Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

John D · 2K+ Club

Note to Briggs & Stratton

Lost in the 60s · President

The last time I had a filter come off that hard and turn hard after starting, was when the gasket was peeling itself out of the housing. Hope you made certain it wasn't still on the engine.
Do they make a 3 sided plastic enclosure for that model ? I'm thinking you may be wanting one the first time the wind shifts and the amount of snow that thing is throwing comes back at you.

John D · 2K+ Club

Gasket came off still in the filter groove, and no remnants on the machined ring on the block... just some nitwit on the line doing what they were told and cranking the thing on.

One cool thing about the V-twin in this thing... there's a rubber hose about a foot long attached to the crankcase. It's got a 1/4-turn, O-ring'd cap on it, and it's clipped "up" on the engine shrouding (above the sump level).

To drain the oil, just unclip the hose, bend it down over your drain pan, and remove the cap! No pipe plugs to deal with, and no mess!

Now the filter is another thing all together. It sits horizontally on the left-rear of the block... over the frame rail. Unless you make a little mess-diverter/curved funnel/dirty-oil deflector our of some sheet aluminum, you would pull the filter and puke dirty oil on the frame, under the engine, and then it would find 37 different drip points off the framerail

(They do make a fabric "cab" kit for it, but it's $$$$ SPENDY! I've got plenty of winter gear from working outdoors all the time, and I'll let the beard & 'stach grow out a bit for "insulation" )

-- Edited by John D on Sunday 13th of November 2022 06:17:05 AM

Lost in the 60s · President

My JD has a liquid cooled Kawasaki twin. Both the drain and filter are fairly non-messy to remove.
Now the Harley...I have a drain diverter like yours for that, or the filter oil goes all over the frame and oil cooler...

Derek69SS · Founding Member

Full face helmet helps a ton with the snow blowing back at your face... I wear my karting helmet every time I blow snow.

Jon H · 1K+ Club

They do make a cab for them, my neighbor put one on his. Just a pain putting on and off.
Keep an eye on the transmission, that is JD weak point. If you get to the point of going in reverse and taking you foot off the pedal it will stop dead and lift the front wheels off the ground. Time for a new tranny. I have gone through two. Hopefully it is within warranty period. Changing the tranny fluid and filter is a lot of fun. The reservoir is under the frame. you need a rubber hose to your fluid bottle to fill it. Keep an eye on the rubber reservoir cap, that have a habit of falling off letting dirt get into the reservoir. A dab of silicone will keep it in place until your next change 200 hours later. Other than that the two I have had were petty bullet proof.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

JD, I like your filter drain pan, very clever, I’m going to copy it and try to make it fit.
My Farris zero turn has a Briggs engine. The oil filter is hidden below the engine and almost impossible to reach. I like to change the oil with the engine warm, when i jam my hand into the narrow space there’s opportunity to burn both hand and arm there’s also several very sharp items hidden in there, once you reach the filter the arm is already burned and bleeding, when I do reach the filter I can only get a thumb and two fingers on it. I’m going to weld up an offset channel locks to see if I can access it better.

-- Edited by dashboard on Thursday 17th of November 2022 07:27:57 PM

Jon H · 1K+ Club

Kevin, do you have enough room to use a rubber strap wrench and get it around the filter? I would think if you have enough room for the filter to drop out you could do the strap wrench.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

I did try a strap wrench, just couldn’t get it in there. I was hoping I could use a ‘socket’ style filter wrench but the filter case is smooth.
I seem to remember a filter wrench that has offset kogg’s that self tighten, just cant find one.
Oils changed, so the mowers ready for next year. I am going to build an offset channel locks for the filter removal.
My Craftsman snowblower tractor has a Briggs with a similar filter setup, it’s accessible but makes the same mess when removed. JDs setup will work just dandy there.
The cab, blower, chains.heaters, field light and coffee cup holder are installed on the tractor and ready for snow.
I remember someone here installed an elect servo on their discharge chute. Like to get some info on that.

John D · 2K+ Club

Kevin, from the pic it looks like you'd just have to put a 90 on the design, and have it drain off the edge through the hole in the frame/engine pad.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

John, I in-vision a scupper tray like you’ve crafted; I’ll just add a drain port with a hose to go through the hole. Should be able to connect the hose from the bottom.

John D · 2K+ Club

That should work!
On my scupper the engine block edge is bent up just enough to squeak between the filter housing & frame, and the "lip" catches on the backside of the oil filter boss.
I cracked the filter loose enough to turn by hand (hear that Briggs?!), then snuggled the diverter scupper in place, then spun the filter loose (not off) and let it drain a few minutes. Then spun it off all the way.
Didn't have nary a drop of oil on the frame while changing it out.

John D · 2K+ Club

So, are you ducting hot engine (cooling) air into the cab, via a (something like) a bilge blower??

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Yes, note picture three above. Two bilge blowers drawing hot air off of each of the engine cylinders. Lots of heated airflow into a cab thats not very air tight but still once warmed up I need to secure one of the blowers. Warmth causes blowing snow to melt on contact with the plastic windscreen reducing visibility, I use Rain-X and it works well.
I replaced the steel blower skids with 2” wide oak skids to protect red pavers that are part of the paved driveway.