OT Snowblower Spitting Oil

So, I know only a little bit of small engine repair (less than I know about my diesel tractor repairs) but I never let that stop me from diving in when there is a problem and I can save some money by fixing it myself.

So, last weekend I went to get the snowblower ready for the winter. 26" Cub Cadet stored outside under a car port. It wouldn't turn over with the either the electric starter or pull cord. So, logically there was something blocking the cylinder as it ran fine in the spring. I had just changed the oil so I know it had the correct amount.

I dug in, pulling off the multitude of plastic bits which shield it from frosting up. I pulled the head off and found a small bit of ice in the cylinder. We had a very hard driving rain late this fall and I suspect it blew into the muffler and settled in the cylinder. I scraped it out, and it turned over freely. I left the heater blowing on it do dry the excess water drips. I then pulled the carb bowl and let the block of ice in there thaw too. Gas flowed freely once thawed. I reassembled the head with minor difficulties (the lifter rods fell out on me - don't remember how exactly) and put back all the plastic bits. It started right up and I ran it for 10 minutes with only minor smoking which I presume came from using penetrating spray to clean out the head of the minor surface rust and bit of carbon.

Fast forward to this week..... It snowed a foot so I went out to start the blower. It started right up but only ran for 30 seconds. No time to tinker so I got the 444 going to save the day. Today I put it in the shop to warm up and it started right up. However, it has started spitting oil from the crank case breather. I checked the oil level and it is right in the middle of the correct range. It is new but seems to be clouded. I'm thinking I have water in the crank causing the blow-by.

Any thoughts or suggestions? I know I deserve full frontal ridicule for my half assed efforts to "fix" it.

Thanks in advance

Scotty

Blowing oil out the breather is usually a sign of excess crankcase pressure caused by leaking rings or head gasket blown into the pushrod area.

Did you replace the head gasket when you had it apart? If not, that might be worth looking at.

It could have stuck rings, especially if the water was in there for an extended time. If you take the head back off, look at the cylinder wall, see if there is an irregular pattern.

If so, possibly the piston could come out, clean up the rings and polish the cylinder with Scotchbrite.

You have just stated many reasons why things like snow blowers and lawn mowers should be stored in a building!

The crankcase should normally run under a slight vacuum. If you have water problems in the
crankcase you probably also have a frozen breather valve which will cause it to spout out oil.

Last year, I started my cub cadet snow blower and it blew oil out and made a mess. A quick shut
down and let the engine soak a little a restart and no problems the rest of the winter. It was
inside a heated garage but is quite cold near the floor but this surprised me. I did have that
happen one other time when in cold storage upon start up. That was years ago.

I thought for sure the piston had bit the dust but I used it a whole lot after that with no
problem.

A lot of the breathers on those small engines are a reed valve mechanism and totally unlike breathers on
automotive engines.

A good engine will splatter oil out of the dip stick for instance if you pull it out with engine
running, yet if you seal it with a vacuum gauge it will show a slight vacuum.

Was it initially stuck? By wouldn't turn over do you mean that it would not crank? or that it would not fire up and run? You said that "gas flowed freely." For how long?

My first action was to pull the belt cover and put a wrench on the bolt head of the crank. I was able to rotate the engine about 3/4 way backwards and forwards. I have a flat-head Honda generator I was given which had the same symptoms but was caused by crud build-up on the cylinder head.

When I pulled the head of the snowblower the cylinder was about 1/2 inch from the top and had about three tablespoons of water frozen there. I scooped it out and the engine would rotate freely completely around. I left it open with a heater on it to evaporate any water I couldn't get with a cloth. The head had the very start of rust (water was only in for three weeks by my guess) and was easily cleaned up with a scotchbrite pad.

When I thawed out the chunk of ice which was in the carb bowl, the gas started flowing into my catch can completely freely.

I had just changed the oil but when I checked it yesterday it wasn't "fresh" oil. It had a slightly milky appearance. That leads me to believe that I have water in the crank still. My sleuthing has led me to the possibility that with a bit of water in it the oil will froth up and cause this issue.

I also think that there could be water frozen somewhere in the system. causing the over pressurization. I plan to change the oil again and keep it in a heated area for a while and see where that gets me. I don't mind pulling it apart again but taking off all the fiddly little bits of plastic is a chore. I did re-use the head gasket but it looked pristine to me (even though the machine is 7 years old). There was no scoring or significant discolouration of the cylinder or cylinder wall. And it ran fine for 10 minutes after re-assembly. I'm hoping its errant water frozen somewhere and will work out with some heat.

Thanks for all the advice

Scotty

So when I said the head gasket was "pristine", it was, on one side..... The other side has two voids in the material. Off to the repair shop for a new one.

Thanks again for all the advice, it looks like I experienced most of the problems mentioned; water in gas / carb, water in oil, water in breather (ice) and a bad head gasket.

Scotty