2n oil leak

[Ken from Mich.]

You know my Rustina sat all winter waiting for her new head gasket and in that time most of the oil leaks dried up. When I got her going again, here is a little puddle of oil below the starter switch. By the time I painted and retorqued the head and graded the drive, the oil slick had covered the whole dirty, oily area as before. This is actually good because it looks like an easy fix, I think.
My question is,
If I disconnect the battery, can I remove the 2 outer bolts, clean it a little, and put gasket goop on the surfaces, or,
Do I have to tear the whole thing out, buy a new gasket and really get my hands dirty?

 

[souNdguy]

is the lak actually from the switch mount.. or from the steering box/trans top cover.

soundguy

 

[Dell (WA)]

Ken......you do realize yer tranny top-cover and steering gearbox is splash-lubed, don't you? And yer starter switch jiggle switch goes thru yer spashed oil. So REPLACE yer starter switch GASKET, gitt'chur hands dirty. Don't lett'chur BATTERY LEAD SHORT and ARC-WELD, tape it outta the way. That'll stop the oilleak the right way. .......Dell

 

[Ken from Mich.]

Nope, it all started with about a tablespoon sized puddle right under the red cable nut you see in the pic. That whole area you see looked like that all last summer but kinda dried up over the winter. Then after a few warm ups and a couple of over nights, that whole area is sloppy again.

 

[souNdguy]

Hmm... you don't have the trans overfilled do ya?

soundguy

 

[Ken from Mich.]

I changed H-fliud last fall b4 head gasket probs and it was ok then. Sat all winter with a tarp over tractor but not on level ground. Will check level a little closer. Thanks. Worry?

 

[souNdguy]

overfills cause leaks.. remember.. water displaces oil.. so if it was correct before and high now.. may be wet.

soundguy