I Hate Rework ( Even on my own stuff )

[OldDiyer]

This may be a rant but maybe not, a few months ago I found the sump gasket leaking oil on my Craftsman. tractor with 22.5hp Briggs engine so I did this repair myself and all went well I did all the things I felt needed to get this done correctly as I'm a senior with Copd so things don't go easy. So I greased the seal to hold the spring in and also lubed the shaft no gasket sealers etc. Made sure the lip wasn't lying flat on shaft, over all went smooth I do have an automotive repair back round so I am not new to these kinds of repairs. About a week ago I blow off the tractor after grass cutting and notice a small oil film near the rear mount on the oil filter side of engine checked the filter and didn't see anything with the gasket wiped it down and waited till new cutting and film returned. So stuck my hand under motor above the pulley and found some oily grass on my fingers so got a mirror and sure enough there is oil mostly around the seal housing. So here we go again pull the motor it just seems easier than trying this with the tractor jacked up. After getting the motor off and flipped over the oil is around the seal area cleaned the seal and the lip was in place pulled the seal and the spring was also there as well. There seems that the only thing is a bad seal I did notice that the seal seemed to be a lot harder than the new one I purchased. So, I am still a bit baffled as to why the first seal failed but after running it again and checking the new seal is dry but will keep watching. Is it possible that these seals are just not made as well as they should be or was it just Bad Luck that I got a bad one? If it wasn't for the bad sump gasket the old seal would have been still working even being 21 years old. Sometimes you do everything right and things still go south. 

 

[StarTech]

Old seals do get stiff and no long seal like new seals. This is why they recommend and sometimes even include seal with sump gaskets. I replaced a PTO seal on a Kawasaki engine that just replaced two years ago. It was rock hard and leaking. It was an OEM seal, not an after market one.

Also depending which sump gasket was provided you might be in for another change of it soon. Especially if it is the 594195 sump gasket. Appareently Griggs is using a poor paper for these gaskets. After two reworks here using this gasket I ordered some after market gasket out of CA and they came with seals and the they look a lot bettter paper wise and the last customer has blown out the gasket again. Last time he made tow passes and the gasket blew. With latest gasket I have already mowed 1 acres myself with the engine and no blow out.

 

[Forest#2]

XXit happens. At times it seems to be a happening thing caused by maybe Murphy.

Some of the Briggs PTO replacement seals now days does not have the spring inside the seal.
If I see a seal leaking or a new seal leaks I first check that the rotary shaft does not have any side slack or severe in/out slack. In/out slack will cause a leak fast if the shaft has a groove where the old seal lip was at use.

 

[7394]

Avoid Hi-mileage oils, just saying.. Their additives cause seal swelling, to possibly stop weeps. But in time it hardens the seals & they leak worse.

 

[OldDiyer]

As stated, this seal was new and installed when I did the sump gasket that was only 2 months ago. I have used the tractor 3 times since the second seal installation and doing leaves and looking at the new seal with a mirror it still is looking dry. I have the tractor set up with the snow blower now so just hoping the new seal lasts as it should have in the first place. Back in the day we used to have additives for different types of leaks in cars Transmission, engine, power steering etc. they never seemed to work very well, and repairs were needed anyway but at least the seals lasted. What really gets me is they always say to use OEM parts and when we do they seem to also fail early in life compared to the original parts that at one time were under a warranty. So does that mean that many of the OEM parts are now being made in the same places?

 

[Forest#2]

You asked:
So does that mean that many of the OEM parts are now being made in the same places?

Very easy now days to think you are buying the old style OEM parts and are really buying clones of the OEM advertised as OEM. (made in well you know where when you look at the stamp or find print)

And just because it's made in the USA does not mean it was checked by a good quality control inspector. Now days is a QC inspector starts rejecting items they will soon no longer have a job.

In old days I tried to buy name brand seals to get a quality seal that I could trust such a Chicago Rawhide, victor, plus other names brands that are NLA and prices of seals now days is also severely inflated along with everything else. (and it's going up, not down)
AND YOU KNOW WHY the inflation UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK)