Finally!! .. found the oil leak .. on Snowblower engine

[hmskl’dParticipant 6406]

this is embarrassing and I wouldn’t post this except that maybe, just maybe some other guy might have this same dilemma.

To make long story short .. early last Spring I bought new snowblower and changed engine oil soon after delivery. The engine oil of snowblower is super thin and it has had a slow drip from oil drain tube since I changed it. Funny thing is that it didn’t leak before changing even though oil was in there from factory.

I tried everything to fine that tiny leak .. searched where tube connect to engine .. removed and cleaned drain plug and washer several times .. even reversed washer and re tightened. It slowly leaked all summer and now .. because a good friend who is mechanic was standing there in garage as I changed oil again for this coming winter .. all it took was several seconds for him to solve problem.

I told him that there is a slow annyoing leak from drain tube and I’ve even seen others with same engine complain of this on forums .. no one seems to be able to solve the slow drip .. and it’s slow .. just a few drops per day.

… he said, did you replace “drain-plug crush washer” when you did oil change? .. I said I cleaned original washer and put it back on.
Nope, he said “washer needs replacing each time” and be sure it’s a copper or aluminum washer .. he took my washer and went over to his shop and came back with new copper washer. I installed the new washer and lightly tightened the drain plug ..

problem solved!!! no leak!!!

he said that each time you tighten oil drain line plug against washer it crushes slightly to form seal .. the slow leak you had was coming from old crush pattern on original washer.
It’s just like changing the valve on a water pipe and using a “Compression Fitting” .. crushes copper ring into pipe .. no leaks!

thanks to having a good friend who solve a months long problem in ten seconds .. and made me feel a little foolish for not seeing it myself. It was a good day!

[Crane CommanderParticipant 207]

Ya, that’s cool man. I’m a Maintenance kinda guy too. I’ve noticed in my friends relationships and marriages that maintenance on anything is completely overlooked. Guess why. The minute a guy wants to do something these bitches think automatically it’s a waste of time. C~~~s can’t even keep a car clean.

[WPLParticipant 2390]

Glad you found the root cause of the problem. Some people will say that crush washers can be reused once or twice (especially the flat style that look like a normal hardware washer, as opposed to the kind that sort of folds over onto itself), but I always replace them. One of my vehicles uses a crush washer, the other has a drain plug with an integral rubber washer — the latter always seeps a little oil.

[iMickey503Participant 12465]

I’m going to show ya’s a thing or two’s.

WIth Copper washers, you can reuse them again if you ANEAL THEM. It depends on the size of the washer, but the trick is to hand tight them.

After you change the oil, take the copper out, and heat it up with a blow torch. let it cool. This will work for a few times.

However, if you live in the rust belt? Leaky oil is a standard feature that keeps the thing from rusting 🙂

Glad to hear your buddy helped you fixed the problem.

I have this saying, if you ever want to become mechanology inclined.. By A Chrysler product. I’m damn near an engineer now.

You are all alone. If you have been falsely accused of RAPE, DV, PLEASE let all men know about the people who did this. http://register-her.net/web/guest/home

[Anonymous 1]

Interesting. I have never had a vehicle or tractor that used “crush washers.” I understand they are now commonly used in the 21st century. Most of the new cars I see have them.

All of my stuff always used flanged bolts with no washers at all. The one time my old car did start leaking I put some teflon tape around the bolt thread. Problem solved.

[Anonymous 1]

iMickey503 wrote:

I have this saying, if you ever want to become mechanology inclined.. By A Chrysler product. I’m damn near an engineer now.

Lol. The only Chrysler I had (actually my family had it when I was growing up). The piece of s~~~ was a never ending problem. Something was always failing on it.

I think it was designed specifically to frustrate mechanics. That was when I built up a tool collection and learned a lot about cars. If it wasn’t for that piece of s~~~, I probably wouldn’t be wrenching on stuff to this day.

[Author]

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