Tecumseh/david bradley engine trouble.

Chicken Man 22 · May 1, 2016

I have a David Bradley garden tractor with a Tecumseh engine and one of the head bolts is stuck and snapped off and there's room to fit a pair of pliers around it; but we are afraid that we will snap the whats left of the bolt.

Any suggestions.

David G · May 1, 2016

Get a replacement engine if you want to keep tractor, the tecumseh's are not worth fixing.

cole in mo. · May 1, 2016

Try some penetrating oil and some heat, go easy, have taken bolts out of alum engines before like that.

47fivewindow · May 1, 2016

Hit it sharply with a small hammer as if it were a nail and you were driving it
into the block. Turn it in then out. rap it again. If it moves continue in and
out with penetrating oil. Maybe heat it dull red and hit it again. Good luck.

T.R.K. · May 1, 2016

If its in an aluminum engine and he heats it dull red he won't have an engine left to fix.

Drill it out, re-tap the hole.

Steve@Advance · May 1, 2016

Typically when a bolt twists off in aluminum, the reason it twisted off is because the aluminum has seized to
the bolt and will probably tear the threads out with the bolt. If that happens, the hole will need to be
drilled oversize and a thread repair coil installed.

If you have access to a drill press or a mill, and can drill exactly down the middle of the bolt, and keep it
straight, you can drill it out to the edge of the threads and tap out the remains of the bolt.

But, is it worth it? Like David said, the Tecumseh engines are less than desirable. Unless you are trying to
keep it original, a repower will make it a much more usable machine.

jimg.allentown · May 1, 2016

I don't think that the Tecumseh engines themselves are all that bad. Just the carburetors are bad. The engine itself usually compares well with the Briggs and Clinton engines. Now....if you put a Briggs and Stratton carburetor on a Tecumseh engine, you might have something good there.....

Chicken Man 22 · May 10, 2016

We got the bolt out I used PB Blaster fluid and and left it for a couple of days screwed the bolt down a bit and then it came right out.

Tecumseh/david bradley engine trouble.

Chicken Man 22

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David G

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cole in mo.

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47fivewindow

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T.R.K.

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Steve@Advance

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jimg.allentown

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Chicken Man 22

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