Oil particles in Tecumseh 10p engine

JC1

JC1

Joined
Nov 29, 2008
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6,783
Location
Oshawa, Ontario Canada
Hi guys, bought this snowblower the other week and I finally got around to draining out the oil. Old old was black and I did 3-4 short oil changes with some old 10w-30 to get the crud out of the engine. After the second drain I noticed a lot of metal particles in the oil. Not sure how old the engine is. Should I be concerned that somethings going to fail, or am I being paranoid?

The oil drain tube is a pain as well. Its only 5 inches long and hard to get vice grips on the end near the drain cap. I got it out and used red loctite and let it dry overnight and it still came out yesterday on the last oil change.
 
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Can you make your own drain with pipe/fittings? If there's room I like the put an elbow on the end and thread a pipe plug into that.

Just curious, is this an OHV Tecumseh?
 
The Loctite isn't going to hold unless the threads on both the tube and block are completely free of oil. Acetone or break parts cleaner on a rag works for this.
Metal in the oil? Like, how big? Just silver slime I wouldn't worry about. The first owner probably never changed the oil and it's likely left over from break-in.
If it runs good, I'd just fill it and run it.
 
JTK said:
Can you make your own drain with pipe/fittings? If there's room I like the put an elbow on the end and thread a pipe plug into that.

Just curious, is this an OHV Tecumseh?
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I went to home Depot looking for a longer pipe in the plumbing section. They only had 4 inch 1/4 NPT. they don't sell anything longer i was hoping to get a 6 inch pipe without I using a coupling. I'm not sure if it's OHV. I don't know enough about these motors.
 
CleanSump said:
The Loctite isn't going to hold unless the threads on both the tube and block are completely free of oil. Acetone or break parts cleaner on a rag works for this.
Metal in the oil? Like, how big? Just silver slime I wouldn't worry about. The first owner probably never changed the oil and it's likely left over from break-in.
If it runs good, I'd just fill it and run it.
Click to expand...
It's running good. Not big flakes but enough tiny bits throughout the drains that I did. I thought at the end it would have been hardly noticeable. Thanks for the advice on the brake cleaner I use that and reseal it.
 
Yeah I think my 7hp OHV Tecumseh powered snowblower was able to use a 4" nipple and elbow.

The engine will have a valve cover up top, kind of a L-shaped gas tank and a cage around the muffler if it's OHV. They're really sweet running engines. Mine is 21yrs old and still starts on 1-2 pulls. Original carb even.
 
This is the older style no cage on the muffler. It does start on 1-2 pulls. The electric starter is toast. I'm looking around to see if there are any other cheap engines/blowers with the same mower and a good starter for extra parts.
 
Good snowblower engines either way, flat head or OHV. I rehab'd a mice infested 8hp / 26" some weeks back. It started on 1 pull after I replaced the mouse chewed primer bulb hose. With the inop primer, it would only start with E-start.
 
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Pretty sure these engines shed oil all the time from new. I have a low hour 8.5HP Sno-King and even changing the oil out every other year or so (5-10 hours depending on the winters) you can get plenty of fine metal particles in the clean looking oil.
 
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JC1 said:
Hi guys, bought this snowblower the other week and I finally got around to draining out the oil. Old old was black and I did 3-4 short oil changes with some old 10w-30 to get the crud out of the engine. After the second drain I noticed a lot of metal particles in the oil. Not sure how old the engine is. Should I be concerned that somethings going to fail, or am I being paranoid?

The oil drain tube is a pain as well. Its only 5 inches long and hard to get vice grips on the end near the drain cap. I got it out and used red loctite and let it dry overnight and it still came out yesterday on the last oil change.
Click to expand...
if you can get your hands on some Blue Loctite 243 it is oil resistant and will allow it to be serviceable still if needed. The trick will be to apply more torque to the end of the pipe going into the block then the cap that goes on there. Maybe add an elbow to the end of the pipe so you are loosing the drain cap in a different plane then the pipe...?

You bought the machine used so do you have any idea on why the original owner was selling or the maintenance history? Maybe the oil was never changed before you did it. :eek:

I'd run it and see what happens. My old Tecumseh runs pretty darn good and isn't too fussy on oil either. I usually use 5W30 to aid in winter starting.

Just my $0.02
 
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tnt_motorsports said:
if you can get your hands on some Blue Loctite 243 it is oil resistant and will allow it to be serviceable still if needed. The trick will be to apply more torque to the end of the pipe going into the block then the cap that goes on there. Maybe add an elbow to the end of the pipe so you are loosing the drain cap in a different plane then the pipe...?

You bought the machine used so do you have any idea on why the original owner was selling or the maintenance history? Maybe the oil was never changed before you did it. :eek:

I'd run it and see what happens. My old Tecumseh runs pretty darn good and isn't too fussy on oil either. I usually use 5W30 to aid in winter starting.

Just my $0.02
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The previous owner only owned it for one year. He's retired and moved to a different house and they will use a atv with a plow on the front. Engine isn't the original engine. Appears to run fine on the second or third pull. I'll have to see how it does once the snow is here. I reinstalled the drain pipe with the red loctite after spraying a generous amount of brake cleaner on the threads. I have an oil extractor so I'll probably just use that going forward.
 
I wouldn't worry about the electric starter, I put one on my 26 year old 5hp Tecumseh about 15 years ago I haven't had to use it, the thing starts on the first pull every time. The only time it didn't was when the primer hose cracked at the carb, it had such a tight turn I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did.
 
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This is my opinion......If you think in your mind people do proper oil changes to OPE, you are wrong. Most top it off and leave it at that. There will be a thick sludge layer on the bottom of the crankcase. On Kohler K series or M series, I actually take the oil pan off and parts wash the pan, and solvent flush the inside of the engine. The amount of metal sludge is mind blowing.

If you get some clean white kerosene and just recirc it thru the engine with a cheap pump, that will save you from doing a tear down.
 
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Fordiesel69 said:
This is my opinion......If you think in your mind people do proper oil changes to OPE, you are wrong. Most top it off and leave it at that. There will be a thick sludge layer on the bottom of the crankcase. On Kohler K series or M series, I actually take the oil pan off and parts wash the pan, and solvent flush the inside of the engine. The amount of metal sludge is mind blowing.

If you get some clean white kerosene and just recirc it thru the engine with a cheap pump, that will save you from doing a tear down.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. I'll probably do more frequent oil changes on this snowblower. I'll try the kerosene flush next year. I was just concerned that this motor might self destruct with that much metal in it, but it sounds like it will be ok.
 
JC1 said:
Thanks for the advice. I'll probably do more frequent oil changes on this snowblower. I'll try the kerosene flush next year. I was just concerned that this motor might self destruct with that much metal in it, but it sounds like it will be ok.
Click to expand...

instead of using kerosene, does a inexpensive oil make more sense to flush? Say Super Tech full synthetic 5W20 and run it for a half hour or so, then dump and fill with the recommended oil viscosity? Hopefully the thinner full synthetic will help clean up anything you are worried about. You might even want to consider doing this during the winter if your usage isn't too terribly long.

just my $0.02
 
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I already did that a few times. Started with some 10w-30 that I got for free then switched to 5w-20/5w-30 frankenbrew of VWB/Valvoline syn power.
 
Snow blowers don't accumulate a lot of hours outside of commercial use, even in Canada. Just give it some good oil like a synthetic 5w-30 and go about your life with hippieness.
 
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With any Snow King you keep oil level Full if they come apart you can bet the homeowner didn’t check or make sure it was topped off.
 
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