I noticed today some oil was accumulating around the head gasket and the exhaust gasket so I pulled the head and found oil. It looks like the head gasket (.025 aluminum) is not sealing a small area near the valve area. So now I'm trying to determine if the valve guides are the problem or the rings are letting the oil get into the head. There is oil around the perimeter of the cylinder bore and when I rotate the piston up an down the rings are pushing the accumlated oil to the top of the bore and then the oil slowly starts sliding back down.
I examined the valve stems and both are dry. I'm guessing the exhaust valve stem would always be dry since the exhaust would burn off any oil that was leaking past the valve guide ?
When the valves are open there is some play side to side. I;m not sure how tight they should be. Could the guides be the culprit ? Is there a way to check to see if the rings are the problem without pulling the piston out ?
The engine is a briggs 5hp #130202.
Thanks for any suggestions.
I examined the valve stems and both are dry. I'm guessing the exhaust valve stem would always be dry since the exhaust would burn off any oil that was leaking past the valve guide ?
When the valves are open there is some play side to side. I;m not sure how tight they should be. Could the guides be the culprit ? Is there a way to check to see if the rings are the problem without pulling the piston out ?
The engine is a briggs 5hp #130202.
Thanks for any suggestions.
