If you need rings the mower has seen better days it isnt worth it as there are alot of other components to rebuild. Basicly it means rebuilding it. If its the rings run it till its dead or it smokes to much.
"Claudia" wrote on 29 May 2004:
Rings go around the piston and create a seal with the cylinder wall. The top ring is the compression ring, and it keeps the pressure from the combustion of the fuel-air mixture from getting past the piston. The next ring down is the secondary compression ring, and can be thought of as a backup to the compression ring and the oil ring. The bottom ring is the oil ring and allows lubrication to take place, but keeps oil out of the combustion chamber.
No, replacing rings in not a D-I-Y job if you've never worked on internal combustion engines before.
It's hard to tell what the problem is from a distance, but there is certainly a problem. Unless you can do the work yourself, rebuilding small engines is probably not worth it. By the time you pay shop fees, you could buy a whole new mower.
First, change the oil. If you have never done that, we have discovered the source of your problem. Small engines have no oil filter. You have to change the oil frequently, or they will grind their guts out on the dirt in the oil. The drain plug is under the mower deck, or on the side of the mower just below the oil fill spout. Re-fill with a top grade of detergent motor oil, like Delo 400. For new engines past the break-in period, I use a full synthetic, Castrol Syntec 5w-50, but in a worn engine like yours you should probably stick with straight 30w.
Next, change the spark plug. That won't fix anything, but if you have been burning a lot of oil it will probably be fouled.
Take the air filter off and start the mower. Where is the oil coming from? If there is a lot of blowby coming out of the crankcase breather, your rings or valve seals, or maybe both, are not working. Either they are worn out, or so crudded up from lack of maintenance that they can't do their job. You might try some crankcase additives, like Motor Medic, STP or Essentialube. It can't hurt. Change the oil as soon as it gets black. The fresh detergent may dissolve some of the sludge out of the engine. Otherwise, see if you can cobble together a washable air filter out of filter foam, and just run the thing until it dies.
When you get a new mower, service it regularly. I personally break the manufacturer's recommendations and add 2 oz. Marvel Mystery Oil and 2 oz. non-alcohol carb cleaner to every 5 gallon can of gas I buy, plus I add Sta-Bil while the gas is fresh. In combination with the Syntec 5w-
50 in the crank case, changed frequently, my small engines run trouble free for decades.Briggs & Stratton motors are junk. My mower does the same thing. I have to change the air filter twice per season. I had a B&S gas power washer that went into the trash after one year because of oil issues also.
I've never had a B&S engine last less than several years. In reality, the only failures I've had were from hitting things with the blade.
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I have a mower with a B&S engine, one of the cheaper mowers on the market (Murray self propelled) I needed a cheapie in a hurry. I've had it for 9 years with no problem except, replaced rear wheels, air filter (twice), blade and spark plug. While working on or transporting mower, if I tilt mower past a certain level, oil will come out of pleated paper filter, Crankcase is vented behind it...
Never use NON-detergent motor oil in a gasoline engine. That stuff is made for air compressors, not gasoline engines, the lack of detergent will have the oil gumming up that engine in no time.
Unless the thing hasn't had the oil changed for 10 years or so - then detergent oil might be a problem. That said, sticking rings can cause the blowby that puts oil into the air cleaner and some MMO or something similar - can free up the rings and reduce the blowby,
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