T1460 Kawasaki 12.5 hp Engine Oil Leak

[AC Orange]

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I have a 15 year old Kubota T1460 with the 12.5 hp Kawasaki engine. Good lawn mower except that this season it has developed one heck of an oil leak that is coming from somewhere around the lower mid level of the engine. Looking at the engine diagrams it looks like the crankcase is 2 pieces with the parting line somewhere around mid-level. Could the oil leak be a possible blown out gasket at the crankcase parting line ? Or is there something else down in there that is a known spot to develop leaks ?

Thanks in advance for any advice offered ......

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[motorhead]

I have a 25 year old John Deere mower with the 6.5 Kawasaki engine. I have had to split the engine twice to replace the gasket between the case halves. It isn't as daunting as you would think to do.

 

[AC Orange]

I have a 25 year old John Deere mower with the 6.5 Kawasaki engine. I have had to split the engine twice to replace the gasket between the case halves. It isn't as daunting as you would think to do.

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Reviving an old thread here......

Well, I made it through the end of last mowing season by carefully monitoring the oil level. Now I'm about to pull the engine for the gasket replacement. Would you by chance know what the torque values are for reassembling the case halves ? Thanks in advance for any advice offered......

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[motorhead]

Here is a handy dandy metric bolt torque chart. Remember that when they refer to a bolt such as a "M-6" the 6 means the SHANK size of the bolt not the WRENCH size to tighten it. An M-6 or 6 millimeter bolt usually takes a 10 mm wrench. Inch pounds like the chart shows for the smaller bolts can be converted to foot pounds by dividing the value they give by 12.
http://www.cncexpo.com/MetricBoltTorque.aspx

With ALL that technical said and even being a mechanic for 47 years, I just tightened them criss cross, across the case by hand without a torque wrench.

After you take the case half off, remove the oil pump from the outside of the case and don't reinstall it until the case is back together. The pump has to engage a gear and I think some tabs.
Where mine leaked was where the bottom of the cylinder met the engine case. There is a span where they obviously couldn't have had another bolt to secure the case because of the cylinder. Clean the area real WELL (READ THE NEXT STEP CAREFULLY)
I CAREFULLY, with a small pointed center punch, LIGHTLY center punched a row of dimples across the span where the gasket had leaked. I installed the new gasket with some good sealer like KW Copper Coat in the dauber can, NOT SILICONE, and let the sealer tack set so the gasket wouldn't slide BEFORE I reassembled it. The center punch dimples helped to hold the gasket in place as well as raising the metal surface for a better clamp. I haven't had a leak since

 

[Stumpy]

Oooo I like that idea. I'll have to remember that.

 

[AC Orange]

Here is a handy dandy metric bolt torque chart......[snip]

http://www.cncexpo.com/MetricBoltTorque.aspx

[snip]...... I haven't had a leak since

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Thanks for your great reply. Super tip on the dimpling. I even have some copper coat type sealer on the shelf. I restore old classic cars as a hobby and occasionally use steel shim type head gaskets and I always coat them with the copper sealer before installing. Thanks again !

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[motorhead]

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Thanks for your great reply. Super tip on the dimpling. I even have some copper coat type sealer on the shelf. I restore old classic cars as a hobby and occasionally use steel shim type head gaskets and I always coat them with the copper sealer before installing. Thanks again !

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You're welcome. You sound like an old school guy like me. I'm 60 and started wrenching when I was about 12-13yrs old. Screwed a lot of stuff up by not knowing what I was doing. My Dad was in Aerospace industry in the 50's through mid 80's He took several things that I may have botched up to work and had them repaired/welded/fabricated. I started in a VW/Porsche repair shop when I was 14. I always watched the "Old Guys" and how they fixed or modified things. Dimple the case enough to hold the gasket and a few coats of the copper coat set up to a DRY tack should do the trick. If you have sometime, do the initial tightening of the case, let it set overnight or longer and re tighten them again BEFORE you install the engine back into the chassis. Obviously be careful too when you remove the case half to have the engine with the flywheel down so the cam doesn't fall out or anything else.

 

[Stubbyie]

I'm responding to continue the conversation about gasketing. Also turns out I'm in the approximate same age group, come up through the oilfield.

Turns out I have some curiosity left in me...

I've used what I think is an equivalent material: Form-A-Gasket #3 Aviation Soft-set on both sides of gaskets especially in small engines. Also PTO-driven pumps, bushhogs, Ford power steering pumps, Chevy fuel pumps, assorted other stuff. Have even got by once or twice using thick gloppy Kopr-Kote (micronized copper and graphite in heavy grease) thread sealant.

In the last ten years or so I've gradually veered toward room-temp vulcanizing (RTV) gasket makers---'copper' (it isn't) for high temp exhausts and gray for just about everything else. Used gray on Kubota gearboxes for example no problem and also drippy Kohler valve covers in place of O-ring gaskets.

I can see being careful and not creating a big glop "inside" --potentially floating or obstructing--the system, but why Mr. Motorhead, do you stipulate in your post in caps, "...no silicone."?

Like I said, just curious. And rest assured I'm not one to argue with success. But if I'm overlooking something I'd much rather learn this way than after I get it back together.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and response.

 

[lsmurphy]

Silicone should be banned.

Permatex Ultra Black is the stuff to use.

 

[motorhead]

I'm responding to continue the conversation about gasketing. Also turns out I'm in the approximate same age group, come up through the oilfield.

Turns out I have some curiosity left in me...

I've used what I think is an equivalent material: Form-A-Gasket #3 Aviation Soft-set on both sides of gaskets especially in small engines. Also PTO-driven pumps, bushhogs, Ford power steering pumps, Chevy fuel pumps, assorted other stuff. Have even got by once or twice using thick gloppy Kopr-Kote (micronized copper and graphite in heavy grease) thread sealant.

In the last ten years or so I've gradually veered toward room-temp vulcanizing (RTV) gasket makers---'copper' (it isn't) for high temp exhausts and gray for just about everything else. Used gray on Kubota gearboxes for example no problem and also drippy Kohler valve covers in place of O-ring gaskets.

I can see being careful and not creating a big glop "inside" --potentially floating or obstructing--the system, but why Mr. Motorhead, do you stipulate in your post in caps, "...no silicone."?

Like I said, just curious. And rest assured I'm not one to argue with success. But if I'm overlooking something I'd much rather learn this way than after I get it back together.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and response.

You have brought up a good question and I will give my personal experience with silicone sealers on this particular application.
I have found that silicone CAN make the gasket slippery and have had experiences where upon torquing down the pieces I am assembling, the gasket moved out of where I wanted it.

I DO use silicone on many things that I work on because a lot of automotive sealing functions use only silicone as the gasket. The first time I resealed my Kawasaki engine on the john Deere mower I have, I used silicone with the gasket and it slid out on me and I was repeating the same chore the next mowing season. I have tried silicone on cork valve cover gaskets and had the same dismal results of the gasket sliding when tightened. I appreciate the question... With absolutely no dis respect, If it works for you, use it. I personally haven't had good results with it on certain gaskets.

 

[AC Orange]

I have found that silicone CAN make the gasket slippery and have had experiences where upon torquing down the pieces I am assembling, the gasket moved out of where I wanted it.

The first time I resealed my Kawasaki engine on the john Deere mower I have, I used silicone with the gasket and it slid out on me and I was repeating the same chore the next mowing season. I have tried silicone on cork valve cover gaskets and had the same dismal results of the gasket sliding when tightened.

I personally haven't had good results with it on certain gaskets.

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Guess I'm a wee bit of a geezer myself at 62. Besides restoring old cars, I have also done a few old AC tractors. Like you, I have had a few abysmal failures using silicone on some gaskets (especially those cork valve cover gaskets). Thanks for the great pointers ! I was really wondering what to expect as far as parts falling out when I separated the case halves.

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