Kohler KT19 oil leak

[Al]

Hi, Above post is correct. I have probably seen 8 KT and; Mags over the years that "blew out the front seal. We have replaced the seals, [customer decision] and I have not seen one that didn't "blow up within a couple of months. Most of the time this is a result of excessive blow by that causes pressure build up in the crankcase. It takes a lot of blowby and it is a warning that soon there will be a hole in the crancase on the right hand side of the engine. The pistons & cylinders will have a lot of wear, with these pistons having such skirts, things come apart suddenly. Sorry to be a doomsayer, but if it was mine and I had any thoughts of rebuilding it I would tear it down and do it before it has to be a short block to fix it. Good luck, Al Eden

[MPH]

Sound like you mat have to take someone shopping in a sears lawn center to look at the cheapest thing there for 1700 bucks, kick the mower deck once, but not hard or you'll have to buy it, then you should be able to justify a brand new engine for your piece of IRON..MPH

[chuck.sikes]

I have a river of oil coming out of the front my Kohler engine. It seems to be coming out through the front shaft ( PTO?). According to the service manual there is a oil pressure relief valve inside. There is also a oil seal between the front plate and the engine housing. My question is, has anybody had this problem before? Can the relief valve fail causing oil to gush out. I did not see a oil seal listed that goes around the drive shaft, only around the engine casing. I rebuilt the bevel gear box last season and I hope this is a rather small type of repair so I can keep my tractor. thanks in advance Chuck

[HubbardRA]

Check your crankcase pressure relief. It is built into the access cover for the valves, behind/underneath carburetor. It is a small spring loaded disk. If this gets fouled with sludge and cannot move, the pressure inside the crankcase will blow oil out of any seal that will let it pass. If this is working, you could have bad rings letting too much cylinder pressure into the crankcase. Rod H.

[Sandy_Lake_Imp]

The crank seal is the likely leak source but do check the breather valve. The original design had a rubber diaghram that is prone to failure from the ex heat. This style has been replaced by one with a metal reed. A bad breather will allow air to be drawn into the crankcase & will be pushed out past the seals taking oil with it. We stock the seals and the breather. Bill

[chuck.sikes]

Is the breather valve different than the oil pressure relief that is behind the closure plate? Are the oil seals the ones that go between the closure plate and the casing? I have the Kohler service manual but it is kinda vauge and does not give a lot of diagrams or sketches. Is there a repair manual that is different than the service manual? I appreciate all this advice and I need to get the tractor up and running again.