JD Snow Thrower 1028E

[Richard001]

Hi,

About a year ago I fixed, at least I thought I did, a friends 1028E thrower. It has a Briggs & Stratton 1450 snow series engine.

It was leaking oil from the output shaft end cover. After removing the cover, I found some really bad machining on the gasket surface of the cover. It looked like the cover was loose on the machine during manufacturing process and it gouged the surface.

I cleaned it up the best I could, put a new gasket on with some gasket sealer and bolted it together. Added oil and test run it several times. Did not see any leak.

Well today the guy stopped by with the thrower. It's leaking oil again. Not sure if it is in the same area, but it looks like it might be.

What I am wondering if anybody else has had problems with this engine. I looked on the internet for comments about this engine, and other than some really bad comments about John Deere in general, nothing about this engine.

 

[beenthere]

The oil leak is from the B&S engine, if I read that right.
Sounds like maybe trying to contact B&S regards the poor machining you discovered.

 

[Gator6x4]

Hi,

About a year ago I fixed, at least I thought I did, a friends 1028E thrower. It has a Briggs & Stratton 1450 snow series engine.

It was leaking oil from the output shaft end cover. After removing the cover, I found some really bad machining on the gasket surface of the cover. It looked like the cover was loose on the machine during manufacturing process and it gouged the surface.

I cleaned it up the best I could, put a new gasket on with some gasket sealer and bolted it together. Added oil and test run it several times. Did not see any leak.

Well today the guy stopped by with the thrower. It's leaking oil again. Not sure if it is in the same area, but it looks like it might be.

What I am wondering if anybody else has had problems with this engine. I looked on the internet for comments about this engine, and other than some really bad comments about John Deere in general, nothing about this engine.

I have seen JB Weld used to rebuild the cover seal area. Let the JB Weld dry or cure for a couple of days, smooth down to a smooth finish, install a new sealing gasket and the leak should stop. The crankshaft spins inside the gasket and the outer rim of the gasket remains stationary and never moves. A lot of the covers are damaged in the seal area by people trying to pry the seal out with a screwdriver rather than remove the cover and knock the seal out.

 

[Richard001]

Thanks for the input.

My friend is in contact with a JD rep, not a dealer. He tried the dealer when it first started to leak. They basically told him, "to bad", out of warranty.

The JD rep told him to take it to a dealer and have them check it out, and then get back to the rep. Well will see how that goes. I would be surprised if JD actually takes responsibility.

The JB weld is a good idea. Should have done that the first time.

I have attached a photo of the hacked machine job.

 

[Richard001]

Just to update this post. Found that the crankcase was full of gas and I guess that somehow the gas/oil mix was leaking out of the engine some place. Drained a half gallon of gas/oil out of the engine.

Not sure exactly how the gas got in there, but my guess is that since the gas cap only lets air in, pressure can build up in the tank and over come the resistance of the float and let more gas in. The carb is next to and above the intake so I can see how gas would get into the engine.

I added oil to the engine, started it up and ran it for a few minutes. I had wiped off all the oil from the frame so I was looking for any new leak. Did not see any, so I guess my first fixed worked.

Thanks for the input guys.