# Whine and oil spew



## Sloppydrippins (Apr 3, 2009)

I got a john deere lx277 riding mower here, and all of a sudden the engine made an intermittent loud whine then went away. I tested the deck but as soon as I engaged the blades I started seeing oil spray outward from underneath. I immediately shut it down and started looking for where the oil was coming from. Could this be something like a lower seal or bearing that just went south?


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## MrChooks (Apr 19, 2008)

:wave:Hi & welcome to TSF.

Yes - your description certainly sounds like a bearing collapse and consequent oil seal failure.

You did the right thing by shutting down immediately - that limits any secondary damage to the shaft and / or crank housing.

Suggest you pull the engine out and it should be pretty clear where the oil is coming from.

Assuming its the lower bearing on the crank - whilst a bit of a fiddle to replace - not a huge job and the parts (you will need a new bearing, oil seal and lower crank case gasket) are pretty cheap.:grin:


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## Sloppydrippins (Apr 3, 2009)

Excellent. I'm glad my instincts proved somewhat reliable. I can probably do that bearing swap myself. Now to find out where to get those parts...


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## MrChooks (Apr 19, 2008)

:wave: Sloppydrippins 

Easy :grin:- any bearing shop will have (or will easily get them for you) both the replacement bearing and oil seal) Just take the old ones with you and they will get an exact match from the numbers on the side.

The engine gasket will need to be sourced from a B&S (or who ever made your engine) dealer - but as a rule - the bearings and seals are much cheaper if sourced from a bearing shop.:tongue:

Just a final tip - as it seems the bearing (probably the cage inside) has collapsed - when you have the side of the engine off - take a few moments to thoroughly clean out the sump to make sure there are NO LITTLE BITS OF METAL left floating around in there :4-thatsba before you close it all up again.


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## Sloppydrippins (Apr 3, 2009)

Oh ok, not knowing exactly upfront of what all it would entail tackling this fix myself.. it already sounds like I have to pull the two halves of the engine apart.. that would explain the engine gasket. This is a FH500V-BS11 Kawasaki v-twin 17 horse mill. I found a good site already with the parts... thanks again for all the info.

http://www.j-thomas.com/catalog/174_kawasaki_engine_fh500v.html


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## MrChooks (Apr 19, 2008)

:wave: sloppydrippings - I am not intimately familiar with this engine - but you should be able to do this job by only removing the lower crankcase cover. With a bit of luck there should be no need to dismantle the whole engine.


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## Sloppydrippins (Apr 3, 2009)

Oh, no way man! I'd know when I was in over my head. That website I linked shows an exploded view of that engine and at the very bottom are those parts you were mentioning.


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

I checked the drawings and read the parts list but I did not find any bearings. I located the seals, but no bearings.... not even connecting rod bearings. I will recheck.

Slops might have to do a partial teardown to id the components. Hope it doesn't involve replacing the lower case. Dunno..... I always wore the mowers out.


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## Sloppydrippins (Apr 3, 2009)

There's a place here in town that sells a bunch of John Deere parts. I can probably get it there or at least get it ordered. I hope I don't have to tear it down _too_ far, as I have not overhauled a V twin as of yet. I'd need some kind of manual I would think.


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## MrChooks (Apr 19, 2008)

:wave: SABL is (as usual) correct ray: - I just checked the drawings and it seems this engine has no ball races - seems to use bearings built into the crank case. 

So, that being the case - it is hard to imagine the crank case bearings would cause a scream noise - but leaking oil on to your main drive belts would.

So maybe your problem is confined to simply a leaking lower oil seal. If it were leaking oil on to your belt/s - they tend to slip and scream.

Check to see if your belts are oily - if they are and you want to test - try washing them thoroughly with hot water and detergent and reinstall. 

As your engine doesn't seem to have ball bearing in the crank case - there should be little risk of further damage by running the engine for a little while - so with clean belts - see if they start to squeal again after a little while. If they do you will have identified where the noise is coming from - BUT you still need to replace the lower oil seal/s:sigh::sigh:

This isn't a difficult job - but you will need a pair of spring clip pliers to release the spring clips that hold the seals in place


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

Hi MrChooks:wave:

I thought I made a better post after rechecking the exploded view. Now I remember:grin: Don't know why but we lost the electric for an hr or 2. Might have been a vehicle..... fire and rescue went by the house a few minutes later.

Good point about the beltray: I haven't had to do any serious maintenance for years and I am slipping:grin: I just make sure the oil level is up before reaching for the key. Change the oil W/filter and clean the air filter at the beginning of the season. 

Let's hope Slops has a bad seal..... I did check the prices on his link:sigh: He did say it was pouring oil...... I hope it wasn't after he added some. 

PS. How'd the IFR go?? You mean the Piper isn't a pull start??:laugh: I can see someone trying to pull start it:4-thatsba


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## Sloppydrippins (Apr 3, 2009)

A few other people get to use this mower. After most of these posts yesterday I found out that one of the guys had drained all the oil but hadn't replaced it yet. And apparently some oil and been spilled, which was spun around by that belt down below. Having at least some experience with engines, usually a whine from a bearing doesn't go away until you replace it. We may not have an oil leak at all. I've been able to share this mower with some people but now we got a ******* using it too. I think I might have to buy my own. Thanks for your input, fellas. Long live the forum!


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

I hope I didn't read your post correctly. It sounds like the engine was fired up without oil. In most engines the rod and main bearings have no moving parts.... no rollers or balls. They are simple bushings with enough clearance to provide room for a film of oil to lubricate the actual moving parts. These bearings can make noise if they run dry but if no substantial damage has occured the noise will go away when oil is reintroduced to the surfaces of the bearing. 

Your own mower might be a good idea. Choose wisely and consider what tasks you have in mind ..... if you only intend on cutting grass, then keep it that way and buy a machine designed for it. I went through 3-4 lawn tractors and wasted way too much time just cutting grass. I now use a commercial machine that only cuts grass..... what used to take 8hrs now takes 2hrs. The machine should last about 30yrs at current rate of use. I am getting ready for season #5 with 226hrs on the meter.... Do the math.....I saved 678hrs over the course of 4 seasons. Cut fuel consumption by at least 50% and only 1 oil change per season due to low hours.

If you have use for a garden tractor, buy the garden tractor. If you are only cutting grass get a machine that only cuts grass. A good unit may cost more in the way of initial investment but the long term savings far outweigh the extra cost.


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