1450 Oil Leaking 1974 Quietline

[Johnnyboy]

Hi all,
I am going to get to the bottom of this confusion hopefully with some help on the forum. I have had this tractor going on a year now and really have not gotten to know it as well yet as I was hoping due to other projects however I brought it home and the deck of my trailer had oil right under just from running it onto to bring home. The seller thought or just told me he spilled some while putting in fresh and it did not take long after having it off the trailer and running it around to the barn to find out it had a more serious leak than I bargained for.
A shop I had inquired within to ask about repair of a rear seal leak (which my old friend who has experience with 3 cubs of his own said was in the rear of the motor facing backwards towards the seat and said he has installed without removing) and the shop told me a couple hundred bucks maybe to do the work. Then someone told me go to this guy who does work out of his garage shop told me it was down underneath and would cost about 500 because the engine has to come out, taking about 5 hours labor and a 20 dollar seal. I had not even told him what model I had and I think he was real busy anyway and just quickly shot me that verbal quote.
I most likely would go back to the first shop to verify what they told me so I know. I just like to have an idea of what is really the problem and how it needs to be repaired of course before spending more hard earned cash.
Thanks for any help on the idea

 

[dschwandt]

Please post Cub related questions in the proper section.
Perhaps the mods will move this thread....

Charlie has the rear seal for $6.86
The engine needs to be out of the tractor as the blower housing and flywheel need to be removed to access the seal which is pressed into the bearing the plate.

It's a couple hour job at least depending on how clean you want to make everything.
Me, I'd spend an afternoon plus on it and do a good housekeeping and inspection while at it.
You will probably uncover more areas that need att'n such as the ISO mounts and other leaks and loose bolts such as pan bolts and leaky breather assl'y.

A clean machine is a happy machine!!

 

[hydroharry]

Johnnyboy - are you sure it's the rear seal and not the front seal?

I believe it's really more common for the front seal to fail on a 1450 that has a Kohler K321AQS engine. The front seal can be replaced without removing the engine. It requires removing the front electric PTO assembly - and to remove this it's probably easiest to just remove the lower grill casting along with the hood and upper grill casting as an assembly (remove 4 bolts holding it to the frame and disconnect the headlight wires). The service manual shows removing the electric PTO and steps involved in re-installing. This job should only take 1-2 hours and I suspect is what the first shop was referring to.

(I say this since there is alot of confusion as to which seal is the front and which is the rear seal. IH tractor terminology would make the seal on the flywheel side of the engine the rear seal - but for Kohler that would be the front seal).

If it's actually the rear seal leaking then I agree with everything David S mentioned above.

It should be fairly easy to figure out yourself which seal is leaking. Wipe off the bottom of the engine pan and flywheel shroud, and as much as you can reach of the area at the front of the block where the PTO is mounted - then run the engine for a little while, maybe 5 minutes at most (make sure you have oil in the engine to the full mark on the dipstick before you run the engine). Stop the engine and have a look underneath.

If it's the front seal where the PTO is located you should be able to see oil running down the front of the block to the pan (using a good pinpoint light. If it's the rear seal under the flywheel you'll have oil dripping from the flywheel shroud.

(As an aside - wonder where Charlie is??? Heard there were some real twisters up his way in the Tundra).

 

[Johnnyboy]

Please post Cub related questions in the proper section.
Perhaps the mods will move this thread....

Charlie has the rear seal for $6.86
The engine needs to be out of the tractor as the blower housing and flywheel need to be removed to access the seal which is pressed into the bearing the plate.

It's a couple hour job at least depending on how clean you want to make everything.
Me, I'd spend an afternoon plus on it and do a good housekeeping and inspection while at it.
You will probably uncover more areas that need att'n such as the ISO mounts and other leaks and loose bolts such as pan bolts and leaky breather assl'y.

A clean machine is a happy machine!!

Please post Cub related questions in the proper section.
Perhaps the mods will move this thread....

Charlie has the rear seal for $6.86
The engine needs to be out of the tractor as the blower housing and flywheel need to be removed to access the seal which is pressed into the bearing the plate.

It's a couple hour job at least depending on how clean you want to make everything.
Me, I'd spend an afternoon plus on it and do a good housekeeping and inspection while at it.
You will probably uncover more areas that need att'n such as the ISO mounts and other leaks and loose bolts such as pan bolts and leaky breather assl'y.

A clean machine is a happy machine!!

Thank you David, I like the sound of all that

 

[Johnnyboy]

Johnnyboy - are you sure it's the rear seal and not the front seal?

I believe it's really more common for the front seal to fail on a 1450 that has a Kohler K321AQS engine. The front seal can be replaced without removing the engine. It requires removing the front electric PTO assembly - and to remove this it's probably easiest to just remove the lower grill casting along with the hood and upper grill casting as an assembly (remove 4 bolts holding it to the frame and disconnect the headlight wires). The service manual shows removing the electric PTO and steps involved in re-installing. This job should only take 1-2 hours and I suspect is what the first shop was referring to.

(I say this since there is alot of confusion as to which seal is the front and which is the rear seal. IH tractor terminology would make the seal on the flywheel side of the engine the rear seal - but for Kohler that would be the front seal).

If it's actually the rear seal leaking then I agree with everything David S mentioned above.

It should be fairly easy to figure out yourself which seal is leaking. Wipe off the bottom of the engine pan and flywheel shroud, and as much as you can reach of the area at the front of the block where the PTO is mounted - then run the engine for a little while, maybe 5 minutes at most (make sure you have oil in the engine to the full mark on the dipstick before you run the engine). Stop the engine and have a look underneath.

If it's the front seal where the PTO is located you should be able to see oil running down the front of the block to the pan (using a good pinpoint light. If it's the rear seal under the flywheel you'll have oil dripping from the flywheel shroud.

(As an aside - wonder where Charlie is??? Heard there were some real twisters up his way in the Tundra).

Thanks Harry, I do believe it is the flywheel area

 

[danderson]

Pop the tin off the top of the head. Look down inside the blower shroud. If it’s all oily inside the blower that seal is bad. Have one on the bench right now. Seal was out of the bore and hanging on the crank.

 

[jgeorg]

It's not a really big job to remove the engine. Take some pictures along the way. It's gets easier after doing it after a few times. It's a good idea to check under the blower shroud for mouse nests etc that can block cooling and other things like David mentioned. I have a posting where mice did on number on my 1450 over winter.