TECUMSEH OH160

HEY FELLOWS
DOES ANYONE WORK WITH, WORK ON, REPAIR OR REBUILD AN OVERHEAD VALVE TECUMSEH ANYMORE, I KNOW THERE IS HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF THEM STILL OUT THERE, MOST THOUGHTS IN THE PAST WAS THAT THE TECUMSEH WAS EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR, I DON'T SEE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN PRICES FOR ENGINE PARTS FOR ANY OTHER BRAND, BUT YOU ARE NEEDING TO SHOP FOR PARTS,WOULD LIKE TO HEAR SOME DISCUSSION ON THESE ENGINES.
HAVE A GOOD ONE
JIMMY

Georgia SS wrote:HEY FELLOWS
DOES ANYONE WORK WITH, WORK ON, REPAIR OR REBUILD AN OVERHEAD VALVE TECUMSEH ANYMORE, I KNOW THERE IS HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF THEM STILL OUT THERE, MOST THOUGHTS IN THE PAST WAS THAT THE TECUMSEH WAS EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR, I DON'T SEE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN PRICES FOR ENGINE PARTS FOR ANY OTHER BRAND, BUT YOU ARE NEEDING TO SHOP FOR PARTS,WOULD LIKE TO HEAR SOME DISCUSSION ON THESE ENGINES.
HAVE A GOOD ONE
JIMMY

I talked to my small engine warehouse supply owner and he told me my best bet was to get a new motor and put in it.

HI
THANKS FOR THE REPLY, I CAN SEE THAT SOMETIMES A REPLACEMENT WOULD BE THE EASY OUT, BUT I AM FROM THE OLD SCHOOL, WE LIKE TO REPAIR NOT REPLACE, PROBABLY CALLED BEING CHEAP, I SCRATCHED AROUND A BIT, BOUGHT RINGS, A COUPLE OF GASKETS,MADE A FEW GASKETS & SEALS, NOW HAVE A VERY FINE RUNNING MOTOR TO BE PROUD OF BUILDING, NOT NEW TO BUILDING MOTORS, THAT IS WHAT I DID IN MY FORMER LIFE, NOT A GREAT MARKET FOR REBUILT ENGINES ANYMORE. ENGINE SEEM TO OUT LAST THE VEHICLE ANYMORE.
HAVE A GOOD ONE
JIMMY

I acquired a '67 Sears HydroTrac from the previous owner of our house in 1989. He'd bought it new and it has spent it's whole life on our yard. The original 12 hp engine was pretty worn, consuming about 8 oz of oil with each mowing. When the neighbor came over and said (with a big smile on his face), "Now that you're done fogging mosquitoes on your yard would you come over and do mine too?" It was time. I worked as an ag engineer for the research dept of a national seed company for almost 20 years, an engine swap wasn't out of the question. I wanted an OH160 but when Northern was continually out of stock I settled for the OH140. In hindsight I considered it a good choice since I heard the OH160's had a lot of head problems. It was a pretty straight forward swap IIRC only requiring me to add washers to raise the grille and front of the hood to clear the exhaust. I ran that engine, running Mobil 1 50-55 hours/yr, from 1990 until 2015 (~1300 hrs) when I started hearing a low end sound that concerned me enough to consult a couple small engine people I knew. I DID NOT want to blow it up. The opinions varied from just put in a new connecting rod to a total rebuild that could run more than $1000. This for an engine I paid ~$500 for. I don't like to do thing half a'd so I sprung for a new Husq GT52XLS. After 5 years running the new tractor I wish I'd sprung for the rebuild but then again it was spring, the grass was growing like crazy, like twice a week crazy, and the rebuild was out a ways.

The old girl is still out back and I'm still considering a swap using one of the Harbor Freight engines but that looks quite challenging and I still question the quality of the HF engines. If push come to shove I would prefer a rebuild and sell the one I have to pay for it. I do miss that old Sears.