# The only good Tecumseh is a DEAD Tecumseh



## Neil_nassau

This brings new meaning to the term......

My Mower Just Blew up !


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## Chipmaker

I certainly could not agree on a truer statement. I have a small home foundry operation and I have lots of sources for small engines from the various L & G centers around here, and the Tecumseh far out number the Briggs & Stratton and other brands of engines I normally pick up. Most appear to be used relatively little as they look pretty decent, as compared to most B & S and Hondas which you can easily tell have been around for some time.

Actually the only metal I use from these tecumsehs is the pistons and connecting rods, as the balance of them is not a good sand casting alloy. I use the carbs also as they are a gade of Zmack or zinc alloy, and they make a fairly decent casting.

Briggs and Honda's I can virtually use the entire engine with the exception of the steel parts.


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## Archdean

> _Originally posted by Neil_nassau _
> *This brings new meaning to the term......
> 
> My Mower Just Blew up !  *



Please tell us what you really think about Tecumseh!!

Very nice finial touch!
Dean


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## Chipmaker

There is just not enough storage space for me to tell you how I feel about a Tecumseh engine, amongst some other brands like Crapsman......


Just do a comparison of a Tec and a B & S enigne of the same size / catagory and hp. The B & S will outweigh that Tec wanna be engine every time, even with comparing an electric start motor against a recoil, the briggs are heavier. Even busting them apart you can readily see the difference in casting thickness and the reinforing webs between the two.....


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## guest2

Chip
What do think about the older tecumseh horizontal engines from the '70's. Such as HH100, HH120. HH140, HH150, HH160, many of the bolens tubeframes in the '70's used them. I know some people hate them just because they are tecumseh, but they look heavy and sound strong and have solid state ignition. I see many tractors with them on ebay for sale and if you are to believe the descriptions of the sellers most say they are in good running condition with no smoke.


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## aegt5000

For as long as I can remember I have always heard people rate
Tecumseh at the bottom of the food chain. While I have 
owned several things that use Tecumseh engines (mower, 
leaf blower, snow blower) I have never had a problem with one.

I change oil on a regular basis and always check oil levels before
starting an engine. The only failures I have ever seen in 35 years 
are a seized 5hp Briggs vertical and I had an 8 hp Kohler on a 
leaf blower throw a rod, right through the side of its crankcase.

However, there must be something behind Tecumseh’s universally 
renowned poor opinion.


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## guest2

aegt
I had a vertical crank tecumseh in a sears push mower throw a rod way back when. I was 13 and bought the mower with my own money to cut grass in the neighborhood for pocket money. I beat the hell out of it for 5-6 years and then just used it around the house till it finally gave up. I must admit, when it stopped earning me money, I stopped taking care of it.


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## Chipmaker

> _Originally posted by aegt5000 _
> *For as long as I can remember I have always heard people rate
> Tecumseh at the bottom of the food chain.
> 
> snip
> 
> However, there must be something behind Tecumseh’s universally
> renowned poor opinion. *


I have to agree with your last sentence. Folks just did ot wake up one day and decide to hate Tecumseh engines for no reason at all. Tecumseh had always been found on lower priced equipment. Today its found on higher priced equipment purely from the manufactuers goal of making more profit, and when you read the fine print, that engines are warranted by engine maker, it basically exhonerates them from folks being able to say they make an inferior product.

I have yuet to get, what I consider my moneys worth out of any Tec engine...be it an old or new model.........Many many moons ago my dad sold various lawn and garden equipment and snow mobiles etc.......He carried the eska line of snowblowers, and all were equipped with Tec engines. They worked great, rarely had any troubles, but mowers and other equipment powered by the same engine always was in the shop for repairs for something or other. This was back in late 60's.......so perhaps those old flat head motors that were made back then and operatred in colder environments lasted longer than those operated in different conditions and temps.........Odds are if a tec is shot, its due to early oil burning or a thrown rod.....most I tear apart have broken conn rods or sloppy cylinder bores you can move the piston around in. I don;t think they buy and use as good a quality of material to make them as B & S does and they make it all to a bare minimum.........nothing extra anywhere, just enough to hold it together with oil in it. Do the compare for yourself with two scrap engines and look at the differences in construction. Its amazing how different they are. Each and every step of construction is quicker to do or manufacture and each and every part is a minimum to get by.

Your not going to get any small engine shop to discount one over the other especially if they sell equipment that is equipped with a Tec engine, and those that don't handle a piece of equipment with Tec but do repairs on all brands are sort of like me...Biased!


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## Fusion1970

Interesting you'd bring up Eska. I had a 15 hp Eska outboard motor that was a Tecumseh. Only problem I ever had with it was an impellor...it wasn't easy to find either. 

I also now have a Toro PP walkbehind. I have had it for 16 months now with no problems, but I keep the oil changed. If I had seen all the negative things some people have to say about them, I probably would not have bought it, but for now, all is good. Also, at the time I bought it, Toro extended their Guaranteed To Start" thing for three years instead of two. 

I hope Im one of the lucky ones!
Greg


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## Ingersoll444

I have noticed that the the newer Tecu's have pretty poor castings. I look at the 5 hp tech on my snowblower, and the 5 hp BS on my chipper, and the bs just "looks" better. Also the Tech's carbs take no abuse at all. The old BS's you could get away with some dirty gas once in a wile. the Theh's no way. One tank of bad gas, and you "MAY" be able to rebuild the carb, but will probably need a new one. [BTW anyone know a good place to get a 5hp Tecu snowking carb from?   ]


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## treed

I haven't much experience with Tecumseh engines, except my old AYP Central Park lawn tractor had a 12.5 hp Tecumseh engine on it. It lasted about 3-4 years. Most of the small engine guys in my area won't even touch a Tecumseh, of course, it's Tecumsay, when they pronounce it.

It was mention a few posts up about the old cast iron horizontal Tecumsehs, like the HH100. JD put Tecumseh's VH60's and VH70's vertical shafted engines on their JD 60's and JD 70's lawn tractors, respectively, in the late '60's and early '70s. These tractors were bullet proof (the above link gives a new meaning to bullet proof), except the engines were the weak link, though there are a lot of these tractors with the originals engines still in service today.

Bottom line is this: when purchasing a new piece of equipment, be sure it doesn't have a Tecumseh on it.


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## bontai Joe

I've got a 20 plus year old wood chipper/shredder I bought new from Garden Way Associates, built by W. W. Grinder with a 4 or 5 HP Tec motor. The next year, they painted these red and slapped the Troy-Bilt name on them and raised the price $150. The engine has given me little trouble other than a carb rebuild after 20 years. I'd hate to see all the wood that has gone throught this thing. It doesn't get used every week, but when it does get used, it's for several hours in a day. I do change the oil regularly, but use whatever name brand dino 30 weight that is on sale at Walmart that week. I've worn out a couple of Briggs motors to the point that they just didn't have enough compression to run anymore. Only had one motor throw a rod and that was the Onan in a Deere 316 that I bought used with no history on it. Looked good to me at the time I bought it  I guess what I'm saying is that I have no real experience in one brand of motor being measurably worse than another except the Kohler KT-17 Series 1 tha Deere put in the 317 when first introduced. I saw a LOT of them come back in just a few months after being sold.


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## Chipmaker

And I had a long trouble free life out of my old 317 with that K17 engine unlike most.......well over the 2000 hour mark that I put on it, and it had quite a bit of use on it before I installed an hourmeter and I bought the 317 used. At the time it was a trade in and was used for commerical grass cutting.......so no telling how many ours was put on that thing, and that was supposed to be a junk engine as well. To the best of my knowledge the guy who bought it from me had the motor rebuilt (long before other companies besides Deere offered a replacement motor CHEAP) and he is using it for grass and garden work. I had a three point hitch setup on mine that I made and it was a real work horse.........just goes to show you that you really never know hat is going to last and what is not. But knowing what I know now, I probably would not touch a deere with the K17 engine, nor anything else with any Tecumseh engine.

I have a like new 5 hp OHV Tec that was originally on a Coleman Pressure washer my friend bought at a scratch and dent sale. The motor was never started up till he bought it. It was missing hoses, and adpaters etc, so in the process of trying to fit a aftermarket hose to the pressure pump he cracked the pumps casting..........so I swapped him some climbing rope for that pressure washer, and managed to machine a piece to replace the broken part on the pumnp body. I fired it up and it ran fair........Usedit a few times not over 2 or 3 hours each time and each time it was a real headache to start and keep running. No fuel shutoff valve, and it was forever allowing gas to drain out through the float chamber and into the engine. Numerous attempts to fix it failed, finally found a used carb and replaced carb, and once again rebuilt it as well.....This time it did not leak. Original carb was not really leaking through float and needle but it had a porus casting and was actually leaking gas through the crack, bypassing the needle and float shutoff........I don't think that engine had 12 hours on it total and it died..........I had pulled it off the el cheapo pressure washer to use for the vac cart I was making, and about the time I had it installed on the mount for it, and had a fan assembly machined to fit, the motor up and slung a rod.


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## AlbanyBob

*MY VIEWS ON IT*

:smoking: 

Hello All: :captain: 

My views on the Tecumseh Engine are not as bad as some I have read. I have had good luck with only the snowking engine. Never had any trouble with them provided youuse fuel stablixer in them all the time. The jets these days are so small and critical to making them run correctly it is a MUST to use it. :fineprint 

Now for my names for them

To Cum Apart :furious: and To Cum ****  

Just my 2 cents.

Bob
outta here :worthy:


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## Ernie

Hell I am almost afraid to say this but I own a Craftsman 21" frntwd w/ a 6.75hpT------h, see I told you I was afraid, and bought it new 10 yrs ago.. It just cuts my lawn once every week except during the summer months then its twice a week... Runs about 1hr each time, oil change twice a yr, and it still starts w/3 pumps on the primer and 1 pull. I use 30 rotella t, does not smoke or leak at this date.. Change the air filter at spring oil chng ... Have not yet replaced the belt, hell it still seems to fast to me, must be the heat.. Any way I look at it as being a good product, as I havent had good luck w/ B&S and would say what you all say about T------h, still the fear factor, I would relate to B&S... 


ps The only prob w/the engine is when I got lazy and took it to Sears to replace the pull rope that my gorrilla of a son pulled clean out of the recoil. Anyway, I get it back home and it wont start, after watching my son work on the 25 pull it pops over and is surging, well when I pulled the cables and the plate covering the carb I saw that the primer hose off the back of the bulb... When put back together it was back to 3 pumps and1 pull...


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## ChugrLuvr

I've had a few experiences with Tecumseh engines and as long as I left them alone they were GREAT...
Now when I tried to start them, well, that's another story...


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## Michael Benoit

Are the old cast iron tecumseh motors on the sears suburbans any good? I found a 1974 st12 with one or I think it has one & I own an 82 JD w a K301 in it & it’s great, I want to say the old cast iron motors are good but the new ones aren’t all that great. If it was shot I was thinking on swapping in a good K301 or a good old Kohler from that time period. 

It could be fine but I’ve heard that since it’s a Tecumseh it might not be.


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## deerhide

I have had good luck with Tecumsehs. 3 in tillers and 2 junked snowblowers........one of the snowblowers didn't like to start if it got too cold. I just kept it in the garage. It will still run ok but the
drive gear and axles are worn out, it's just sitting on a pallet with another buddy who's ($100)brass gear broke and the shute 'crank-box' is worn out. That one runs too with a Tecum. My new one has got a Tecum in it too, I think.


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## Bob Driver

In 2007, Tecumseh Power Company was acquired by the private equity firm Platinum Equity LLC. In 2008, they closed their engine plant. Tecumseh Power Company also owned Peerless Transmission, which they sold to Husqvarna at about the same time as they ceased engine production.

In 2009, Platinum Equity LLC announced that Tecumseh Power Company had sold certain assets of its engine business to Certified Parts Corporation(CPC). *This included the sale of existing and unfinished engine parts inventory, tools to make finished product and certain intellectual property assets*. Certified Parts Corporation also assumed responsibility for warranty of previous engine sales

In 2010, Certified Parts Corporation, announced it had entered into an agreement with LCT, (Liquid Combustion Technology), to jointly manufacture air-cooled engines for the outdoor power equipment market. The agreement provided CPC with engineering, manufacturing, and sales capabilities allowing it to reintroduce the Snow King line of snow thrower engines and other engines formerly manufactured and sold by Tecumseh Power.

The engines are exclusively represented by LCT, and sold under the Snow King, Lauson, and LCT brands and serviced exclusively by CPC and the existing Tecumseh Power dealer/distributor network. Traditionally, the Snow King line of engines had powered more snow throwers than all other brands combined. LCT's horizontal 4-stroke gasoline engine product offering was extended by this agreement, and allowed CPC and LCT to provide single cylinder and V-twin vertical engines to outdoor power equipment manufacturers.

So if your complaints are about a supposed to be “Tecumseh” engine that is less than 12 years old....

*It’s not actually a "Tecumseh", it’s a LCT.
*
Quit picking on the Indianhead, he's been in the happy hunting ground for 12 years


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## bmaverick

Michael Benoit said:


> It could be fine but I’ve heard that since it’s a Tecumseh it might not be.


In my wood chipper, it has the XL Industrial Commercial 8 horse power engine with overhead valves. The XL engines are call EXTRA LIFE engines. These are the most durable of the Tecumseh engine line. This engine has 92PSI cylinder pressure. It's also called the HM80 engine. Much better than the HH engine series that is prone to issues. 

Murray, Cub Cadet, Sears and others use this XL series in mowers, wood chippers and snow blowers. Should anyone look at equipment with the HM series engines, these would be the ones to get. 

Just like Kohler engines, the Magnums are bullet proof. Then the Commander engine were alright. BUT, the Kohler Courage are JUNK. Thus, one must know each manufactures BEST, BETTER or toss away made engines. B+S engines have problem children too. 

So, don't just say Tecumseh engines are bad without knowing what's really under the hood.


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## Jimbo225

bmaverick said:


> In my wood chipper, it has the XL Industrial Commercial 8 horse power engine with overhead valves. The XL engines are call EXTRA LIFE engines. These are the most durable of the Tecumseh engine line. This engine has 92PSI cylinder pressure. It's also called the HM80 engine. Much better than the HH engine series that is prone to issues.
> 
> Murray, Cub Cadet, Sears and others use this XL series in mowers, wood chippers and snow blowers. Should anyone look at equipment with the HM series engines, these would be the ones to get.
> 
> Just like Kohler engines, the Magnums are bullet proof. Then the Commander engine were alright. BUT, the Kohler Courage are JUNK. Thus, one must know each manufactures BEST, BETTER or toss away made engines. B+S engines have problem children too.
> 
> So, don't just say Tecumseh engines are bad without knowing what's really under the hood.


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## Jimbo225

Thanks, BMaverick. That's good info to know.


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## Jimbo225

I am a new member. It's good to see YT people here too.


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## Bob Driver

It's true that Tecumseh made some lower-end engines for various market segments, but then so did Briggs and Kohler. The XL designation stood for "Extra Life" and were considered their top of the line engines. It usually indicated a beefier crankshaft, bearings, and rods. Here's a list of Tecumseh model designations to help you figure out what you have with that "Indianhead Engine". Once again, the old school Tecumseh Engine Company is no longer in business and hasn't been since 2010....
*
4-Cycle - Model Letter Designation*
*ECH* - Exclusive Craftsman Horizontal
*ECV* - Exclusive Craftsman Vertical
*H* - Horizontal Shaft
*HH* - Horizontal Heavy Duty (Cast Iron)
*HHM* - Horizontal Heavy Duty (Cast Iron) (Medium
Frame)
*HM* - Horizontal Medium Frame
*HMSK* - Horizontal Medium Frame (Snow King)
*HMXL* - Horizontal Medium Frame (Extra Life)
*HS* - Horizontal Small Frame
*HSSK* - Horizontal Small Frame (Snow King)
*HXL* - Horizontal (Extra Life)
*LAV* - Lightweight Aluminum Frame Vertical
*LEV* - Low Emissions Vertical
*OH* - Overhead Valve Heavy Duty (Cast Iron)
*OHH* - Overhead Valve Horizontal
*OHM* - Overhead Valve Heavy Duty Horizontal
(Medium Frame)
*OHS* - Overhead Valve Horizontal (Snow King)
*OHV* - Overhead Valve Vertical (Medium Frame)
*OVM* - Overhead Valve Vertical (Medium Frame)
*OVRM* - Overhead Valve Vertical (Small Frame)
(Rotary Mower)
*OVXL* - Overhead Valve Vertical (Medium Frame)
(Extra Life)
TNT - Toro ‘N’ Tecumseh (Toro Exclusive
Series)
*TVEM* - Tecumseh Vertical European Model
*TVM* - Tecumseh Vertical (Medium Frame)
(Replaces V & VM)
*TVS* - Tecumseh Vertical Styled
*TVT *- Tecumseh Vertical Twin
*TVXL* - Tecumseh Vertical (Extra Life)
*V* - Vertical Shaft
*VH* - Vertical Heavy Duty (Cast Iron)
*VLV* - Vector Lightweight Vertical
*VLXL* - Vector Lightweight Vertical (Extra Life)
*VM* - Vertical Shaft (Medium Frame)
*VSK* - Vertical Snow King
*VTX* - Vertical Twin


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## Cap10america

Since my youth, I have been using power equipment. I learned how to work on mowers and eventually cars. My take on Tecumseh is that they are very good engines although they can be finicky. I have made my purchases at a local reputable lawn care equipment business. I do all the maintenance as required. The only problem is the tecumseh carburetors. Forget about leaving ethanol gas in them year round. It ruins them. Use ethanol free fuel. You have to rebuild them correctly. Also and unfortunately, tecumseh succumb to building cheaper grade engines on some craftsman equipment.


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