Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hi All,

I went to change the oil in my Toro today.  It has a long metal pipe with a thread on the end, and a nut that is supposed to be removed to drain the oil.  I thought to myself, this is great, nice and easy to reach, piece of cake.  Well, when I go to remove the nut, the whole pipe turns!  The other end is threaded too.  I tried to hold on to the pipe with a pair of pliers, but it still turns.  Am I doing something wrong?  I must be doing something wrong, why would they design it that way.  I have hit the nut on the end with WD-40 three times already.  Thanks for helping this mechanically challanged guy!

That's a common problem with small engines that use an extension pipe to drain the oil.  Both of my Tecumseh powered Craftsman machines did the same thing.  Get a large set of vice grips, lock them onto the tube tightly and put a wrench on the cap.  It will come off.  When you get it off and the oil drained, lighten the extension pipe snugly into the hole.  Put the cap back on and make sure it's snug but not too tight.  Keep an eye on the cap for  a few sessions to ensure it stays tight. 

Once you crack that extension loose in the crankcase, you'll probably need to remove and reseal it at some point. I've never had one that didn't leak after breaking it loose. Re-tightening doesn't seem to help. The crankcase end is supposed to have a thread locking and sealing compound, and the hex nut end, just a sealing compound (like pipe dope). Never seems to work like it's supposed to. If you haven't resealed it, keep a good eye on it.

PK

Thanks very much everyone for the excellent help.  I guess I need a better pair of vice grips.  My cheapo pair was not getting it done.  At least I know I'm doing the right thing now.

By the way, is there any harm in removing the whole pipe and draining the oil that way?  This way, I could more easily remove the nut on the end of the pipe.

 There's nothing wrong with removing the whole pipe.  The reason the pipe is on there is to make it easier (oh, the bitter irony!) to drain the oil.  You can just turn on the 'nut' and whatever comes off comes off.  It might be a bit messier to remove the whole thing, but don't worry about it.  When you put it back in you should use either teflon tape or pipe dope.  Make sure the tape or dope stays two threads away from the end of the threads on the pipe.  You don't want dope or tape getting into the crank-case. If you remove the whole tube you should do your best to try to clean inside it, just on the far-off chance that some crud manages to migrate back into the crank-case.

I.M.Mike

I'm having the same problem with my Simplicity snow blower I bought last winter. This is the first time I'm changing the oil in it and the dealer must have put the end cap on way too tight.  I tried tightening the tube a little hoping that would help it stay in place & with all my might applied the vice grips didn't help.  I hate to remove the whole tube because the oil will make a mess all over the snow blower and my lawn.  Any other helpful tips or tricks?  I was going to bring it back to the dealer with a little bit of anger directed at him but I just found out he retired and closed the business.

Chewy wrote:

Hey Chewy

It's only a mess. My blower only has a square drain plug, no tube. I change the oil on it once per year, and I remove the wheel from that side when I do it, tip it over into a drainpan and let it go. Drain the fuel beforehand. If you time it right, the only cost is a few paper towels to clean up the dribbles. I would never change oil on my lawn.

Once the tube's out, remove the cap on the end and thread it back in with some sealant finger tight, then with your vicegrips, tighten it one half turn. Finger tighten the cap and turn it a quarter turn. Refill with oil after the sealant has had time to cure and run it and keep an eye on it. Should be fine after that.

No need for anger with the dealer over that one :-) I am sure that unless he was miserable in the first place, he'd be happy to share knowledge with you.

John

I've had problems with drain pipes on almost every engine that I've had that had a pipe on it. My fix is similar to Johnnyboy's. I got around it by removing the pipe, put it in a vice, take off the end cap. clean up the end that goes into the engine. Soak it in varsol/gasoline to get all the oil off of it. Clean the hole in the engine as best as you can. I use a small tooth brush and a bit of varsol to wash out the threads. Then I wipe it out with a clean piece of thin rag wrapped around the tooth brush. When everything is nice and clean, I apply a gob of JB Weld to the threads of the pipe making sure that none gets into the engine. Thread the pipe in until it's tight and let it set up. I have to tell you that if the pipe threads and hole are clean, the JB Weld will make the pipe installation pretty much permanent.

I had a chipper that did the same thing...   I welded a tab to the pipe and bolted it to the frame,  for others  I have also installed a gate valve or ball valve.   Most of these are pipe thread..

Friiy

I attached a petcock to the end of the pipe, no more fiddling with the cap nut.