Kawasaki Leaking Oil/Gas Mix out Bottom Seal


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Old 05-03-11, 04:56 PM
J
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Kawasaki Leaking Oil/Gas Mix out Bottom Seal

Strange story - have a cub cadet walk behind with a kawasaki FJ180V engine in the shop where the carb needle seemed to be leaking. There was much gas on top of piston. The mower sat for a week in the shop and there were no leaks. Today I moved it into position to work on and left it by the garage door in the sun. I had to make a delivery and when I came back, an oil/gas mixture had leaked from the bottom seal all over my floor. What a mess. Does anyone have any idea of why this happened all of a sudden. Do you think the fact that it was in the sun thinned the oil/gas such that it leaked past the seal or perhaps the gas in the oil ate the seal ??? Please help.
 
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Old 05-03-11, 11:57 PM
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The gas in the oil made it very thin, then in the heat of the sun, two things happened. Crankcase pressure was probably created with the expansion of air in the warm sun and the breather may have been blocked by the high oil level, and second, the gas-oil mixture was made even thinner from the heat and it got to a point where it could run past the rubber seal.
 
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Old 05-04-11, 04:34 AM
J
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Cheese - as always, thank you for the excellent response. I think I am going to try and fix the leaking carb and not replace the lower seal and see what happens. There is so much junk under this mower that it may be worth a chance. Normally, I would not chance it and just replace the seal.
 
 

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