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SC Wisconsin | I'm working on a Craigslist find, an older Troy Bilt Horse with the horizontal shaft 8 HP Briggs I/C flathead. Valve lash was non-existant, so I removed them both and ground the stems and lapped them. Now to the fun part...I when I began putting the valves back in I forgot to put tape over the holes in the bottom of the area where the valve springs/retainers are. The exhaust valve uses keepers, so there are two tiny little parts I have to stick on the valve stem and then lower the retainer on.
I heard the trick was to stick the keepers on with a dab of grease, which worked pretty well. But when I was lowering the spring and retainer over the keepers I fat fingered one off. Wouldn't you know it, it went straight for the hole and I heard a 'plop' as it fell into the bottom of the engine. What I did and said for the next two minutes is pretty much censored, but I'm very glad my kids were asleep. Tried draining the oil, but no dice. The keeper's about the size of the oil drain hole anyway, so it would be a stroke of luck if it came out. Don't have any magnets small enough to stick in the hole, but may be able to find one.
I know the *right* answer to my problem would be to remove the engine from the tiller, pull the back off the engine and find the piece. Then I'd probably have to replace the oil seal on the shaft, and put everything back together. That's a boat load of work given my shop, and it's almost time to till. If I take it somewhere it's probably going to be a couple weeks.
I suspect mine isn't the only old Briggs out there with a small piece of metal loose in the bottom of it. Would running it this spring without removing the keeper from the bottom be certain death? I could stick a magnet to the bottom of the engine, but it's possible the splasher might throw the keeper around.
If I could buy enough time to get the garden tilled, I've got all summer to get the engine off and fixed.
Edited by gmoney 4/4/2013 07:58
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Briggs Engine - Lost Valve Keeper
