# Tecumseh VLV60 possible oil leak



## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

Hi all,

Just joining and looking for some help. I know my way around a car engine, but am a little stumped when it comes to smaller engines. Would truly appreciate some help in figuring out a problem with a lawn tractor engine.

Purchased a Wolf Garten SV4 Scooter in 2009 and it has been working perfectly, oil and air filter have been changed religiously, and it has been winterised each year before storage. This summer, I notice that there appears to be what I think is engine oil (SAE 30) leaking from somewhere on the motor. The quantity seems to be small as the oil level on the dipstick barely seems to be holding constant.

The oil seems to be leaking near the spark plug area, but the oil reservoir is actually on the opposite side of the engine. 

Can anyone help shed some light on this?

Thanks.


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## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

JohnnyT said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Just joining and looking for some help. I know my way around a car engine, but am a little stumped when it comes to smaller engines. Would truly appreciate some help in figuring out a problem with a lawn tractor engine.
> 
> ...


Some Tec engines have a tendency to leak at the bottom of the dipstick, the gasket cracks or the "O" ring gets out of place. Oil around the spark plug could be from a leaking head gasket. Have a good one. Geo


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## usmcgrunt (Sep 16, 2007)

Hello and welcome to Hobby Talk JohnnyT. As Geo said, it could be a bad head gasket or a bad oil seal around the crankshaft under the flywheel and dripping down. I would clean the engine and then try to isolate the area of the leak.Here is a link to the service manual to help if repairs are needed after finding the location of the leak.

http://www.barrettsmallengine.com/manual/tecumsehvlvmanual.pdf


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

A VLV series engine is a flat head and a leaking head gasket should not result in an oil leak. 

A bad sump gasket, oil breather gasket, valve cover gasket, or upper crankshaft seal perhaps.

These engines did not experience the leaking dipstick tubes such as were common on many other Tecumseh engines, as these were mounted much higher (above oil level) and on the crankcase rather then the sump.


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

Hi,

Thanks for the welcome and thanks to everyone for the help. Sorry for the delay in responding.

I've done a bit of investigating and have removed the covers and the air cleaner body. I've inspected the head and there are no leaks from the gasket. The problem is that the breather tube has split. This tube runs from the air cleaner body up to the engine head. It's connected somewhere under the flywheel. The oil seems to be leaking from the split and is kind of "flowing" around the engine. Hence the source of the leak.

It looks as though the end of the tube connected to the engine is difficult to get at without removing the top casing and flywheel assembly. Does anyone know if there is an easy way to replace this tube or do I really have to take the flywheel assembly apart?


UPDATE

Okay, fixed the split breather hose. The problem is still there, but slightly different. What I'm seeing now is what looks like emulsified oil on the side of the engine opposite the breather - so the same same side as the oil fill tube. Removed fuel tank and it's NOT the oil fill tube leaking. Seems to be coming more towards the front of the engine, up above the muffler.

Could this be a blocked breather? Does the flywheel assembly have to come off to inspect the breather? (I don't have a flywheel puller or wrench)


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

unfortunately on this model engine, Yes the flywheel needs to come off to inspect and service the oil breather.


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

Thanks very much for all the help. Looks like this might not be a DI.

Do you think it might be a blocked breather in the engine? Do the symptoms seem to fit?




30yearTech said:


> unfortunately on this model engine, Yes the flywheel needs to come off to inspect and service the oil breather.


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## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

JohnnyT said:


> Thanks very much for all the help. Looks like this might not be a DI.
> 
> Do you think it might be a blocked breather in the engine? Do the symptoms seem to fit?


Just remove the flywheel and fix it, refer to the manual in a previous post by umcgrunt, any problems you have can be solved by someone on the forum. Have a good one. Geo


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

JohnnyT said:


> Thanks very much for all the help. Looks like this might not be a DI.
> 
> Do you think it might be a blocked breather in the engine? Do the symptoms seem to fit?


It could be, I however find it rare for them to be clogged. The cover may have gotten loose and the gasket could be leaking, or it could be the top crankshaft seal. You can use a steering wheel puller to remove the flywheel on this engine.


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

A very delayed update on this as I didn't have much time during the season to tackle this problem further. I started to winterise all my tools and managed to make time for the Tecumseh.

I managed to get most of the top covering of the engine off. Also removed the gas tank and stripped everything back as far as I could. Now I can see the solid state unit and the flywheel. I removed the muffler. I checked the seal around the oil fill tower and it looks good. 

The oil seems to be coming from underneath the flywheel. The problem, as I mentioned, is getting the flywheel off. I don't have the equipment or really know what it is that I need, exactly.

Wondering now if I would be better to take it (with covering stripped) to a repair shop. I'm guessing it's the gasket for the seal underneath the flywheel. Does that sound correct? 

Could the leakage from under the flywheel be due to a blocked breather?

Last question: would this be an expensive repair if it's the top crankshaft seal?

Thanks!




30yearTech said:


> It could be, I however find it rare for them to be clogged. The cover may have gotten loose and the gasket could be leaking, or it could be the top crankshaft seal. You can use a steering wheel puller to remove the flywheel on this engine.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

JohnnyT said:


> A very delayed update on this as I didn't have much time during the season to tackle this problem further. I started to winterise all my tools and managed to make time for the Tecumseh.
> 
> I managed to get most of the top covering of the engine off. Also removed the gas tank and stripped everything back as far as I could. Now I can see the solid state unit and the flywheel. I removed the muffler. I checked the seal around the oil fill tower and it looks good.
> 
> ...


If you take it in to a shop, they should be able to remove the flywheel, and replace the gasket or top seal very reasonably as if it's broken down to the flywheel, most of the work has already been done. Parts should not be very expensive and labor should be minimal, unless you have them put it all back together.


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

Thanks very much for your help, I really appreciate it. 

Yes, I've stripped it back as far as I can with the tools I have. I am 100% certain I can get it back together, I'm mechanically inclined but don't have access to the puller needed to get the flywheel off. For the record, despite the leak the engine starts on the first pull. 

Out of curiosity, if the flywheel is removed, does the engine have to be locked in place to keep the timing?

If it's possible to put up some photos I could try to show where the leak is coming from to be sure it's the gasket. I'm about 90% confident because the motor sat unused for about a year in the store (bought it at discount) and it gets quite a lot of use during the summer season for about 5 years now. 




30yearTech said:


> If you take it in to a shop, they should be able to remove the flywheel, and replace the gasket or top seal very reasonably as if it's broken down to the flywheel, most of the work has already been done. Parts should not be very expensive and labor should be minimal, unless you have them put it all back together.


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## geogrubb (Jul 28, 2006)

JohnnyT said:


> Thanks very much for your help, I really appreciate it.
> 
> Yes, I've stripped it back as far as I can with the tools I have. I am 100% certain I can get it back together, I'm mechanically inclined but don't have access to the puller needed to get the flywheel off. For the record, despite the leak the engine starts on the first pull.
> 
> ...


The flywheel key controls the ignition timing. If you want to lock the engine for some reason, remove the spark plug and load the cylinder with small rope like the pull cord leaving some hanging out then when the engine is turned the piston tries to compress the rope and locks, when you are finished remove the rope. Have a good one. Geo


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

Just winterised the Tecumseh. I had drained all the oil quite some time ago (date of my last post on November 17th) when I took apart the top of the engine. I decided to tackle the rest of it in the spring. So this evening I cleaned everything up, sprayed some lubricant, and then I filled the oil (about 0.8L to the full mark) and noticed immediately that there was oil around the engine where it appears to always be leaking. I wiped it up and it remained dry with no obvious leakage. After filling I also put about a teaspoon of oil into the combustion chamber and gave it a couple of pulls to distribute it.

My question now is: could the leak be coming from the oil fill tower? I wouldn't expect oil to leak from the top end by just filling it. So I'm wondering if there isn't a seal that's deteriorated where the plastic fill tower meets the engine body? If so, is it an easy repair? Can I use plumber teflon tape on the threads or should I buy some kind of specialised sealant? 

I'm hoping now that this might be an easy fix and have nothing to do with either the breather or top end oil seal...

Really appreciate all the help so far, you guys are great!


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

I doubt this is where your leak is. Unless the fill tube is cracked or broken it shouldn't leak there as it installs well above the full line. Maybe some oil just spilled over the side of the tube?


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

Tried another test to fill the oil and had a similar result. It's really weird. I think some of the oil is spilling down the outside of the fill tube. There's a little bracket that holds the plastic fill tube tight to the engine body. I think the oil might be spilling down the outside of the tube and then kind of making its way via the bracket to the engine body. Then somehow it seems to be moving towards the front of the engine where it leaks down by the muffler. It seems bizarre, but this must be what's happening as it's occurring without the motor running. I can't imagine it's leaking from the top end seal without the engine actually running (??)...

If it was a top end seal leak, would I be losing a considerable amount of oil? I might try to get a photo if I get a sunny day. 

Other than the leak, it's been a great little lawn tractor (is a Wolf Garten SV4)! I'm determined to solve this one.



30yearTech said:


> I doubt this is where your leak is. Unless the fill tube is cracked or broken it shouldn't leak there as it installs well above the full line. Maybe some oil just spilled over the side of the tube?


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

Oil should not leak out of the top seal unless the seal is bad and the engine is running or way overfull of oil. 

If fact it would be hard to imagine any oil leak on the top of the engine that could occur when the oil level is correct and the engine's not running or tipped on it's side.


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

It's been a while but I thought I'd close this thread off in the event that it might help someone. Took the lawn tractor apart today to change the drive and cutting belts. I completely removed the engine from the frame of the tractor and inspected it and removed all the covers. The leak was coming from where a plastic tower for the oil filling attaches to the metal engine body. There was some blue sealant residue on the threads for the plastic filling tower. I cleaned it off and wrapped some teflon plumber's tape around it.

Rebuilt the entire scooter again. Took the better part of the day and lots of cups of tea. Started on the first pull. Smoked a little because I had winterized the combustion chamber with some oil. Drove it around for about 25 or 30 minutes and not a drop of oil to be seen! 

Hope that might help someone in the future! Thanks again for everyone's help. I learned a lot and it was invaluable!


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## Sir Thomas (Dec 7, 2013)

*Seal*

Some oil fill are threaded and some have a rubber ring. I'd had several I rebuilt that had the rubber. The rubber ring sometimes will weaken from weather and the heat of the motor and leak. So I anyone constantly has oil on the deck, pull the filler tube and check if it's threaded like the poster's machine or if it has a rubber ring as a seal.


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## JohnnyT (Aug 17, 2014)

Another update on this one...

I thought I'd resolved the oil leak issue, but it's back. I think it's coming from the valve cover behind the muffler. I tried to undo the bolts holding the muffler to the engine body (while the engine was hot) and sheared off one of the bolts. Can't get the muffler off now.

Is there anyway to get the muffler off now?

Also, how can I extract the sheared off bolt if I eventually do get the muffler off?

Thinking I might have to take the engine to a shop for this one. Is it bad to keep operating it with the (small) leak? I check before using the mower and so far haven't needed to top up the oil, that's how slow the leak is.

Thanks!


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