So Back a couple months ago I was mowing.... and in my fixed coma state of looking straight ahead I noticed a puff of smoke. As I woke up I noticed it again....uh-oh... I quickly stopped and gathered my thoughts. I wondered about the front seal. So I leaned over while still on the seat and looked down on the mower deck only to find some oil. At that point I throttled down and drove back to the shop. After pulling in and shutting down...my first reaction was I may just pull the engine and install a spare that I have. Once my cooler head prevailed I decided to just get after the seal. It was not bad. Approx an hour to get it out. The seal was pretty loose in the bore or front cover plate. I didn't need to run screws in like a normal extraction. I grabbed it with the tiny "dental" pick and it slipped right out. The seal had two things going on, a cracked lip and rather loose in the bore. I consider myself very lucky I didn't have two quarts of 30 weight laying on my lawn.
What made the job pretty easy was that I had been into this motor probably 5 years prior. The exhaust at that time was anti- seized up pretty well and that was the key to my hour long removal. I think we all know that rusty "nuts" are the enemy.
At that point stores were closed so as a safe guard I ordered one on amazon but planning to stop at the mower store the next day. I wasn't worried if I ended up with an extra.
Went back together just as smooth in about and hour and topped off the oil. All said and done the oil was maybe 4-6 ounces low. That was pretty exciting news. So to get back to my title...I'm guessing this would have been a very different ending had the engine been behind me and not seen the smoke signals.
The attachment IMG_20250622_115351887.jpg is no longer available
Out of order....but finished up ready for exhaust
IMG_20250623_163057066.jpg (3.22 MiB) Viewed 1030 times
Out of order....but finished up ready for exhaust
IMG_20250623_163057066.jpg (3.22 MiB) Viewed 1030 times
Attachments
PVC seal driver
IMG_20250623_161950082.jpg (4.3 MiB) Viewed 1030 times
Last edited by dag1450 on Fri Nov 28, 2025 1:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
127, 1650, 1572, 1872, 2072 . A mower, blower and blade for each.
Nice, always feels good to make them right again. I just helped a buddy a few weeks ago pull his and change the magneto and he did his leaky seal at the same time. His was loose in the bore as well, came right out with the pick just as yours did.
I myself would not really feel comfortable with staking the seal in. Put the prick punches away. Firstly it could be considered a destructive procedure. While that route may stop the seal from backing out it will really do nothing to correct a clearance issue. I had one of those blow clean out on a K single and the amount of smoke that produced was incredible all why only losing a few ounces of oil.
I think the best bet is to get yourself some Permatex Aviation Form- A- Gasket. Yes they still do make the stuff. It is thick and sticky and it is still that ugly brown color too. Wear latex gloves when applying it to your clean working surfaces. The cap does still include a dispenser brush inside. I think it would do a good job of filing any voids and after allowing it to set up it does harden unlike the various silicon based sealers that you can peel away with your fingernail.
Form-A-Gasket can still be found in auto parts stores but you may have to look around a bit. I'd head straight to NAPA which is where I picked up mine. Amazon may have it too.
I absolutely agree with Ken, staking permanently compromises the front cover while not addressing the clearance issue. Permatex #2 would also be acceptable for coating the outside diameter of the seal. Either one would do the trick.
I'd also caution against using a pipe that is too small in diameter as a driver. If you hit the seal anywhere but on its outside edge you'll dish it in and it starts life deformed and won't last as long. Sometimes better to use a brass drift with a good sharp edge and and just keep working around any high spots. You can also do that with the pvc driver that is a touch too small by only hitting where the pvc is biased towards the outside edge.
Yeah Ken..I love that goop! As a teenager one of my friends started calling it Camel snot....and that kinda stuck for me 40 years later.
I don't think I have a clearance issue...I'm more thinking it's a rubber aging issue. The 5 or 6 year old seal was ready to pop out. Probably one slight start up backfire and it would have been out. The new one went in with usual resistance. I didn't dare try the seal dry as I didn't want to make life hard and rip the thin outside rubber from the metal structure. I'm thinking back but I would say I put a film of oil in the bore. Your right though... maybe the aviation sealant would provide lube and then glue it in place. Then I could have painted a thin bead on the bore once the seal was installed to stop future pop outs. Idk if you can see it but the seal lip also had a crack.
I'm sure the heat right up front there is good for the rubber
127, 1650, 1572, 1872, 2072 . A mower, blower and blade for each.
I had the front PTO seal blow out on my 147. I have no idea why it came out. I put a new one in and that has been at least 15 years ago. The seal was not that old as I had overhauled the motor some years before. I use the stuff Ken mentioned. Some years ago I learned of that product via a factory gearbox tech who was at the plant for a large gearbox repair where I worked as a millwright. He said that is all they use on their large gearboxes. I am talking gearboxes that you split in half to work on.
http://www.zucksrototillers.com
There is only ONE ROTOTILLER.
147 with 48" mower deck & 42" QA snow thrower
70 with 42" mower deck, 42" blade, & Brinly 10" plow
