I have been having problems with my Craftsman riding mower leaking oil. I took it to a local repair shop and they were giving me ball park prices depending on what they find. One thing they mentioned is that if the blocked is cracked its time to hang it up and replace the engine. Is this true? Cant a cracked block be repaired? Thanks John
John, It's pretty hard to just 'crack' a block - especially on a little industrial motor like you have in your mower - I think they just want to sell you a new engine. I would say you could have a loose sump plug, maybe a few bolts loose in the bottom plate of the engine, or at worst, a worn-out crankshaft seal. First thing I would do is try another small-engine repair shop - they may have an entirely different story. Yes, a cracked block may be repairable, but if the engine has been abused enough for the block to sustain a crack there is probably a lot of other stuff wrong with it too - it would be real noisy and smoky. What brand of motor?? - if it's an American Briggs&Stratton it's fairly tough - if it's Chinese or Korean, maybe not so tough. Big Mick
Depending on the engine, a likely source is the oil filler pipe, it fits into the oil pan with an o-ring usually low enough to allow some to escape when the o-ring gets tired. Easy enough to fix. The first thing I would do is degrease the engine so you can see where it is coming from.
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