My own 18 HP Briggs going after a damaged piston (valve let loose)
 

 

 

 

Your internals will be very, very similar except you have another cylinder..
 

 

 
  

OMG SRT, I guess that head is ruined. That exhaust valve sure did a number on you, yikes! Yours was a 1 cylinder engine looks like. Today I was able to download a great repair manual, with all the specs, torques and what not for my specific engine. Nothing can go wrong now. I am ready to go at it or bust - hahaha. I'll keep your posted. Thanks for the pics.

Yepper.. A single cylinder..   Post back with any questions..
 
The Toro 42" zero turn was a freebee with the locked up engine.
A new head (about $125 from Amazon), piston & rings ($100) & (carb repair from sitting) got it running better than new.
 
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My machine all done (with the above mentioned engine, 2005 model):
 

 

 
 

Alright, I got it all apart, but to my dismay I still don't see anything wrong. None of the rings are broken, were stuck in the groove and the compression rings have a healthy gap of 3/8" and have a lot of spring. However, the oil rings are a different story. Compared to the upper 2 rings they seem collapsed without little or no spring to it. As you can see on the pictures the 2 outer rings barely have a gap of about 2 mm and the curly center rings has no gap at all. Is that normal or should they look more like the compression rings? The rings on both pistons looks just about the same.

Ok it doesn't show on this site but in my e-mail, you wrote:
 
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 6:28 PM
ueww40 just made a post in Briggs & Stratton Forum:
"Re: My B&S engine is guzzling oil"
Alright, I got it all apart, but to my dismay I still don't see anything wrong. None of the rings are broken, were stuck in the groove and the compression rings have a healthy gap of 3/8" and have a lot of spring. However, the oil rings are a different story. Compared to the upper 2 rings they seem collapsed without little or no spring to it. As you can see on the pictures the 2 outer rings barely have a gap of about 2 mm and the curly center rings has no gap at all. Is that normal or should they look more like the compression rings? The rings on both pistons looks just about the same.
 
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Of course no pic's posted.
 
As for ring end gap, 3/8" IS WAYYYY TOO MUCH.  Check your manual, it should be closer to .010"
 
You had a bunch of carbon on the pistons and heads.  I'd suspect some of that
worked its way to the rings..
 
If your ring end gap is in deed 3/8", you'll need to hone the cylinder for new rings, they are most 
definitly wore out...  
 
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And make sure you CLICK on the  "OPEN FULL VERSION" at the top, or nothing will post..

There is definitely something flaky with this site. I am unable to attach pictures the first time around. I do the text, then post and then edit. Then I get the paper clips symbols and I attach the pics. Then when I post it says "Pending approval". I just looked at my entire thread and everything is there, including pictures. Is anybody in charge of the forum and maintaining it, just wondering.