Oil leaking from crank case gasket after I replaced it. 😥

[Andrew Stokes]

Just pulled down and rebuilt a non-working 10hp BnS. Runs like a dream now but, there's oil leaking from the crankcase gasket...which I replaced. Does that mean the engine is a bit warped? Obviously have to pull it off again, but what am I looking for? Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[StarTech]

Depending on how the oil seal was replaced it could be damaged. First the crankshaft must be clean and free of burrs. Second while installing you got make the lip doesn't get rolled to where the gather spring become dislodged. IF the gather spring becomes dislodged the seal will leak.

 

[Andrew Stokes]

Depending on how the oil seal was replaced it could be damaged. First the crankshaft must be clean and free of burrs. Second while installing you got make the lip doesn't get rolled to where the gather spring become dislodged. IF the gather spring becomes dislodged the seal will leak.

Gasket I meant sorry, not seal. I've corrected my original post.

 

[Auto Doc's]

Aftermarket gaskets are usually thicker than OEM and that may help. Another thing that helps is applying a very thin coat of Honda Bond gasket sealer. Regular RTV will not hold up

 

[slomo]

No reason for RTV anymore. Use the OEM Briggs gasket and never look back. Polish the crank end. Little grease around the seal. Little grease on the crank. Don't roll it like Star Tech was saying. Take your time putting it on. Never use the bolts to force the cover on.

 

[Craftsman Garage]

You should make sure the bolts are torqued down evenly and correctly.

 

[StarTech]

No reason for RTV anymore. Use the OEM Briggs gasket and never look back. Polish the crank end. Little grease around the seal. Little grease on the crank. Don't roll it like Star Tech was saying. Take your time putting it on. Never use the bolts to force the cover on.

Not all Briggs gaskets are of high quality that they should be. On the 44 series here I had multiple OEM gasket to fail with a month of installation, I finally gave some aftermarket ones I brought out of California which has now been installed over a year without any further blow outs. Same thickness, just much better material quality. The Briggs looked like file folder paper. Matter of fact several Briggs OEM items have fail to hold up lately as they go with cheaper materials.

And as said the closure plate (sump cover) should seated by hand and then the screws tighten in the pattern given by Briggs service manual using three step torque sequence. This ensures even torquing the screws.

Also note the OP didn't give us the actual engine model so I don't know if Briggs has changed the final torque as some the OHV engines does have new torque values.

 

[Andrew Stokes]

Thanks heaps for your advice guys, much appreciated.

 

[Andrew Stokes]

Aftermarket gaskets are usually thicker than OEM and that may help. Another thing that helps is applying a very thin coat of Honda Bond gasket sealer. Regular RTV will not hold up

What's RTV?

 

[Auto Doc's]

RTV is a term that means room temperature vulcanizing. It is a gasket sealer. It is meant to be used conservatively, but all too often people get carried away and slobber all over everything.

Some people use High Tack or aviation adhesive. This stuff can be hard to clean up later if you need to go back in for repairs later.

I actually prefer to use a very thin coat of Honda Bond sealer on sump gaskets because I never have repeat sump leak issues.

Fortunately, B&S has improved their sump gasket design, but they are expensive.

I will actually make mine from rolled gasket paper and they work great and only take a few minutes to make if you are patient.