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catastrophic failure ~ at least it felt like it


mongolio

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When an engine completey gets blown in the middle of mowing, can the violent shaking from the front end be best described as "riding an earthquake", because that is what is felt like last night... Mowed perfectly for 1/2 hr or so, then the absolute worst sounds imaginable followed by the most violent earthquake underneath the hood. I coulnd't disengage the PTO & turn it off soon enough. It's not locked up, front shaft turns, no visible signs of damage, no oil leaks & I can still hear compression. Impossible to describe the sounds & feels, other than imagining what happened internally to the engine, & in my non gear-head mind, if it was possible for the piston to come completely out of the cylinder, become misaligned, then attempted to RAM it back up would be my best analogy. Something broke, that's for sure...
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Did you check drive shaft ? does it make any noise when you turn it over by hand? check the oil and look for metal. Is there a hole in the motor block? Did you hit something with mower ?
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Didn't hit anything. Didn't see any holes or leaking oil either. I can hear compression thru somewhere, I think the breather & can feel the compression when I roll the front shaft CW & CCW. Will look @ the drive shaft & check oil tonight. Will probably pull the head as well to see what the top of the piston & valves look like.
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Are you sure it was not the bevel gear box?? When mine went out (BGB) on the 919H I could not tell for sure where the horrible noise was coming from and you are right you cant get it shut off fast enough. Take the two bolts off to separate the engine from the drive shaft then try turning both by hand. Hope its not too bad. Greg
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I second the Bevel box. My grandmother's 2210 was "making a terrible noise" for a while before she had us look at it. There was a gouge halfway through the input shaft where the bearing used to be and the race was nonexistent. The oil made an interesting clinking noise when drained too:O
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------Wait till you see the starter fly off the side of a Kohler with a big chunk of the block still bolted to it------- Just bolt a nice chrome handle in it's place Sam.:D Since you said you couldn't turn it off quick enough I'm thinking driveshaft problem, likely the fiber plate.
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Got home last night & in between dinner & going to the in-laws had 10 minutes to spare... Pulled the deck, & lo & behold, it appears one of the bolts that mount the drive shaft to the rubber alignment coupler / flywheel came loose & sheared off. I guess at 3,000rpm's, (1) bolt isn't enough to hold it in-line, so the drive shaft decided to beat the crap out of the lower frame (hence the noise & vibrations) & get all bent to hell. Have to pull the remaining bolts & drive shaft so I can re-start it & make sure nothing in the front end was damaged, but it looks like all she'll need is a new shaft. Kinda disappointing, since the wife was OK with me spending some moola on a replacement. Anyways, I might not be in the market for one anymore, but someone else might be, there is a Simplicity 7016 w/ a parts tractor in Oceola, Indiana (near South Bend) for $750 if anyone else is interested.
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Noticed that the bolt that sheared off was a grade 3 bolt. Are they meant to be grade 3, or should they be grade 8 or better? At least w/ being grade 3, they're the weak point, so of something does bind, the bolt gets sheared instead of that torque being driven back into the motor.
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Theoretically the fiber disc is supposed to be that weak point, not the bolts. A grade 3 should have been strong enough if it wasn't rusted or fatigued, but I would think the grade is higher OEM.
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