Oil & Fuel 3165 huge oil leak

[gary_g5]

My CC 3165 started leaking oil last fall. It was a pretty slow leak at first, probably 10 or 12 big drops after sitting for a week. But the last couple days I've been out plowing snow with it, and now after I park it and come back an hour later, there will be at least an ounce or more that's leaked. The weird thing is that I can't tell where it's coming from. It just seems to be all over the engine. I think the fan is blowing it all over and making it hard to pinpoint the actual leak. There's so many little covers all over the engine that I can't easily get into it very far, and I can't take it out of service long enough for a major dissection right now because I've got 2 feet of snow, with more coming at the end of the week.

Is there a common place for these engines (B&S 16HP V-twin) to leak? There seems to be more oil on the left side of the engine (as viewed from the drivers seat), and pretty high up, like around the valve covers(?). Does anyone have any ideas on places I should look?

 

[CCinCT]

First thing to check is the dipstick. On the Kohler Commands its fairly easy to not seat them properly, resulting in oil being sprayed inside the engine compartment.

 

[gary_g5]

Nope, it's not the dipstick. I actually bought new gaskets for the dipstick and oil fill plug last fall because I noticed one of them was cracked back when this leaking started.

Something else that I just remembered. Last winter I had a mouse make a small nest up under the air filter housing and another one in the big area in front of the blower fan. I blew everything out with compressed air in the spring, but I'm wondering if a mouse chewed a hose or something in an area that I can't see. Is there anything a mouse could chew on that could cause an oil leak?

 

[OldMachinist]

There's a rubber crankcase breather tube that it could have been chewed on and the cooling air could be sucking oil thru it.

 

[gary_g5]

Is the crankcase breather tube easy to get to? I see it on the parts diagram, but can't figure out where it is on the engine.

 

[JTKub]

You might need to remove the lower section of the air cleaner housing to see the breather tube.

Joel

 

[gary_g5]

I just removed the filter housing and checked the breather tube. It's fine, no holes. I did have to pull really hard to get the bottom of the filter housing away from the carburetor, I guess I fubared the gasket there. There's so much oil all over the engine, it's hard to tell anything. I guess this is beyond my expertise and I'll just have to wait till the snow melts and get it to a shop.

 

[highboy1975]

yours has a cooling fan? i dont recall ever seeing one of these with a fan. wheres it at?

 

[scoutcub]

The typical oil leak is the drain tube fitting.....clean around it and the bottom pan and look the next day.....

 

[scoutcub]

The typical oil leak is the drain tube fitting.....clean around it and the bottom pan and look the next day.....