Oil Leak

R

rmonge00

Forum Newbie
I have a repair question. My cousin was mowing my lawn the other day and everything seemed to be running smoothly. However, a few days later, I noticed a huge oil leak underneath the mower and I checked the oil and it was empty. What could this be? Is it fixable? Would it be possible for me (a novice ) to fix?

Ryan
 
rider mower or pusher. what brand of engine with the model number would be very helpful to people answering this question. Most likely is a leaking crankshaft seal which are easy to replace but I have seen situations that also required me to replace the oil sump and crankshaft
 
It is a push mower. I will find out the engine model and get back to you. Crank shaft, eh? Would an extreme novice be able to fix that? Would I re-seal it or replace it?

Thanks,

Ryan
 
OK. So my mower is a push mower by Sears Craftsman. It is an Eager-1. I didn't buy it, it came with my house so I don't have the manual and can't say how old it is (though it looks at least 10 years old,..) It sounds like I may need to replace the crankshaft. Any way to check to make sure that is what needs to be replaced? Do I buy that part directly from Sears? Are they standard parts or does it need to match the engine model? Is this doable for an enigine novice? Or would I be better off just buying a new mower...

Thanks for the advice,

Ryan
 
rmonge00 said:
I have a repair question. My cousin was mowing my lawn the other day and everything seemed to be running smoothly. However, a few days later, I noticed a huge oil leak underneath the mower and I checked the oil and it was empty. What could this be? Is it fixable? Would it be possible for me (a novice ) to fix?

Ryan
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It would be possible, but if you've got no mechanical experience I'd advise against it. It's probably a 1/2hr. job for a small engine repair facility, or you could buy another used or new mower.
 
rmonge00, as long as it was running fine before I personally would have it fixed or fix it myself. It depends on the fix but most likely it would be cheaper to repair than buy a new one, unless you are really wanting a new mower those Eager-1's last a lot longer than ten years with regular maint. What kind of condition is the rest of the mower?
 
You don't need to replace the crank. Just the seal. It is a easy fix will take you longer to run to napa and get the seal then it will take to put it in. Most napa parts stores will carry it.
 
Carscw said:
You don't need to replace the crank. Just the seal. It is a easy fix will take you longer to run to napa and get the seal then it will take to put it in. Most napa parts stores will carry it.
Click to expand...

You will need a seal number or size of seal to get one from NAPA. Best way to get this is take out old seal first. If you can find a number on it you are good to go but if not you will need to measure the crankshaft size and the hole the seal came out of and how thick the seal is. Not a hard job to do. First thing remove plug wire, next drain oil, turn mower upside down, remove mower blade and flange, I remove seal by drilling a small hole in seal metal and install a self tapping screw and pull seal out with pliers. Install new seal by taping it in with a small hammer and just reverse what you did when you took it apart. Not a hard job at all and less then 20 dollars with new oil and seal. A lot cheaper then a new mower. It should be a less then a 100 dollar job at a repair shop still cheaper then a new mower.
 
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