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Hello all. I just recently bought our first rider for about $100 bucks and had a few questions. I probably should have asked these questions before buying.. I'm not too familiar with riders in general but thought maybe I can learn as I go? Hopefully without turning this into a money pit.

I have setup an album of pictures here

1) It has an oil leak; is this something that can be fixed easily?
2) The deck that came with it has a giant hole which I've come to learn renders it useless. From the pictures, am I able to attach another one? As far as I can tell, it looks like all the mounts there.. but I'm unsure.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

-Joseph

No_Smoking said:

Hello all. I just recently bought our first rider for about $100 bucks and had a few questions. I probably should have asked these questions before buying.. I'm not too familiar with riders in general but thought maybe I can learn as I go? Hopefully without turning this into a money pit.

I have setup an album of pictures here

1) It has an oil leak; is this something that can be fixed easily?
2) The deck that came with it has a giant hole which I've come to learn renders it useless. From the pictures, am I able to attach another one? As far as I can tell, it looks like all the mounts there.. but I'm unsure.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

-Joseph

Click to expand...

I looked at the pictures....it looks like it has good potential!! I don't know the answers to your questions, though. :frown:

try cleaning the engine completely off. even under the frame. run it for a while and check the engine out completely to see if you can see where it may be leaking from. sometimes it may be just a loose bolt, or a seal may need replacing. from what i seen in the pic's you may have crankcase leak. that could be cuased by the bolt being loose. i had the same problem. other than that it looks like a good buy. another possibility is the valve seat may be worn cuasing the oil to come out the exhaust port(is the exhaust slightly gray in color?). if so you may have a valve seat leaking.

If it runs now, it should give you a good winter project. Remove engine, and replace case gasket and seal.

snapsstorer said:

try cleaning the engine completely off. even under the frame. run it for a while and check the engine out completely to see if you can see where it may be leaking from. sometimes it may be just a loose bolt, or a seal may need replacing. from what i seen in the pic's you may have crankcase leak. that could be cuased by the bolt being loose. i had the same problem. other than that it looks like a good buy. another possibility is the valve seat may be worn cuasing the oil to come out the exhaust port(is the exhaust slightly gray in color?). if so you may have a valve seat leaking.

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I don't recall any smoke or exhaust coloration. Maybe on a cold start but only for the first few seconds.
the guy I bought it from mentioned something about a loose bolt too.

After I ran it for about 10 min it looked like a fresh stream of oil came from this bolt. (not sure if direct linking to that img will work)

Is replacing a seal like that something you'd think a complete newbie could do?

Thanks

Let me repeat a post from another thread that might just get you the help you need. Please follow it.


Since this is a help forum, it is only fair that the people trying to answer questions have some information to work with, so they can give an accurate answer. This helps them if they need to research parts or service information on your engine or equipment. In the first part of your post please include your engine numbers from the ID tag or stamping and the equipment type and model numbers that are on it. Failure to do this may result in you not receiving any accurate help with your problem.

Many of the tech's that hang out here work in or have there own shops and the first thing they do when they make up a work order on a unit is include the engine and equipment numbers on the work order. Since this technical forum is offered free to the public, it's the least we can ask you to do, so please help all of us out. *So please post the numbers in the new topic you start to ask your question. It should be the first thing you write before beginning your question.

Thanks. Those numbers are in the images I gave, but probably would have been better suited in the thread itself.

Craftsman 42" Rider
Model No: 917.254860
Serial No: 061093S 033163

Engine / 18HP B&S
Model: 422707
Type: 1522 01
Code: 9306015B

I was just being sarcastic. Some Ahole posted that to me and I gave all relevant #'s as well.

I'm going to be watching this thread as I have pretty much the same engine with caked oil-saturated dirt likely due to a leak like this one. Not bad as it doesn't leak during sitting but it should be fixed. I know on the little B&S flathead push mowers, the head bolts often come loose due to age and vibration. Re-torquing them with a new headgasket makes them run way smoother and more powerful. Maybe shoot an e-mail to B&S to see if they have a torque spec for those bolts and try tightening it up. The gasket probably needs replacing anyway but maybe you can get away with torquing it down. I gotta clean my engine off before I can start diagnosing it and sharing some info in this thread

I did not see serious oil leakage from pics. The pan bolts do loosen. I suggest loosening all of them cold and retorqueing them IN SEQUENCE. Take a pic of the large hole in the deck so we can see if it can be repaired.

motoman said:

I did not see serious oil leakage from pics. The pan bolts do loosen. I suggest loosening all of them cold and retorqueing them IN SEQUENCE. Take a pic of the large hole in the deck so we can see if it can be repaired.

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ok I can give that a try.

The deck I've been told by two shops its pretty much scrap.
but here is the pic of it

No_Smoking said:

ok I can give that a try.

The deck I've been told by two shops its pretty much scrap.
but here is the pic of it

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By the looks of the pic, it looks like you have a good DISCHARGE deck! haha:laughing:

I think that deck could still be used. Just cut off the curled edges and be extremely careful about the direction of stuff shooting out. Might want to see if it would shoot things at your tires, if not then personally, I would be tempted to use it still.

If you're not comfortable using it, look around and I'm sure you can find a riding mower with a good deck, perhaps one similar to yours so you have 2 parts machines that you can build a great mower out of :thumbsup:

No_Smoking said:

ok I can give that a try.

The deck I've been told by two shops its pretty much scrap.
but here is the pic of it

Click to expand...

Well since I hate to scrap anything, here goes... If the shops see something I don,t , like serious rust throughout that threatens the spindle housings, then scrap. However, like a page from auto floor board restoration , that damage looks like a slam dunk fix by someone with a gas welder (braze or weld bead), or a MIG welder. Try to match the gauge (?.100" thk?) and fairly easily hammer form a patch piece. Doesn't have to be pretty, right. Cost trade an issue. Especially if a used one is available.:2cents:

looks like the deck is shot. reason being is you are missing one of the mounting bracket's. you might want to try it, but will have to try to align the mounting bracket with the deck under the frame of the tractor

Back again and not familiar with that deck but...Perhaps a 2 step: forming,welding . The if you have 3 other good brakets it is usually not difficult to bend up a bracket, set in place, scribe around it weld .
:thumbsup: I will stop now. Best luck: