1864 Puking and gushing oil out of breather tube.
 

Sigh..yes, I know, this has probably been discussed to death here, but what's one more thread? ;)

Here's the scoop.

1995 1864 with the Kohler CH18s.

Had a massive oil leak. I mean, massive. Engine was completely covered in gunk. Here's what I did:

Pulled the motor
Cleaned it all up
Replaced the following:
1) Both head gaskets. One side of gasket looked cooked on the oil filler side. Starter side head gasket looked ok, replaced anyway.
2) Replaced all intake/exhaust gaskets
3) Replaced Flywheel Oil seal ( this is where I thought the leak was coming from...after replacing the PTO seal a few times, I know when these fail they can sling a lot of oil around)
4) New breather cover gasket. The reed looked fine.

Now, I got it all back together and it fired right up.

She is literally gushing ALL the oil out of the breather tube. I mean, one stroke of the pistons and it just pukes out. I ran it for less than 10 seconds and lost 90% of the oil. Guess where it went? Right into the carby...but that's another issue.

So, in my limited reading, this looks like Piston Ring failure correct? This has me stumped because I always thought when the rings were gone it would be really hard to start, but it fired right up. Better starting now then before I did all that stuff to it.

Can a bad valve do this?

I have a leakdown test kit...never used one before...I guess now is the time to learn?

I really love this machine. There really isn't anything out there now to replace it with...to get power steering, 54" cut, hydrostat, etc, you're looking at around $8000-$12,000 grand up here for anything comparable.

Maybe I already know the answer but don't like the answer??? ;) Anyway thanks for letting me rant. Feel a little better now.

When you check the remaining oil check for the smell of gasoline. Something is filling the crankcase to cause it to pump out oil, I'm guessing it's fuel.

Whenever I have seen this it has been blow by on the rings as
you have already suspected. But as quickly as you describe it losing all
the oil is pretty crazy.
I have not seen it caused by valves leaking but it sounds possible.
Am wondering what the cylinders looked like when you had the heads off.
Were they scratched or did you happen to put a mic on them to see how worn.
I suppose there is a possibility that there is a chunk of junk in the drain
back hole keeping the oil from draining back into crankcase.
Time for a compression check or your leak down test.
Feel free to rant, sometimes it helps for a minute or 2.
Great engine and tractor, worth the work. You'll get it going. Let us know
what ya find.
Ken

You might look for an 83millimeter bore block from another machine or a generator, you'd have to swap the crank but other than that you'd like the better power. Your bore is 77mm, big difference.

Also if your fuel pump is on the valve cover and actuated by the rocker assembly sometimes they tear the diaphragm and leak gasoline into the engine.

I'm guessing the gasket on the breather cover blew and the oil is pumping right into the carb. I had one blow and it sprayed oil all over the engine. A new gasket will probably fix the problem. This is a reference to the gasket.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/28510863524...Bk9SR-LyifLOYg

I'm guessing the gasket on the breather cover blew and the oil is pumping right into the carb. I had one blow and it sprayed oil all over the engine. A new gasket will probably fix the problem. This is a reference to the gasket.

It would be just like me to over think it. Here's hoping it's just the gasket.

Ken