Between ambient temperatures of 40F and 140F, SAE 30 is recommended, with automotive rating SF, SG, SH, SJ or higher. Below 40F this oil may result in slow cranking and you may need to use multigrade, but at higher temperatures 10W-30 will result in high oil consumption. Briggs says synthetic 5W-30 can be used regardless of temperature, but I personally doubt this would result in low oil consumption in hot weather.
In case you care, the blown head gasket pretty much always is between the cylinder and the pushrod cavity. The reason is obvious if you look at the design: in that position it is a long, long way between head bolts. If you look at a Vanguard (the Japanese design the Intek was cheapened from) it has a properly designed head gasket (but has the same poor design of decompressor as the Intek - in fact it is the same camshaft).
I'd worry about about that oil leak. Since the head gasket usually blows from combustion chamber to pushrod cavity, a gasket leak pressurises the crankcase and this will often cause oil leakage from the rocker cover.
Last edited by grumpy; 14/06/14 07:51 PM. Reason: Add warning on oil leak
