# Plastic parts



## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

Didn't know if anyone caught this vid, didn't see a post about it. Plastic parts drive me nuts. I know Kawasaki was trying to cheat in the cam department on some JD tractors with terrible results awhile back.
I know they're nearly everywhere today, but even the cam lobes now? Sad to see.


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## Jackmels (Feb 18, 2013)

Plastic Parts Inside the Engine? There's No Excuse For That. Period.


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

Especially... the cam lobes...? No way.

My one B&S (5+? years on the mower) has been good but this vid has put me right off ever buying another.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Throwaway engines. They cost as much as ever and the quality has been cut by about 75%. Pathetic.
Seeing this makes me rethink my position on predator engines.


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

same thing with nylon. anyone ever worked on those ryobi 4 stroke trimmers? the cam lobes would wear smooth. also, its kind of sad to think that a chinese predator(at least the hemi version) is built better then most engines costing 4 times as much, excluding hondas


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Back in another lifetime I seem to remember certain GM engines having plastic timing gears. There is nothing wrong with plastic itself. It is the improper use of the type of plastic. Those GM engines ran a long time on thos plastic gears before failing... Years of use. Now, if the proper plastic had been used in these BS engines they probably wouldn't have had a problem. BS has *really* shot themselves in the foot by doing this. It won't take long for word to get out and they will lose considerable business. 
Thanks for posting, JT.


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## bad69cat (Nov 30, 2015)

The problem is they don't do enough testing on those things before they kick them out the door to consumers. I don't have a problem with that kind of stuff when it's a viable solution. But when it's done for nothing more than cutting costs at my expense, then they will find out how quickly they can lose business. It's gotta be the worst strategy to let the bean counters decide how things get made...... and that's what has been going on in a lot of companies - not just small engines. People are crying about jobs leaving this country --- when they produce that kind of crap here. Made in the USA use to mean something. It's starting to slip - in a big way.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

micah68kj said:


> Throwaway engines. They cost as much as ever and the quality has been cut by about 75%. Pathetic.
> Seeing this makes me rethink my position on predator engines.


don't rethink your position on predator engines until you open one up but if all briggs engines have plastic gears and cams in them i'll pass on them. what we need to know is which engines have plastic parts inside
fords had plastic timing gears too, they would last 100,000 - 125,000 miles


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## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

Most of the "American" companies have made bushels of money over the last 100 yrs, and instead of trying to keep ahead of competing countries, and their companies. After pumping tons of pollution into the sky, and water, instead of cleaning up , and trying to improve their product, they close up, or outsourse, or cheapen their products. God Help Us.
Sid Sorry to rant


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

I think the problem has more to do with the bent push rod than the plastic gear. How do you think the push rod got bent? 

Seems unlikely that a plastic gear caused it. Perhaps the valve seized due to overheating (lean fuel/air mixture?) and bent the push rod that then stopped the plastic gear and stripped the teeth. Seems to me the plastic gear may have saved more damage to the engine.

Just interested in knowing why the failure occurred, rather than blaming all plastic parts as rubbish.


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## 94EG8 (Feb 13, 2014)

Briggs & Stratton has been using plastic cam gears and lobes for about 25 years at this point. There just isn't a problem with them. You know what does fail? The steel cams in the OHV single cylinders in the 17 - 21hp range.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

My local shop guy told me the Inteks suffered from block flex in the early design when used in 17+hp clothing. This caused the valve guides to creep out, shortens the rocker travel and the pushrod bends. Briggs has since beefed up the block after numerous complaints. Never mentioned the cam being a problem.


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

Many auto and truck engines have plastic parts. From cam gears to timing chain tensioners to intake manifolds to name a few. Parts made from plastic in the right place from the right material will live a long life. From the wrong stuff or usage, shake the holy water over the grave. Personally I think things like cam shafts may not be the best target for this type material, but then again that's me.

So many things are going the route of the BIC pen. There was a time when if your ballpoint pen ran out of ink, you bought a new refill. Now you toss it in the trash and buy another pen. When's the last time you saw a repairman change a transistor or relay on a circuit board of some type rather than swap out the board or the whole unit?

I guess that's the future.


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## Kensico (Feb 19, 2014)

Throw away world we're living in now unfortunately.


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## UNDERTAKER (Dec 30, 2013)

Well now I do know this. in those flat head engines everything is metal. the 13HP I have has a cast iron sleeve in it. the rest is a mystery because it is still brand new.:wavetowel2:


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## SNOWJOB1125 (Apr 4, 2015)

i have a predator 6.5 that has been running for 2 years with zero issues...i opened it up and theres some plastic pieces and gears in it..that being said, it runs great, but its sad that quality has to suffer because of cheaper parts...


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## 94EG8 (Feb 13, 2014)

jtclays said:


> My local shop guy told me the Inteks suffered from block flex in the early design when used in 17+hp clothing. This caused the valve guides to creep out, shortens the rocker travel and the pushrod bends. Briggs has since beefed up the block after numerous complaints. Never mentioned the cam being a problem.


I can't remember any issues with valve guides (I do remember bent pushrods though) But I do remember a lot of bad cams. The compression release would fall off and usually end up between the cam gear and plastic governor gear, it would break a sector out of the cam gear and usually junk the block as well. I had one that just broke a cam so I ordered a new cam, compression release fell off in the box, sent it back, got another the same, sent that one back and finally got a good one. Briggs & Stratton isn't what it used to be, and honestly what it used to be really wasn't as great as a lot of people seem to remember either.


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

I found it interesting in looking up some of the Briggs snow engines for parts. I couldn't find the one in the video, but i found an 1150 snow series. They make it in single shaft and second extended camshaft variations. The single shaft has the plastic lobes and gear on the cam. The extended second output variation has a steel cam gear and lobes. They're within a dollar of each other in price for the camshafts:icon-shocked:


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## 43128 (Feb 14, 2014)

just curious how much do they want for the sump cover?


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## jtclays (Sep 24, 2010)

Briggs and Stratton 15T212-0223-F8 - Briggs & Stratton Engine, Rewind Starter Crankcase Cover, Lubrication Diagram and Parts List | PartsTree.com
If you look at this one it has prices for 3 different sumps, but doesn't say which is which. ($54-118) It's a non snow engine, but the crankcase is the same as this snow model with single shaft. 
Briggs and Stratton 15C112-3007-F8 - Briggs & Stratton Engine, Rewind Starter Crankcase Cover, Lubrication Diagram and Parts List | PartsTree.com


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## rcurrier67 (Oct 8, 2021)

micah68kj said:


> Back in another lifetime I seem to remember certain GM engines having plastic timing gears. There is nothing wrong with plastic itself. It is the improper use of the type of plastic. Those GM engines ran a long time on thos plastic gears before failing... Years of use. Now, if the proper plastic had been used in these BS engines they probably wouldn't have had a problem. BS has *really* shot themselves in the foot by doing this. It won't take long for word to get out and they will lose considerable business.
> Thanks for posting, JT.


well I’ve got two fairly new Briggs and Strattons. One 20 Hp the other 208cc both with the same problem timing gear and cam wear due to plastic components. Yes in the long run Briggs and Stratton will pay a huge price as their brand will suffer but in the short term they save on the manufacture of these shoddy components and they will increase their bottom line by forcing us to replace those shoddy components with better quality metal gears and cams produced by you know who. Maybe they don’t care about the brand in the long run. Maybe mergers will conceal their identity. But I’m like you, so sad to see them do this.


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## Yanmar Ronin (Jan 31, 2015)

Just a note... this thread is quite old.

Welcome to SBF rcurrier67.


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