I bought my mother's house so I could rent it to my brother. It's not that he couldn't have bought it - he is just so mechanically inept he knew he could never remodel it. Once it's finished he'll buy it from me. Four years ago I bought a lawnmower to leave there so he could cut the grass for mom. It's still there and we all acknowledge that it's mine, but he hasn't offered to buy it or pay for any maintenance. Last week it ran out of gas and he found a can of fluid in the garage and filled it up. The fluid was kerosene. As usual I got the call - somethings wrong help I don''t know what to do etc.
I drained the fuel system and started the engine and it smoked worse than a 911. Tinkered with it some more and found large quantities of kero in the oil, so I drained the oil and filter. Still smoked. I'm thinking with all the hammering and detonation that was going on it he either broke a ring land or a ring and this was going to cost somebody $$$ and it wasn't going to be me. I went a mower shop where the guys and I get along pretty well to ask about the cost of a short block. I told him the story and he said, "Prolly just a head gasket. Happens all the time." I was skeptical, but went back and took the head off. Head gasket was blown right into an oil gallery. Looking at the head bolts you can see why that's where it would blow. $15 in parts, 1 hour labor, done. My brother made no offer to pay me. That's what families are for I guess.
