2165 oil from breather

[200_Buck_2165]

Hello all, first time poster. I recently had the luck of stumbling on a HDS 2165 from my parents neighbor, with a 48" deck, for a mere $200. The mower has had a rough life of sorts, it sat outside all it's life as the guy (computer wiz) couldn't fit it in his shed, so it's faded, but it runs like a top and came with a brand new battery and new blades on the deck. It has been serviced every year by the local Cub Cadet dealer, and other than cosmetically looking a bit old (missing stickers and faded, paint on the lower hood sides starting to bubble from rust) it's a steal in my book.

The problem it has is oil from the breather hose collecting in the airbox and then soaking the air filter. Once in a blue moon it puffs a bit of smoke, but this is only from the oil buildup around the carb opening and it sucks in a drop of oil.

Has anyone had the same problem????? I doubt it's the engine worn out as it starts up with no smoke whatsoever cold, and is ultra quiet when hot, the quietest rider I've ever owned.

I'm probably going to get a crankcase vent from the local harley shop and run the hose into a 20 ounce soda bottle rather than into the airbox. I cut the grass with it and only got a couple of drops up top, but my son rode it around for a half an hour and the air filter was wet across from the breather tube. Granted he kept bouncing off the seat and the engine cut off from the safety switch briefly, and this may have caused it to be worse, but ?????????????

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[JTKub]

Which engine? Some will spit engine oil from the breather if even slightly overfull of oil. Other than that, maybe trace the breather hose to where it originates from the block/sump, there may be a baffle box with a reed valve/check valve setup in there that is not seating properly. Good find for the money!!
G/luck
Joel

 

[200_Buck_2165]

Whoops, sorry it's the B/S Vanguard 16 horse twin. I was wondering if they had a baffle / guard, just havn't had time to tear the filter pan off and look under it. I'll cross my fingers that it's the culprit.

Does anyone know what cranking cylinder pressures would be or should be on the 16 horsepower Briggs Vanguard?

Thanks for the reply. I kind of fell into this deal. The guy was frustrated with having to get it worked on all the time (small stuff like switches and belts, all from sitting around in the weather). It was running ultra rich, or kind of running and he said that the motor was shot because of ""black smoke"" coming out the exhaust. Being an auto mechanic helps anyone realize that black smoke is fuel, so I figured that I would have to rebuild the carb, no big deal. So I limped it home, actually had to push it the last 100 yards. I took the air cleaner off as it was wet with oil, and to check that the choke wasn't stuck in the on position, and fired it up for the heck of it. Ran like a new tractor! Put a new filter on it, and it absolutely purrs! However the oil is getting on the air filter again /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I changed the oil even though the filter still had the dealer's Feb 2005 date written on it. She's now got 450-ish hours on her.

I'll look into the baffle / breather valve tomorrow for sure.

 

[200_Buck_2165]

Well there is indeed a breather box that has a reed valve in it. It does not appear to be stuck either open or shut.

The fix I came up with was to insert tubing into the breather tube where it dumps out inside the air cleaner, and drill a hole in the air cleaner lid (not the clamp down airbox cover, the metal circle that the wing nut holds the air filter down with) and ran the hose out of the air cleaner, out of the hole in the corner of the airbox, and down the back right side of the engine.

After running it for 25 minutes around the yard, there is a noticeable pulse from the hose, but no smoke and not one drop of oil. Maybe the hose going up a couple of inches to get out of the air cleaner is keeping the oil draining back into the engine, if and when it gets a little oil through the breather.

I'm not sure that it isn't from oil sloshing up to the breather and being expelled by the blowby from the crankcase when hitting bumps.

So now "if" it does let a bit of oil out, I just have to come up with a mount for a small soda bottle to use as a resevoir to catch the oil at the end of the hose. No more oil soaked / clogged air filters for me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif No more puff of smoke from the oil pooling in the bottom of the airbox. Crossing fingers for no more oil getting out period with the hose extended and going up instead of the outlet being level with the ground (so to speak as in level in the airbox in relation to the ground).

I'll run it a few more times and post pics and or results as I get them.