BAD oil leaks on both pump and engine

This has been a bad week for me on equipment, I have major problems on two unrelated skids that I need help with:

1. My carpet cleaning truckmount (a Boxxer 421) has a Vanguard 18hp that is shooting oil out of the the gasket that holds the dipstick into the block/sump body. This is at the base of the stem, not the very top where you pull out the dipstick. Also, some oil got up out of the carb/air intake and was on the bottom of the air filter. The first leak was so bad and hitting the hot exhaust pipe that thick smoke was rolling out of the van!

2. I swapped out pumps on my belt drive power washer, and I put in a almost new gp ts2021. I bought it from a guy who put less than 20 hours on it with a clutch. It ran great but quickly dumped almost all its oil out of the drive shaft! We poured in more oil and even without the pump running it just seeps right out by the shaft. Why did this happen and can it be fixed?

I have had honda for ten years with only one problem with the muffler falling off on one 13hp. But was under watt. Another than that I only buy what works good. Honda 13hp 11hp 13hp 24hp great motors. On your pump should be under watt

Could be the main seal needs replacing. Not a big deal.

Too much oil in the Engine Change the oil and filter.
Is there a vented Dipstick on the pump?
It should only be half full.
A new oil seal is easy to change and not expensive.

Thanks for the pointers guys. The vanguard is in the shop. Definitely not caused by too much oil, cause it ran low and the low oil shutdown kicked in. I have a repair kit now for the gp pump, I just want to know what caused this on a nearly new pump. Maybe when I changed it from clutch to pulley I jacked it up? Could it be missing a part when I took the plate from the clutch off?

Well I am an idiot. When I took the clutch off the pulley I also took off the mounting bracket and didn't realize those bolts need to be put back in to hold the pump together. Got everything reassembled and its holding oil now, time will tell if I've damaged anything in the crankcase.

The Vanguard seems to be blown piston rings. Rebuild might not be worth it. Anybody have a price on an 18hp vanguard that has a shaft out the back and the front? This thing powers the blower off the back and the pump off the front.

The stub shaft on the flywheel side will need ti be removed for the new engine. A new 18 hp is $1099.00

Russ Johnson said:

The stub shaft on the flywheel side will need ti be removed for the new engine. A new 18 hp is $1099.00

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Thanks! I'll see what the official quote is for rebuild from the local small engine guy and make a decision from there. Do I have to go back with a briggs or can I pull that shaft off the flywheel and put it on a kohler or predator? I'm 0 for 2 on Vanguards falling apart before their time.

Pay the extra $$$$ an get a Kohler. Everything I own has a Kohler engine on it. I changed the oil in a Vanguard 18HP once, 50 hours later I lost the motor completely due to no oil. Where it all went is beyond me. Never in my life will I buy another Vanguard.

Vince Wood said:

Pay the extra $$$$ an get a Kohler. Everything I own has a Kohler engine on it. I changed the oil in a Vanguard 18HP once, 50 hours later I lost the motor completely due to no oil. Where it all went is beyond me. Never in my life will I buy another Vanguard.

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Bet Vince wished he could put a Kohler in his Ford.

Do what I am doing tomorrow, replacing my 4000 hour 35 hp air cooled gas briggs with a 35 hp Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel. Briggs is not dead yet, but its not what it used to be either. The diesel will be sweet though, easier on the fuel and will allow me to get more out of the 16 gpm pump setup I have. The cost is not cheap, but it will probably outlast me and with the added reliability there should be more family time.

Honestly though, I would stay away from the smaller briggs like you have and pay the extra if needed to go for something more reliable. Many have had good luck with the Kohlers, would consider them over the briggs any day of the week.

Like I said before, any time spent working or fixing your equipment is time you are not getting paid and time spent away from family or doing other things. I have gone the cheap route in the past when money was tight and time was a bit more available. Once my first kid was on the way I had to change my thinking and stop being so cheap and buy reliability.

JBurd said:

Thanks! I'll see what the official quote is for rebuild from the local small engine guy and make a decision from there. Do I have to go back with a briggs or can I pull that shaft off the flywheel and put it on a kohler or predator? I'm 0 for 2 on Vanguards falling apart before their time.

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I can't say whether the shaft will fit a different manufacturer's flywheel. Have to get bolting pattern for the Briggs flywheel and compare it to the others. I can only imagine the Predator is similar to the 1st generation Honda twins.