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I have a MTD Gold riding lawn mower with the Kohler Courage 20 SV600 Twin Cam OHV Engine.

I went out to use it the other day, and there was a huge oil puddle underneath.

I cleaned up and refilled oil and tried starting, and pretty much all the oil spurted out from the bottom of the engine, above the pulley. (and it wouldn't start)

I'm not very mechanical.....any ideas on what is wrong? the cause? is it fixable? is it worth fixing?

thanks in advance.....

Sounds like the oil seal has failed.
Engine removal is probably needed for replacement.
Any mower repair shop can/should do it.
There are tons of videos on seal replacement on youtube.

thanks...is it expensive? estimate of cost?

It's hard to tell.
The Seal itself is probably between $5-$20,
I don't know what a mower shop would charge for it, labor and time etc.
I might say $200+, but that's just a ballpark estimate.
Some one else should know.

is there an actual opening on the bottom of the engine?

Yes.
where the crankshaft sticks through, machined to fine tolerances to support the shaft, (sometimes a ball bearing) then a oil seal to keep the oil in and dirt out.

Even though this engine is different than yours, its The same principle, just sitting vertically click on it to make it larger

You can do them in situ if you have the right gear.
Block off the fuel cap with some cling film and remove the battery,
Now remove the deck.
Stand the mower up vertical.
Remove the engine pulley
Measure how deep the old seal is fitted into the sump
Remove the old seal
polish the crankshaft so you don't wreck the new seal
Wrap it in one to two layers of cling film to prevent damaging the seal on the sharp sides of the key way.
Oil the shaft & the INSIDE of the seal
Fit the new seal, using a length of pipe, pin punch etc etc.
Do not drive the new seal in too deep as you can cut off the oil supply.

thanks everyone

anyone else with a cost estimate to have a shop do it?

Scheduled service fee says 4 hours + parts.
That is for warranty work so assumes everything comes out easy the workshop has all of the special tools on hand & the engine is fairly well clean.

this is on a 2012 MTD Gold 42" lawn tractor......is it worth in on a 7-8 year old mower, tp repair for $400-$600?

bertsmobile1 said:

Scheduled service fee says 4 hours + parts.
That is for warranty work so assumes everything comes out easy the workshop has all of the special tools on hand & the engine is fairly well clean.

Click to expand...

I don't know where you are getting 4 hours for warranty when the 4/19 Kohler warranty guidelines show .3 for replacement of the seal and 1.0 for R & R engine. So unless you have something special to remove and get to the seal 1.3 is all you are getting from Kohler

remember this is on a 2012 MTG Gold riding lawn tractor....not a new one. not sure if that makes a difference

thanks

Scrubcadet10 said:

Sounds like the oil seal has failed.
Engine removal is probably needed for replacement.
Any mower repair shop can/should do it.
There are tons of videos on seal replacement on youtube.

Click to expand...

Sticking my nose in here....is there a cover plate, for a (or the) cam shaft, with an o-ring fir a seal on this engine?

bartles said:

Sticking my nose in here....is there a cover plate, for a (or the) cam shaft, with an o-ring fir a seal on this engine?

Click to expand...

No. However the sump cover is on top of the block, so the block can stay on the frame for minor internal work.

Oil coming out of the bottom of a Courage single would mean one of two things. the bottom crankshaft seal is leaking or the counterbalance has come loose and ventilated the block.