John Deere oil bath air cleaner leak

[a49deere]

Interesting... I've adjusted the tappets and still have a tiny bit of "clack" sound on one valve, not too bad but still bothers me that it isn't totally smooth. It runs great, plenty of power, and will idle at extremely low RPM if I hold the throttle all the way back, so there doesn't seem to be any compression loss issues. I'm in the middle of painting the whole tractor and am at the point where the oil bath system is next in line to get paint and wanted to have it clean before (and after) the painting.

"Clacking is normal for these engines, if they aren't clacking, I'd say you have valve lash to tight. They have solid followers on the cam and not hydraulic. I believe (from memory) valve gap should be around .020 cold! Sometimes when adjusting valves, one thinks they have adjusted them correctly but in fact with the way that the stem wears the rocker arm your gauge may give you a false reading by sitting on the unworn part but stem rides in worn spot giving you more clearance than recommended I should correct my previous statement, none of my tractors have that extent of oil leakage. It's not a perfect seal so there is a little wetting but not much!

 

[TheBartman47]

"Clacking is normal for these engines, if they aren't clacking I'd say you have valve lash to tight. They have solid followers on the cam and not hydraulic. I believe(from memory) valve gap should be around .020 cold!

Yes, .020 is the spec in the book, but says adjust when warm. It also says if worn, a feeler might give a faulty reading so it can be adjusted by tightening until solid contact then back off 1/3 turn ("two flats"). This is how I did it and it runs fine. The only back pressure seems to be when shutting off, the engine may take a partial back stroke on the final travel before completely stopped and I can hear it gurgle for a second, but I don't think that would cause any oil to be pushed out.

 

[a49deere]

Yes, .020 is the spec in the book, but says adjust when warm. It also says if worn, a feeler might give a faulty reading so it can be adjusted by tightening until solid contact then back off 1/3 turn ("two flats"). This is how I did it and it runs fine. The only back pressure seems to be when shutting off, the engine may take a partial back stroke on the final travel before completely stopped and I can hear it gurgle for a second, but I don't think that would cause any oil to be pushed out.

I would think it wouldn't take much back pressure to push even a little oil up onto inside surface of the cup where it meets housing, and we all know how oil will find any way to leak! The way these engines are designed makes it possible even with everything correct to have a slight backpressure on intake. that's why #2 cylinder acts weak compared to #1 What weight oil are you using in cup? Like a friend of mine says, "It isn't a john deere if it isn't bleeding on the shop floor!"

 

[ss55]

It's not over-filled, but it constantly leaks just enough to get oil all over the cup an a bit up the sides of the canister. The ring clamp is tight and I've made sure there was no debris in the way where the cup seats with the canister. Any ideas on how to stop this from leaking?View attachment 162051

Could the oil cup or the filter housing have a dent or burr that keeps them from sealing?