Hi all, Not being very familiar with small engines gone bad I was hoping someone here could help. I have a 2 year old Ariens snowblower that is leaking oil. At first, it was from the tube highlighted in the red box so I reattached it to where I thought it goes. Is that the correct spot?

When I did that oil leaks from the area highlighted in the green box. The engine seems to be running fine but I'm wondering if this is something I can fix or should I bring it to a professional?

(As background, the engine was running very rough and barely idleing. Probably due to bas gas. At least that was what I was told. I ran carb cleaner through, replaced the gas, and cleaned the spark plug. Engine is running much better now but is leaking oil. Im not sure whether or not I caused this by "tinkering" with the low idle.)

Thanks in advance!

This post also belongs under the 4-cycle heading as this is not a 2-cycle engine.

To answer your question, no the tube is not hooked up correctly, it does not plug into anything and should just hang down, it's the oil breather tube. Now that it's plugged into something you are getting excess pressure in the crankcase and that is why oil is coming out of the governor shaft. Unplug the hose and just let it hang down. If oil is leaking out of the tube then it's possible the engine is overfull of oil, another possiblility is a faulty oil breather valve and or a plugged drain in the breather assembly, this is located in the assembly the tube is attached to on the engine block.

Go to the sticky thread in the 4-cycle section (helpful links) there you will find a link that will allow you to download a service manual for your engine.

Best of luck..... :thumbsup:

Hollar back if you have anymore questions

yup looks like a breather tube that should just hang there and not be connected to the carb . 30 is right on with ideas

Thanks guys for the responses so far! With the breather tube unattached, and oil shooting from it, I was afraid I would run all the oil from the engine. I will detach it today and see what happens.

How long should I let it run if oil continues to run from the tube. Will it stop after 15 secs..a minute? At what point should I just turn off the engine and look to the breather valve or plugged drain as suggested?

Thanks again!!

I wouldn't fool with it any more, do as 30year suggests, remove the oil breather ass'y, there's only two screws. In a lower corner of the cavity will be a small hole where oil can drain back into crankcase, make sure it's open. If it was clogged, reinstall breather and try running again. If it was open you may have to buy new breather ass'y, I've never had much luck in trying to clean them up.
If we had the model, spec of engine, we could help with part no.
hope this helps,
thanks,

Ok, I did as suggested and removed the front of the breather assembly. Please see attached picture. It doesn't appear to me that anything is clogged. Should I remove that plate with the 9 nines to inspect for a clog? Do I need a new breather assembly? What's next?

Thanks for the "hand holding" on this one fellas! I hope I'm not in over my head!

Engine Specs:

Tecumseh Snow King
Model: OHSK110
Spec: 221735D
Engine Family: 3TPXS.3182AF
DOM: 03303CH0955

Thanks again!!

Did you check your oil level?

Make sure it's not over full.

Take the rest of the oil breather out of the engine and inspect the valve assembly in it.

Service Manual Link:
http://www.cpdonline.com/695244a.pdf
See pages 64 & 74 for information concerning the oil breather.

This must be another Government Conspiracy, that engine is entirely too clean and the photos are too clear. Have a good one. Geo

Sorry folks, I just had to say that.

Too funny! I guess I should mention that my other hobby is photography and the engine is only two years old.

I will get back to work on it tomorrow but I did read through the service manual (thanks 30 year) and I believe it mentioned something about clogs, etc if the engine is tilted. Come to think of it, I did lay the snowblower completely on its side at one point while I was attempting to see what was going on. I'm guessing that is a BAD idea???

no, it isn't a bad idea, no matter what when you tip a motor on its side thats full of oil, some oil is going to creep its way up the cylinder wall, and once the piston starts moving, it sucks it up and burns it.

what I would do is check my oil level also, because if its too high, than it will blow it out the breather tube until it gets to where its supposed to be, but than you have a mess!

i have an old ariens snowblower with an hm80 tecumseh engine that siezed up what would be a good replacement engine