Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR

   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #31  
Your friend has a cracked block/head or blown head gasket that is allowing coolant to get in the oil.
Its air cooled so no coolant to get into the oil.
 
   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #32  
Water can get into the crankcase thru condensation. As the unit sit in the crate or on display the air changes temperature of course cooling and heating of the engine will cause moisture to form and will drain into the oil. Remember the crankcase is not closed to the atmosphere and air can freely enter and exit. Condensation inside an engine is exacerbated when an engine is started cold and not allowed to warm up before it is shut down, and is especially bad when it is done repeatedly and the oil does not got hot enough and long enough to "boil" the water out of the oil.
As for smoke at start up. This is very common on vertical engines. Oil lying in the cylinders can go one of two ways depending on the position of the engine. It can run back into the sump or it can slowly seep past the rings and can be made worse if the ring gap is on the bottom. even if that being the cause of the smoke it will clear quickly and have no affect on performance or life of the engine .
I noticed the op stated it was a new mower to him but did not say anything about the manufacture date of the mower. Read the first of the sn to determine that. It could be last years model which would have more temp fluxuations with more chance of condensation.
 
   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #33  
Does it seem like condensation would result in that much froth? Could rainfall have entered or something else?
 
   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #34  
Does it seem like condensation would result in that much froth? Could rainfall have entered or something else?
Actually all the above are possible.
 
   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #35  
Water can get into the crankcase thru condensation. As the unit sit in the crate or on display the air changes temperature of course cooling and heating of the engine will cause moisture to form and will drain into the oil. Remember the crankcase is not closed to the atmosphere and air can freely enter and exit. Condensation inside an engine is exacerbated when an engine is started cold and not allowed to warm up before it is shut down, and is especially bad when it is done repeatedly and the oil does not got hot enough and long enough to "boil" the water out of the oil.
As for smoke at start up. This is very common on vertical engines. Oil lying in the cylinders can go one of two ways depending on the position of the engine. It can run back into the sump or it can slowly seep past the rings and can be made worse if the ring gap is on the bottom. even if that being the cause of the smoke it will clear quickly and have no affect on performance or life of the engine .
I noticed the op stated it was a new mower to him but did not say anything about the manufacture date of the mower. Read the first of the sn to determine that. It could be last years model which would have more temp fluxuations with more chance of condensation.
We had a Husqvarna HUV that was run a lot and never long enough to "burn" moisture out of the oil. Don't remember all the issues but condensation caused a lot of problems especially in winter.
but yes it could be possible for water to enter by rain or pressure washing or even under the edge of a roof.
 
   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #36  
I'm getting to where I don't trust ANY dealers . . .

Bought a brand new Husqvarna riding mower from an authorized dealer, their "dealer setup" consisted of pushing it onto my trailer so I could take it home. It wasn't even correctly assembled at the factory. I've been over it from front to back several times and now it is just beginning to be OK other than the stuff that vibrates off and breaks in normal operation. (It leaves a trail of parts behind it . . . I should probably dip the whole thing in Loctite.)

Friend of mine bought a stump grinder from a well known attachment supplier. Not cheap, either. ZERO instructions or directions, the gearbox was bone dry. I noticed that none of the grease fittings had been lubricated and asked if maybe we ought to check the gearbox oil . . . sales department knew naaathing, didn't even know where to find a manual. For what just one of those gearboxes costs, they could have printed 10,000 stickers saying "Add oil."

Acquaintance took his BMW motorcycle to an authorized dealer to have the rear wheel bearings replaced. Wheel locked up ten miles later, bike went down, the bearings hadn't been greased. Mechanic said "You never told me you wanted the bearings greased!" Acquaintance needed a lawyer after he got arrested on a charge of assault.

This one is cute - I have a 35 foot tower on the back of my hangar with a wireless internet antenna on top of it. Internet guy had an "intern" who didn't have enough sense to tie his own shoes. The "intern" had to remove a brace near the top of the hangar, and said he had replaced the bolt. Only thing was that I *knew* he hadn't been in the hangar, and the nut was lying on the floor, the bolt was just shoved back into the hole. If the internet guy had climbed the tower THAT DAY, it would have fallen to the ground and him with it.

I took a ladder, replaced the nut and tightened it properly, so the tower is now safe to climb. Idiot kid could have hurt or killed his boss . . .

I now ALWAYS double check anything anyone does on any of my "stuff". There is simply too much incompetence and "don't care" out there to trust my life or wallet to.

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida
 
   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #37  
I live in South Carolina and I've never had water in my oil. Our humidity and temp changes are as bad as anywhere. If they didn't do something about it I would have it air dropped in the center of their showroom or....you could get a lawyer.
 
   / Am I crazy? Chalky oil in crankcase - 1 Hr old - Husqvarna ZTR #38  
I live in South Carolina and I've never had water in my oil. Our humidity and temp changes are as bad as anywhere. If they didn't do something about it I would have it air dropped in the center of their showroom or....you could get a lawyer.
Agree - what does it weigh? We ought to drop it from WAY high, remember F=M*A.

Best,

Mike
 
 
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