Steal of the day, a 2146, now I need help fixing its oil leak
 

So I'm tinkering away in the garage working on replacing a PTO side oil seal in a CH18 and my neighbor from down the street pulls in. He says to me "Would you be interested in another Cub?". Well naturally I tell him I'm listening :biggrin2: We ride down to his place and it turns out to be a 2146. All and all, it's in pretty darn good cosmetic shape; missing the decals on the hood and a couple scratches on the fenders but otherwise, very solid; no real rust to speak of. He tells me it has a flat front tire (duh), needs a battery as the one in it won't hold a charge, and it has an oil leak. I look at the hour meter, she's still a young buck at only 402 hours. He asks me what I'll give him for it. I look it over, try to figure what I can part it out for, and tell him "Look, I don't want to lo ball you, but to me as it sits, it's worth $50, MAYBE $100." He says would you give me $100, I tell him let me sit on it for a day, and he says "I tell you what, you give me $50 right now and it's yours.". Well that was an easy call, deal!

We add some oil, jump start it, and it fires right up. I hobble it 2 blocks home and let it idle a bit so I can see where the leak is coming from. Below is a pic of the leak, and a video of where it's coming from. Having never dealt with a Yanmar motor before, can anyone tell what the problem is, where the oil is coming from? If I can fix the oil leak, I may keep it or flip it for some easy cash. It doesn't look like it's coming from the head, but where else could it be? :bigthink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdaok...ature=youtu.be

http://s26.postimg.org/wjcfr7ksp/IMG...920_Custom.jpg

http://s26.postimg.org/vv3l89m2x/IMG...927_Custom.jpg

http://s26.postimg.org/vwdj1onwp/IMG...939_Custom.jpg

http://s26.postimg.org/5o7g9fa4p/IMG...652_Custom.jpg

I did a little digging through parts breakdowns and checked a couple bolts. I found the bolt circled below to be nothing short of stripped. :angry: Any ideas how I could fix this? It seems like the only place it could be leaking from; there is no oil coming from higher up on the cylinder so I seriously doubt it's from the head gasket. Any suggestions how to fix this guys? :bigthink:

http://s26.postimg.org/bdsa7h5op/IMG...652_Custom.jpg

Pull the engine, remove the front cover, heli-coil the stripped bolt hole. Put it back together.

That's what I was leaning towards. Yet another engine I have to pull now :biggrin2: I've got one on the bench getting a new PTO side crank seal, one waiting to be pulled to replace a flywheel side crank seal, my fathers Wheel Horse is waiting to be put back together, and now this one! I think I need to catch up before I take on any more projects :biggrin2:

For $50.00 what do you want? :bigthink:

I'm not complaining! For $50 I did very good I believe, I knew what I was getting into. But just like many here, the projects keep piling up quicker than I can get them done! :biggrin2:

"A man needs to know his limits" LMAO I've stopped adding projects until I finish the one's I already have. Oh yeah and I'm retired. :biggrin2:

Yeah yeah yeah, rub it in! :biggrin2: I was doing good at keeping up with the projects as they came in, then I got bombarded! :biggrin2:

heres a 5 step solution to the problem
1. remove bolt
2. clean bolt and block
3. cover bolt in silicone
4. install bolt
5. sell it
:biggrin2:

im not familiar with that engine but would you be able to use a thread chaser or maybe tap it to the next size with out taking it apart? if oil comes out that hole when its running you could tap it then start the engine and the oil will push the shavings out.

No. You can't do that.


Ryan, I think the issue is the tires on the front. One is flat and the other is bald. :biggrin2::biggrin2:

I wish I could find a solution that doesn't involve pulling the engine, taring it apart, and re-tapping the hole. I'm still not 100% convinced that's where it's coming from. I find it hard to believe that the oil is coming out that seal, traveling a couple fins up, then blowing off. I just happened to notice that bolt was stripped, doesn't necessarily mean that's the oil problem. IDK, that's why I posted here :biggrin2: :bigthink:

Uh yeah, I have NO idea how that happens on a machine with 400 hours. I have and have had machines with 1500+ hours and the original tires still have tread. What's even worse is the machine was owned by a 60+ year old grandpa from new in (around) the year 2000. Now how the heck does that happen?!!?

id suggest pulling the bolt and starting it for a few seconds to see if oil comes out, if no oil comes out just tap it with the next size up and be done. now that i watched the video again i agree that the oil probably cant be coming from that bolt since its below where its dripping.

One word.... Alignment.


Only one good way to find an oil leak for sure. Take it out. Degrease it. Fire it up and run it and see where it leaks.

It's blowing through the fins from the back. You can see the oil flying in the vid. I imagine it's the rear seal man.

Looks like the Onan has plenty of places that could leak from what I can see on Parts Tree. I agree with Jon, clean it and see what is leaking.

I've either forgotten how to read or lost my ability to use Partstree; do you have a link or part # for the rear seal? :bigthink:

Rear seal: ME-509-0258

Number 8.
http://www.partstree.com/parts/?lc=c...&dn=0038400014

Wait, call me slow but wouldn't what you linked to be the front seal? Looking at the tractor from the front, the starter is on the right and the oil drain is on the left making the seal you linked to the front seal :bigthink:

If we're talking rear seal, would it be part #ME-509-0258

http://www.partstree.com/parts/?lc=c...&dn=0038400018

No, no that doesn't make sense either; the page I linked to is the front (err rear, ah hell it's the end by the grill) of the engine.

I just need to get the thing on the workspace in the shop and tare into it!

Just looked at both ends, evidently they use the same seal on both ends of the crank. Cub Cadet ME-509-0258 Seal, Crankshaft Oil

Well geez, guess I should have my :coffee: in the :Morning: before I post things and have to :Forgot: myself. That makes things easier, but still makes me want to :Explode: for missing that :biggrin2:

Looking good so far. When I work on one of those I usually pull the hood, grill and muffler. Makes it much easier to get the engine out and back in. Hood and grill are only attached with 4 bolts that you can take out with a 10mm socket on a 1/4" drive ratchet. Muffler is bolted to the front cross member of the frame with 3 nuts, use plenty of power blaster. If they twist off the studs you can drill and tap the muffler, ask me how I know.

Seal looks like it's your leak.