DeltaNu1142 28 #26 Posted July 14, 2025 (edited) 3 minutes ago, lynnmor said: I saw the excellent maintenance by the previous owner, he probably just tossed it. The air filter? Yeahhhh... I intend to get it caught up on everything. Edited July 14, 2025 by DeltaNu1142 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lynnmor 8,836 #27 Posted July 14, 2025 7 minutes ago, DeltaNu1142 said: I didn't set out to do it, but I ended up changing the oil... 1.9 qts Valvoline 5W-30 full synthetic & a WIX 51394XP filter. The oil was low... it came out looking OK, if a little thin. No shiny stuff. I rode around a bit and that seems to have been the cause of my temperature problems. Your engine is to have SAE 30, 10W-30 or 10W-40 oil. I wouldn't run the 5W stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeltaNu1142 28 #28 Posted July 14, 2025 1 minute ago, lynnmor said: Your engine is to have SAE 30, 10W-30 or 10W-40 oil. I wouldn't run the 5W stuff. Ah, you're right. I'm looking right at the chart. I wrote it down wrong earlier and put it in my maintenance log as 5W. I'll change it out next chance I get. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lynnmor 8,836 #29 Posted July 14, 2025 5 minutes ago, DeltaNu1142 said: Ah, you're right. I'm looking right at the chart. I wrote it down wrong earlier and put it in my maintenance log as 5W. I'll change it out next chance I get. If you won't be working it hard, not a problem. Of course an early oil change to clean up from the PO is a good thing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 16,728 #30 Posted July 15, 2025 2 hours ago, lynnmor said: Yes, you oil the foam filter. From the manual: Well dang, I missed that too! Thanks you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeltaNu1142 28 #31 Posted July 16, 2025 (edited) I brought the tractor to a local shop yesterday to have the tire put on. I just don't have the time to mess with it at the moment. I should have it back today. I did put on the new air filter before I dropped it off. RE: oil leak... with the engine clean(er), I hope to be able to find out where it's coming from. I can say that... the oil filler cap doesn't make any sense to me. It fits extremely tight, and doesn't thread on. It's press-fit. That makes me wonder if oil is seeping by. I should be able to tell if that's the case. The valve cover gasket on the filler side has clearly been replaced with a blue RTV. Those gaskets aren't available anywhere. Now, one of the tools I have at my disposal is a 3D printer. I haven't yet tried printing with TPU... but this makes me want to try: Go to 5:39 for valve cover gasket results. Edited July 16, 2025 by DeltaNu1142 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 79,077 #32 Posted July 16, 2025 Interesting. My only process for making gaskets is kindergarten craft scissors ✂️ and my tongue hanging out the side o' my mouth.... 🤪 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeltaNu1142 28 #33 Posted July 17, 2025 Being able to design and print components has become a real asset. I haven't tried anything flexible yet, but it's worth a try. filament is cheap... one of those gaskets would cost <$0.30 in material. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 16,728 #34 Posted July 17, 2025 19 hours ago, ebinmaine said: Interesting. My only process for making gaskets is kindergarten craft scissors ✂️ and my tongue hanging out the side o' my mouth.... 🤪 This assortment of light-duty shape punches has helped me out with gasket-making. I have learned to hold the punch gently with the cushioned jaws of a pliers since the hammer was always trying to find my fingers. Support the material with a smooth hardwood or hard plastic block. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Saracino 5 #35 Posted March 17 Gentlemen, I need a FD620D AS17 motor for my 520LXI. Does anyone have one? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeltaNu1142 28 #36 Posted yesterday at 06:10 AM (edited) Well… yesterday was not a good day for my WH. It’s been performing well, aside from some issues with getting grease into the zerks on the mower deck. The valve cover gasket is steadily leaking oil, but I was planning to get to that this summer. I stopped mowing to fill the tires and tank, and on restart the oil pressure light came on. I checked the dipstick. No oil showing, so I gradually added, checked, added, until I saw oil on the stick. I restarted and blew a large white exhaust cloud. Oil spat out of the exhaust pipe. I shut it down immediately and drained all of the oil, then refilled with 1.9q. It’s seems to be running fine, but clearly smoking and spraying an oil mist on the driveway. I pulled it into the shed under its own power and shut it down. This is just a bad time for this kind of careless mistake to screw up my tractor. I’m traveling for work a bunch and don’t have time to mess with it. And based on the fact that I can’t even find a valve cover gasket available, I’m reluctant to start looking for any other parts I’ll need. EDIT: at the suggestion of my father… I went out this morning and ran the WH at idle for a bit to see if it would run OK. He’s got a 520Xi and his point of view is, it’s got oil in it, you’re not going to do any more damage. On start it gave up a small puff of white, and then idled clean for 5 minutes. I finished up the lawn, checked the oil (I still can’t see a &$%#ing thing on the dipstick), and put it away reasonably sure that it’s OK. I suspect a whole slug of oil got where it shouldn’t have, and draining probably helped some. Letting it sit overnight let the rest of the oil drain out of the cylinders, I’m sure. Edited 23 hours ago by DeltaNu1142 Added a happy ending Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kpinnc 18,348 #37 Posted 19 hours ago (edited) 12 hours ago, DeltaNu1142 said: On start it gave up a small puff of white, and then idled clean for 5 minutes. I finished up the lawn, checked the oil (I still can’t see a &$%#ing thing on the dipstick), and put it away reasonably sure that it’s OK. I'm guessing so long as you check it before running and it's full, that some of the oil gets into the top end of the engine and checking after running is wildly inaccurate. Probably takes a few minutes for the oil to drain back into the sump. 12 hours ago, DeltaNu1142 said: oil pressure light came on. But this would be a concern. Immediate shutdown required. 12 hours ago, DeltaNu1142 said: The valve cover gasket is steadily leaking oil A weeping seal can be very misleading. It's not unusual to lose more oil than it looks like you have. If I had to guess, the oil was a bit low but you accidentally overfilled it, and the engine burped out the excess. I've seen this before on a full pressure lubed system. I would check the oil EVERY time you use the machine, and check it cold and before manually moving the tractor. If you check after running, give it 15-20 minutes to drain back into the case. ...and fix the valve cover gasket. Edited 19 hours ago by kpinnc 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
