Tecumseh oversize piston?

[belvedere]

Disclaimer: I'm not a small engine pro, just dabble in them as a hobby.

A co-worker recently rebuilt his Tecumseh 8hp snowblower engine. He went to a local small engine shop to order the parts. They told him that a .010-over piston is not available, and the official recommendation is to use a .010-over ring set on the standard piston. He had it bored .010-over and installed the parts supplied by the shop. He said it seems to run fine, but is uneasy about the piston. It sure doesn't sound right to me, either, but I'm sure not a small engine expert. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.

[bgsengine]

The official recommendation from *where* ?

Probably from the shop trying to unload a .010 ring set that had been sitting on the shelf for the last 5-10 years..

bored .010 over, and a standard piston, you're gonna have something like .008" clearance all the way around the piston once the rings seat and wear in it'll probably get noisy from piston slap.

.003 over maybe, but .010 adds .005 clearance all the way around the piston, it's gonna be way loose and will likely not last long.

Should have dug some more and found an aftermarket or NOS piston kit for it..

[RoyM]

Must have been a back yarder, no reputable dealer would recommend such a thing. A complete waste of time and money,that engine won't last long.

[KE4AVB]

Must have been a back yarder, no reputable dealer would recommend such a thing. A complete waste of time and money,that engine won't last long.

Even a back yarder or shade tree mechanic and I use these terms loosely that is worth their salt would have not done this. Personally I worked out of outdoors for three years before I got an inside shop. I had some customers that were weary of me because of this but those that did gave me a chance has pass the word around about my workmanship. I had to store my tools, parts and equipment in the only available building that I had available at the time.

Personally I give every completed repair a 30 day warranty on the work done. Many of the start-ups don't even give you a warranty of any kind and may not even be there the next time you need them. I was in business with my brother and he wouldn't give anyone a warranty but since the business ownership was in my name I would tell customers that there was one and that I would honor it even if my brother didn't want to. That one of the reason he didn't stay in the business very long.

Have never heard anyone putting STD parts in an oversize cylinder before so this is new on me. That shop is way out in left field on this one. Personally I would have gone to next available size depending the engine.

Some of the IPLs lately don't list over-sized parts anymore especially on newer engines as most cost more to rebuild than to replace when worn out. Please post the engine numbers maybe we can see what might have been available out there. Even with Tecumseh demise there is still parts that NOS and aftermarket available; although, some are becoming unavailable.

[belvedere]

Thanks, guys. Kind of what I (and he) suspected, and I appreciate the confirmation.

[wobbedennis]

what's the name of the shop so people who read this can avoid it?

[bgsengine]

what's the name of the shop so people who read this can avoid it?

Would highly prefer to not see name and shame going on (there's Angie's List and ripoffreport dot com for that purpose.) - mainly because for a majority of the people here, it won't even be relevant, and secondly, it can open up the O.P. to a slander or libel lawsuit, to which we may or may not be forced to be involved in in some way (even if it is no more than having to produce records from the server with IP address, registered user, etc., which would have to be by court order.. but all the same, rather NOT have to comply with court orders.. )

[Mek-a-nik]

I didn't see mention of the shop telling him to bore it .010". -Just to use the .010" rings on the standard piston. Doesn't sound "official", but maybe they meant to file-fit the end gaps of the larger rings in an attempt to seal it?

[KE4AVB]

I didn't see mention of the shop telling him to bore it .010". -Just to use the .010" rings on the standard piston. Doesn't sound "official", but maybe they meant to file-fit the end gaps of the larger rings in an attempt to seal it?

That is one of the reason we can not jump to conclusions. Sometimes we heard only what we want to heard and miss the important information. As you said the shop may assume that he knew what he was doing too. I have learned over the years to assume nothing about a customer or fellow tech.

I did a little guess work about what model Tecumseh he has. Seems that the 8 hp could be either a H80 or HM80; of course, there is few other possibles. I came in to small engine repair when Tecumseh was already closed their doors so I have nearly zero experience with them as very few ever comes into the shop.

I did find a possible a source the the .010 piston and rings (PN 34541). They may or may not have them, personally I always would contact the supplier to make sure if I needed the parts. There is also a few NOS pistons on FleaBay.

Once you know the part numbers and using the internet search engines sometimes you can get luckily and find New Old Stock (NOS) parts that has been sitting on some shop shelf gathering dust.

[ToroRedIron]

I most assuredly would NEVER go to that shop.
That's just not very smart, and certainly is an
indicator this guy KNOWS NOTHING about engines.

ToroRedIron