Briggs 23D

[Deazman]

I have an early B-10 with an oil leak around the front output shaft of the 23d. The leak starts once the engine is good and hot. Can the seal be replaced without tearing down the engine, and while it is still in the tractor? The leak is more of a nuisance than a problem. I am also interested in information regarding the crank case vent, I have a chilton manual but it is kind of vague. Is there a way to tell if it is working correctly, I would guess that on a 38 year old engine there is blow by and the increase in crank case pressure will force oil past the seals. My engine has an inline valve of some sort in the breather tube are these available?

[jrosenboom]

You can have that motor in and out in under an hour. You could try to pull it and blow out the breather. The 23d didn't have a tube going to the carb like the 243431 in the later B10. You could rig up a hose if you can come across a carb mounting from a later B10. The original hose just barely poked out from behind the shroud. If you had the engine out it wouldn't take much to replace the seal either!

[PatRarick]

The seal can be replaced without removing the engine. You can replace the seal where it is, or you can remove rear cover (four bolts) and replace it that way. As to the breather, I don't know what kind of valve would be in-line. The breather can be unscrewed from the engine and disassembled and cleaned. The breather itself is a one way valve. You should be able to blow through it from the threaded side, but you shouldn't be able to suck back (if you try this, take it apart and clean it first). Pat

[BLT]

Pat one of my parts books shows a breather with an extension hose on it that would go to the air cleaner pipe, I think. The part number is 67068.