Could be the first thing you want to do is check availability of a rod for this engine. Believe it or not, on some models of this series of engine you had to buy both connecting rods AND crankshaft as a set, NOT just a connecting rod.

Your engine does not sound too promising anyway.

Walt Conner

Thanks for the post. Yes, I can get the rod by itself (and the sump gasket and camshaft). All said and done, about $100 in parts. But will I just be throwing my money away?

I can't tell from here. Very hard to imagine that damage and crankshaft not damaged?

Walt Conner

I'm with Walt on this one. The rod seized to the crank causing it to break. Why? Most likely due to lack of lubrication. The other one may be close to failing too, replacing one is a band aid at best. You need to check the crank to be sure it is still round and within wear tolerances.The damaged portion of the cylinder should be dressed with a rotary file to eliminate future stress cracks. If the cam is bent, the bearing surfaces are likely damaged.
A home rebuild may buy some time but unless done properly it will be a waste of time and money.

Hey, I appreciate the advice everyone. I conferred with a pro this morning, and it appears that a rebuild would indeed be risky.

Anyone out there have a 446677-0463-E1 they want to sell??

Eric G.

Engillis,

I thought I would let you know what you would of been in for, since I rebuilt my 18 HP OHV B&S last year.

I knew nothing about rebuilding an engine so it took me about 5 weeks of work. First I got very familiar with the mechanics at 2 John Deere dealerships near me. When one place got pissed off at me for asking so many questions I would go to the other John Deere dealer for awhile until they started getting mad and I would go back to the first JD dealership. I can understand their point of view, since that is their living.

You run into all types of problems, and there is an EXACT order things should be taken apart and put back together. It is very expensive too, you will not only need rods, but pistons and new rings too. Then you have to have the engine block re-honed by a professional. You will also need to replace all the gaskets on the heads, block, and every other place too. Then putting everything back together requires some special tools. The hardest thing is getting the pistons back into the block with the 2 rings, and 4 oil rings in the piston grooves. When you are putting everything back in you need special engine lube on all the parts which makes everything very hard to handle.

To show you how stupid I was, I first started doing it without the engine manual until the service manager at JD had mercy on my poor soul and gave me a copy.
the next stupid thing I did was trying to tighten the bolts back up with a feet/pound torque wrench instead of a inch/pound torque wrench. I almost broke the bolts holding the pistons to the camshaft.

I finally got everything back together and it has worked for the last 5 months so far. It was a lot of work, and EXPENSIVE. Finally it is a gamble since if you do not do everything just right the engine could blow up on you within a few hours of use.

"I almost broke the bolts holding the pistons to the camshaft. "

"I finally got everything back together and it has worked "

Hard to keep from commenting here.

Walt Conner

Hey Eric I happen to come across your post on this site earlier this year. I have the same problem. I was wondering if you may have your blown engine still? I need one connecting rod.

Thanks

Justin

I have a 21 hp briggs that broke a rod. How is the orentation of the 2 rods. I believe they can be put in wrong and the engine may still run.

1. best to start a new thread. this one is several years old.

2. see if a briggs website has a parts list for that engine. if the rod p/n's are the same, prolly interchangeable. if the rod's longitudinal shape is equal about the part's c/l, the rods can prolly be flipped. MHO...

I'd love to see that engine running with the pistons bolted to the camshaft...lol

Yeah, i was thinking the same thing, and was going to ask, but thought better of it, and then i saw yer letter, which about covers it-thinking what a waste of money it will be. Those who have to ask a lot of questions about how to bolt the piston rings onto the camshaft, etc, should just buy a new engine and save a lot of time and cash! RJ

Howdy men: I need to replace my broken connecting rod and maybe both. But need to find out where to buy them. Any tips out there? Thank You if you have one for me. Briggs Stratton 24 HP ELS 725 OHV Twin Cylinder 446677 replace broken connecting rod

I think I will just put a better different type engine in and for get this bad designed one they put in it. Sad deal they need to do more test on their engines before selling them.