OT: replacing lawn tractor oil plug

[Ray Newman]

Gents, needs some help here. The plastic/metal drain plug on the Deere lawn tractor leaks, especially when changing oil. It is one of those plugs that you attach aquarium hose to drain the oil. The metal part screwed into the block, with a plastic sleeve or fitting that pulls out slightly and twists to drain the oil. Problem is that the plastic sleeve/fitting is deteriorating.

My problem: is this plastic sleeve/fitting removable in order to screw in the metal part into the block, then replace it? The replacement that I have seen on-line looks like:

http://www.stens.com/Portal.aspx?CN=DD8031DF38E0&RITEMID=

I just do not see enough clearance to thread the whole thing into the block with a socket and the deep sockets that I have do not appear to be long enough if they would clear the frame. Why do these simple tasks always involve much more time and effort??

 

[coach]

If nobody knows here, I would go to the tractor forum and ask there. They also have a Deere FAQ section that might cover it.
http://www.mytractorforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12

 

[Ray Newman]

Coach: thanks for that link!

 

[Rick Courtright]

Why do these simple tasks always involve much more time and effort??

Hi,

Ray, it doesn't help you out with your problem, but you still might enjoy a couple of stories. A neighbor, former mechanic, called such designs "dungeoneering." His claim was the engineers were locked in a dungeon and never knew what their designs went on or how they worked! Can't tell you how many times I've had the same thoughts...

At the other end of that spectrum is a story told by a co-worker a number of years ago. He'd been trained as a jet mechanic in the Navy, and spent some years working on biz-jets after he got out. He mentioned working on a Lear one time, and I commented that must be some kind of a joy, with a touch of sarcasm in my voice.

He told me on the contrary, Lear jets were the easiest aircraft to work on he'd encountered. Then he went on to tell how when Bill Lear was alive, he had a policy with his design engineers: they'd spend six months at their computers or drafting tables, drawing stuff up. By then, their hands had softened up a bit compared to the mechanics' hands! At the end of the six months (in the dungeon?), they'd exchange their office attire for coveralls, go out on the floor and actually work on their stuff. Remember those "soft" hands: at the first sign of a skinned or dinged knuckle, those guys were running "back the drawing board" as it was to clean up the design!

And, he went on to say, when Bill passed, Mrs. Lear took over the company and continued that policy... Methinks a LOT of companies could learn from it!

Rick C

 

[Tweety Bird]

I'm assuming you can't get a wrench on the flats to unscrew it? Or that it won't clear the frame?

You might have to lift the engine up off the chassis to do this job. That'll probably lead to a number of other tasks before the block is loose.

Yup, projects like this always expand to consume more than the available time.

 

[RSIno1]

Those are probably a tapered thread so they will seal. Don't overtighten it or you may crack the case. Along the lines of the Lear story. The Ford Taurus was the first car Detroit designed with input from mechanics.

 

[eveled]

Tractors all use the same few engines the good ones have drain ports in several places to accommodate installation in different tractors. Usually you can thread a piece of black iron pipe and fittings onto it with a pipe cap at the end to make changing the oil easy. Most new tractors don't last long enough to go through more than a couple oil changes.

 

[gmartinnc]

The 28 hp Kawasaki on my Toro ZTR has the same set up and it seeps some too. I'm seriously considering removing it and putting a drain plug back in place. If these were to somehow let all the oil out while we were mowing, it would be bad news. I never have trusted it.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Tractors all use the same few engines the good ones have drain ports in several places to accommodate installation in different tractors. Usually you can thread a piece of black iron pipe and fittings onto it with a pipe cap at the end to make changing the oil easy. Most new tractors don't last long enough to go through more than a couple oil changes.

Yep, ran into the same thing when I went to help my elderly neighbor service his Sears mower/tractor. The plastic "push & turn" valve gizmo unscrewed from the block, and of course there was nothing else to do but catch the oil as it ran out off the edge of the tractor frame. After we cleaned that up we investigated the thing, and discovered that while a deep socket would fit the "valve" there wasn't enough room to get the socket on the "valve" after it was started into the hole . . . or get any kind of wrench on it, for that matter.

Quick fix involved a regular old pipe plug. Turns out that the plug that fit the hole has a 1/2" square head on it. Started the plug in the hole, then stuck a 1/2" square drive extension onto the plug head and turned the extension to tighten the plug. Quick, slick fix.

Next time around I think we're gonna insert a proper length pipe nipple into the hole in the block and then install the "valve" onto that, meaning the "valve" will be accessible as required and we can get a wrench on it to keep it tight.

 

[coach]

My old tractor had a pipe extension into the engine then a cap on that. Easy enough to screw into the engine if needed when there is little clearance and easy enough to remove the cap to drain the oil. I guess some marketing wiz decided that wasn't easy enough and had to put one more plastic part on.

 

[6gun]

Your John Deere must be newer than mine with a set up like that, Mine was made in the 90's and has a Kohler engine, it came from the factory with a galvanize 1/2" pipe with a pipe cap for a oil drain that just clears the edge of the frame on one side of my tractor, has always worked well I just remove the cap with channel locks and let it drain no plastic crap to break, I'd pull the metal part of your drain off the block and see if it don't just happen to be course pipe thread, bet it is, and if so you could replace it with a set up like mine and toss the plastic.

 

[blume357]

y'all change the oil in these things?

 

[Ale-8(1)]

My 20-year-old LX-172 Deere has the same arrangement 6gun describes. Simple, and it works.

And yes, I change the oil & filter twice a year. The engine hasn't had a wrench on it in all this time and it still starts every time and runs great.

I've replaced several things over the years, but the engine is superb.

 

[graygun]

y'all change the oil in these things?

I have a JD 316 with a 16hp Onan that was given to me. It had belonged to a friend's FIL who must not have believed in changing the oil. It runs but really burns the oil. This engine has a points ignition system;I think it's a from '86 or thereabouts.

 

[revhigh]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00065DMHC?pc_redir=1406928512&robot_redir=1

Plumbers sockets will do the job .... only a few bucks.



REV

 

[Ale-8(1)]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00065DMHC?pc_redir=1406928512&robot_redir=1

Plumbers sockets will do the job .... only a few bucks.

REV

I really doubt it . . . at least not on the Sears unit I was talking about. The hole in the side of the block is so close to the bottom mounting surface that there isn't room for the thickness of a socket wall on the stupid "valve" thingy. There is JUST enough room to turn the "valve" by hand, and even that is difficult because it's almost completely hidden under the starter. Poor planning.

And yes, as mentioned earlier, there is another hole on the opposite side of the block that's a little easier to access, but also too close to the bottom of the block. Again, the mounting surface of the frame is too close to allow a socket on the "valve".