, he has an unerring ability to pick out the Muslim residents around here. Considering the harsh things the Koran has to say about dogs--I cannot blame him entirely. But bad behavior cannot be tolerated. Logically, I'm sure it's an attitude about dogs, something in their body language, that they project to the dog. With lots of correction, my dog behaves very well, but I can still see his hyper alertness and sometimes a low rumble escapes. I'm sure your dog can learn to live peacefully with the Amish neighbors as well. And for anyone wondering, no... the dog isn't picking up signals from me. I rarely know anyone's religious beliefs from a casual encounter. Sometimes, a conversation follows and I can confirm what he already seemed to know.