Toro sudden smoked badly with oil leak.

[HaiD]

I was working the mower hard. All in a sudden the smoke engulfed the engine. I immediately stopped the engine and noticed lots of oil dripping to the mower frame below the belt. Towed the mower to the garage, checked oil level, found probably 1/3 quart of oil was lost from the leak. I was able to restart the mower, but did not try to use it. Has anyone had a similar experience. My Toro is 5ft zero turn, model 74244, about 450 hours. Can you tell me what could be wrong with the mower? Thank you. Hai

 

[bertsmobile1]

Wash the mower & engine best you can.
As you can still start the engine that eliminated a rod hanging out the side of the crank cases.
This leaves a few possibilities .
1) blown lower oil seal.
This will have the floor of the engine bay clean and oil dripping down the crank shaft onto the transmission drive pulley from where it will be flung everywhere
2) blown crank case gasket.
This will have oil all over the top of the engine bay floor but nothing above the crankcase split line
3) blown head gasket
This will have oil dripping from the block onto the engine bay floor
4) blown top oil seal
This will toss oil every where all over the engine because the fan will blow it every where.
5) leaking breather.
Again throws oil every where but very rarely will toss out a large amount of oil.

Find where and there are plenty on here who can fill in the why.

 

[HaiD]

Wash the mower & engine best you can.
As you can still start the engine that eliminated a rod hanging out the side of the crank cases.
This leaves a few possibilities .
1) blown lower oil seal.
This will have the floor of the engine bay clean and oil dripping down the crank shaft onto the transmission drive pulley from where it will be flung everywhere
2) blown crank case gasket.
This will have oil all over the top of the engine bay floor but nothing above the crankcase split line
3) blown head gasket
This will have oil dripping from the block onto the engine bay floor
4) blown top oil seal
This will toss oil every where all over the engine because the fan will blow it every where.
5) leaking breather.
Again throws oil every where but very rarely will toss out a large amount of oil.

Find where and there are plenty on here who can fill in the why.

After cleaning off the oil, I started the Kohler 23 HP engine but without engaging the mower deck, the oil seal looked dry. But when the mower deck was engaged, very quicky the oil seal looked wet and covered with oil. The oil seal is the front oil seal (not sure if it's front or rear seal). It's at the belt pulley end.
I will have the Toro dealer pick up the mower for repair. However, I would like to know what kind of work or labor involved. Do they have to tear the engine apart? etc. Thank you. Hai

 

[Rivets]

I'm willing to bet on a blown head gasket from what you described. If it is that, it usually takes me 1.25-1.5 hours labor plus parts to replace. Some say it should not take more than an hour, but I'm a little slow and have never had one come back.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Rivets is a bit better than me.
I charge 2 hours + parts and it usually takes a bit better than 3
But then I like to really clean everything before I start and that can take quite a while with some of the things that come into the shop

 

[Rivets]

I'll bet I'm not better, just that I do ALL mine in the shop, where I'll bet you do most on the road. Many times it will take 2+ hours depending on how dirty the unit is, as I too want a clean working area. Also depends on the type of exhaust system, as they can add 30 minutes alone if you have to remove them completely. Had one this summer which took 4 hours, because I had to remove the engine from the unit. So to the OP, it depends on the mechanic and what he has to do to solve the problem.

 

[HaiD]

I have several questions, most are obvious to the service technicians but not to my level of machine knowledge.
There are 2 oils seals mentioned in the parts catalog: front oil seal and PTO end oil seal. Is the PTO oil seal the one right next to the belt pulley, which is located at the very end of the mower?
This oil seal (next to the belt pulley) is protruding about 1/4 inch from the metal frame and it would rotate under a slight push of the finger. It should not be that way, correct? My local dealer does not have pick up service so my mechanic friend offers to help me if I decide to tackle to job myself. I have attached a photo showing the black seal. Many thanks in advance for your comments/suggestions.

Note:The pulley should be oriented upright and not horizontal in the photo.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Yes it is the PTO seal or Bottom seal as on a vertical it would be on the bottom.

The photo just about locks in Rivets suggestion.
You need a lot of pressure to blow the seal out like that and a blown head gasket / holed piston would be the prime suspects.
Also check the breather is not blocked off.

 

[caledwen]

Hi! I'm new to the site and happened across this thread while googling about my problem. I think I have a lower engine seal leak. What kind of hours am I looking at to get it repaired? It's on a 48" Toro Zmaster Commercial ZTR.

 

[Rivets]

As the posts suggest, 1.5-4 hours. Depending on what they find after cleaning and testing the unit. Lower oil seals many times are blamed for blown head gaskets, as both can result in oil pooling under the engine.