Success! From my observation, the oil that was leaking out onto the engine and deck must have been coming out from around the top of the crankshaft main seal. The seal that was easily removed, once I got to it under the flywheel. Oddly enough, the seal was not damaged - I compared it to another new one.

I put the same seal back in, it fit nicely, and put the whole works back together. After cutting the yard, the deck is free from oil (although some of the old oil on the block and exhaust is slow to burn off.)

The question remains: how did the seal get dislodged to begin with? As I mentioned above, it is very possible that I added too much oil to the motor this Spring after I emptied the old. But the seal was dislodged toward the engine block, not away. I have one photo of the seal where I found it. When I put it back in it is now flush with the metal ring that you can see around it.

[Linked Image]

I am certainly not an experience mechanic, but it does not make sense to me! If it blows out (or in) in the next week weeks, I will report back.

Thanks again to this board, I enjoyed my lawn mover project and I know much more about small engines than I ever knew before!


RickyT
Woodstock, GA USA

Last edited by RickyT; 16/09/14 08:51 PM.