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

I have an 9-year old Sears Craftsman snow thrower Model: 536.887752 with a Briggs & Stratton Intek Snow Over Head engine Model:12C314-0131-E1

http://bsintek.basco.com/BriggsDocumentDisplay/18mtvEXKnfBhU7y.pdf

In the process of getting it ready for upcoming winter I noticed engine oil on my shed floor. After removing the bottom cover plate of the thrower, oil was of course all over the inside of the plate. I inspected all drain plugs and bolts and made sure all was tight including the oil filler dipstick tube. Cleaned up oil and started her up and let it run for about 3 minutes. I noticed oil leak at front of engine toward auger side where engine is mounted to frame. I inspected some more but can't see anything outstanding. I don't see any cracks but oil seems to be coming from front bottom of engine where mounted to frame. The oil appears and runs on frame. I have included link to the engine parts list above. I don’t think it is oil seal Ref.#20 because I don’t see any oil dripping or running down from this area. I have checked and tightened the crankshaft cover bolts especially paying attention to the bottom three but the oil isn’t coming from there. What else should I look for? I am pretty handy and can certainly remove the engine and get into it. I just don't want to tear it apart any further if I don't have to. I already have the auger/impeller assembly separated as I have new belts and was going to replace them anyways. It would be nothing now to remove the engine if I have to. Any help you can give me to point me in the correct direction would be appreciated. I am starting to think the worst like the block is cracked underneath. Thanks so much!

Clean it up again, make darn sure you did not overfill the engine oil. Mine was leaking too and it was new. After checking run it again. Check around your fill tube.Briggs do not like me over full with oil . It builds up to much crankcase pressure and forces it out and can blow seals.

have you changed the oil recently? i have a briggs engine on a generator and i tightened the drain plug too tight and cracked the engine casting where the threads were machined.in your pdf file it would be illustration #1 part #15. on my engine when you looked at the underside below the drain plug it was not a solid base and the tapped drain plug threads didn't have much material on one side because the hole was tapped slightly off center. looking at the casting as it appears in the illustration you would beleave the base of the block were the drain plug is tapped would be solid. mine was not.

Does the engine have a crankcase ventilation tube running toward the carburetor area?  Is the suspect oil leak in the vicinity below the carb?  If it is, I suspect that the oil is coming from the crankcase ventilation tube due to being overfilled.  Take a close look for that.   If you have access to the output end of the crankcase ventilation tube, put a piece of paper towel around it and wire it on to keep it there.  Run the engine for a while to see if you get excessive oil accumulation there.