Hey Roy,
I would use Marvel Mystery oil, following the directions. Change the oil while hot, then add the MM oil to both fuel and oil,following the directions.....ET.....

Pastmaster may have a good tip there - the idea is to clean the engine and dissolve carbon which may have tightened up the rings so they can't expand. MMO is great for maintenance of a lightly-gummed engine but may not be strong enough for this job. I would use Kano 'Kreen' or some other strong engine flush. It may or may not help, but it's a cheap fix if it does. Since there are many other reasons for oil-burning there's no way we can tell what's wrong. Generally, you increase oil viscosity on old, worn engines, so depending on what he's using in it you may want to go up a couple notches, like from 10W30 to 15W40 for example.

RESTORE engine lube may help. If you think it has stuck rings, I'd say SeaFoam would be a stronger solvent over the MMO to loosen carbon around the rings. I've never seen an oil ring stuck in the groove of an operating engine. Only severely corroded engines that have sat for years or been flooded with water. It may not be the rings-could have a worn valve guide.

Have you checked other things first like a blown head gasket or a carb that is leaking fuel into the crankcase and thinning the oil?
The odds of the rings being gummed up are pretty small, unless the oil is rarely changed or he is using a stash of non detergent oil he hoarded from the 50's.

Those are good tips, thanks. My father says after mowing one of his property 150' by 150' square it burn all the oil in the case and he needs to refill using 10w-40 detergent oil. I told him maybe he should be using 30w. He says that he can't see any smoke coming from the exhaust until it is under load. I will pass on your tips. Thanks.

No. If it's using that much oil you have to fix/replace it. It must be leaking a lot of oil, because if it was burning that much oil it would smoke like a mosquito sprayer.

Looking at his "my page", it looks like he is on a "fishing" expedition, chumming all the hotspots.

Fish

I had to replace the rings on one of these engines. The end gap was about 3/8"

'I had to replace the rings on one of these engines. The end gap was about 3/8"'

Whoa! They left plenty of room for expansion, didn't they? And for blow-by, too.

Not exactly. They were worn that bad. The blow-by was all over the place.

I'm not fishing (fisher40037) this is my fathers mower. I'm asking this question for him, because he does not like going to forums online.I did tell him it is most likely the rings, but he is not paying me to work on his mower. I will tell you what I told him " No pay , No work ". I told him I would ask this forum the question and send him the answers. I know the engine needs a ring job, and most likely a some valve work, but try telling that to my father, he is very pig-headed and does not like to spend money on such things. Sorry if I took up you time FISH. Thanks for your input.

OK then remove the valve covers, andcrank the engine and
look at the compression blowing out the head gasket,
then fix the problem.
And yes, tell him 10w40 will destroy his $1300 engine.
So will continuing to run his mower this way.

How is that?

10w40 oil, not good.

Walt Conner

Thanks fish for your input, and yes I've told him he should change to 30w, but he is going by what the owners manule says, and it says 10w40. I told him that is for a new engine not an engine that been used as a commercial mower and has many hours on it, and I have already told him that I will need to look at the valves that is if I can talk him into paying me for the work. The mowing season is almost at it's end here so maybe he will pay me to work on the engine for next season. Thanks to all for your input.

My parents provided free services to us kids for 18 years.

Why would I expect my own father to pay me for a couple hours work?

baymee good question, the answer is my father charges me when I'm in need of he services. That is just how we do it in my family. Now as for the free services for 18 years, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, washing the dishes, the cars, the clothes and much more, does not sound free to me, oh and i forgot, we were made to work at 14 and give him the money for those free services you speak of. Thanks for you input.

It must be an older engine, as no manufacturers have suggested 10w40 for a real long time.

Fish

Model 40H777 Type 0027 B&S 22hp ELS Twin V OHV. Its a good engine. As I told my dad it has been used at a commercial mower and may not have been serviced like it should have been. He got it from are local low income houseing. I still think its need new rings.