[Mackie]

To clarify Briggs Vanguards, the #1 cylinder is the one on the starter motor side. In a 400 series repower, the crankshaft is facing aft toward the steering tower. This puts the starter motor on the L/H side of the tractor as viewed from the operators seat and #1 cylinder will also be on the L/H side. In 3000 and 4000 series tractors either original Vanguard power or Vanguard repowered, the crankshaft will be forward with the electric clutch installed onto it. This places the starter motor and #1 cylinder on the R/H side as viewed from the operator.
I have a 16 Vanguard apart that I bought as a replacement engine for an Ingersoll Odyssey which is similar to a 3016 Ingersoll. This engine has some serious oil leaks and I plan to totally reseal it and possibly install new piston rings as the cylinders are shiny from glazing.
I have a complete gasket set for it, #358 which includes all gaskets except the dip stick tube seal. When ordering gasket sets, make sure that you know the date code so you get the correct gasket set as there were changes made to these engines over the years.
tomorrow I will take some pics of my 16 Vanguard which is of 9702 vintage. The 18 Vanguard has a longer stroke and a bigger bore than my 16, but the engines are similar in design. I also have an 18 Vanguard in my 4018 repower. The tractor is a 1989, but the repower engine is of 04 vintage.
Later

 

[Mackie]

On the data plate on the blower housing under the code is the info. The first two numbers are the year, the next two are the month, the next two are the day, the rest is the assembly line and manufacturing plant. This is important info relative to ordering parts. I recommend that you get repair manual # 272144-6/04 which is the latest manual for Vanguards. I buy these type of parts from a local B&S dealer as large gaskets can get damaged in shipment.
With all the info on the data plate, you can go to the B&S website, find the page for manuals and type in the data. This will link you to a page where you can download the parts manual specific to your engine and series types. The download is a PDF that you can save to documents.

 

[Mackie]

Check out the pics, this is a 16 Vanguard of 9702 vintage.

 

[Mackie]

More pics. The last pic is of the 14 Vanguard flywheel end with the crank seal removed, I haven't removed the flywheel from the 16 Vanguard yet. As you can see, both of these engines are filthy from dirt collecting with the oil leaking. The 14 Vanguard is trash as it broke a connecting rod that pushed a hole in the crankcase behind the starter motor.

 

[Mackie]

More pics.

This is the crankcase breather which is oil leakage possibly due to excessive blowby from the piston rings. The other source of oil leakage on this engine was the dipstick tube seal that was hard and broken. I'm keeping the 14 Vanguard intact to use as a reassembly sample for putting the 16 Vanguard back together.
The main bearings are ball bearings that have an oil hole drilled in the outer race that lines up with the oil supply in the crankcase. Don't remove the main bearings unless absolutely necessary. Do not remove the governor lever from the governor shaft as readjusting the governor is a pain. The external governor linkage must be removed from the the engine and the governor lever. This linkage is bolted to the engine and the springs can be removed at this time. The throttle linkage with long spring can be removed by removing the intake manifold with the carb still on it. With these items removed, then the center cooling baffle can be removed exposing the crankcase vent.

 

[Mackie]

If removing the pushrods, mark them so they go back to original positions. The exhaust pushrods are aluminum, the intakes are steel.Remove the pushrods if you plan to remove the camshaft which can fall out along with the cam followers/tappets. With the pushrods removed, lay the engine over onto the flywheel end, remove the end cover. This exposes the entire engine internally. You can lift out the camshaft at this time, reach in and remove the cam followers/tappets, mark them so they go back into original positions.

 

[Mackie]

An engine moving around on the frame is not good. Years back I repowered a 444 with an 18 Vanguard and I mounted it directly onto the tractor frame as Ingersoll has done with their Vanguard powered tractors. This past year I did serious rework to a 1986 446 that the engine rubber mounts had got oil soaked and fallen out. I had to hand file the surfaces back to flat and parallel and had to shim up the L/H side when I reinstalled the engine. I also did rework on two Kohler K Series powered tractors, one had stripped out three of the bolt holes and elongated the bolt holes. I had to weld the holes shut, mark, redrill new holes, countersink the holes, install helicoils in the bolt holes, replace the mounts before I could re-install the engines. One of these 444s had vibration wear in areas that I had never observed before.
On tractors that I repowered from Onans to a Vanguards, I used a 1" square tube to raise up the engine, but directly bolted the Vanguards to the tractor frames. The repoweres that were done with Small Engine Warehouse repower Vanguard kits, I used the engine adapter supplied with the kits except on 444s. The only thing that I didn't like on the kits for 400 series machines was the side mounted muffler, but there wasn't any other choice for an exhaust system.

 

[Mackie]

I don't recommend using the old Kohler engine mounts, just more unnecessary stuff to deal with.
I was looking at the pic showing the oil leakage and I see that the upper part of the dipstick tube is wet. I would check the breather hose under the lower air filter housing as cooling air flows past it under the cooling baffle that is under the carb area. Having had oil blowing out problems with several Vanguards, I strongly recommend that you use OEM Briggs oil filters on your engine as some aftermarket oil filters cause the oil level to be wrong on the dipstick. Overfilling a Vanguard will cause it to blow oil out a lot of places, particularly out the breather and soaking the air filter with oil.

 

[Mackie]

I have repowered a 444 of your vintage and a 4014 with Vanguards of 18 and 23 HP and mounted them directly to the tractor frames. Had to drill bolt holes in the frame for the mount bolts. Didn't use any spacers between the engine and the frame. As these repowers were done during the period when Ingersoll V belts for the mower decks were not available, I'm not sure what V belts were used for the deck drives.

 

[Mackie]

On an original 444 and 4014, the frames are straight under the Kohler engine mounts, no dips as on an original Onan powered machine and no rises as on an original Vanguard powered machine. The rise on a Vanguard powered machine is 5/8" above the frame. However on newer Ingersoll tractors, the Vanguard engines are mounted directly to the straight frames, most being 21 and 23 HP Vanguards.
Just my thoughts.

 

[Mackie]

The OP has an older Case 444 with the hydraulic oil tank forward of the engine. When the K series engine is removed from the tractor, the side mount bolts have to be removed to allow the engine to be removed. The frame under the mounts is straight, not undercut as in an Onan powered machine. An 18, 21 or 23 Vanguard can and should be mounted directly to the frame. In this particular repower, the hydraulic pump is bolted to the adapter and the adapter bolts directly to the engine. As the pump suction hose comes from forward of the engine, it can be relocated. The pump output hose to the TCV can be repositioned somewhat which will allow the engine to be positioned on the frame for correct V belt alignment to the mower mule drive from the clutch. New mount bolt holes need to be marked and drilled.
The OP more than likely has an engine oil leak somewhere under the flywheel area on his engine and the oil is blowing back toward the dip stick area from cooling airflow.
Possible sources of the oil are the head gasket, oil breather or the tube from the breather to the air filter housing, crankshaft seal behind the flywheel. If the OP is using aftermarket oil filters, some of which can cause incorrect oil levels readings on the dipstick, overfilling of the engine oil can happen. When overfilled, the engine will blow out oil.
The OP can remove the engine without having to disconnect any hydraulic lines by dismounting the hydraulic reservoir and moving it to the side and removing the pump adapter at the engine and the Lovejoy coupler to the pump will pull apart.

 

[Mackie]

Hi Ray,
In post #10 by dougswain there is a pic of the L/H side of the engine and the pic shows the forward hydraulic oil tank which indicates an early to mid 70s 444. A 1987 444 would be basically the same situation, just with the hydraulic oil tank mounted over the pump.
As for vibration, I haven't noticed any increase in vibration from any on my repowers, just a difference in in the frequency of the vibes between a single, opposed twin to a V twin.
Last summer I had three Kohler powered machines here for service and had to replace the mounts on all of them due to failure from oil soaking and general fatigue. The 1984 black frame 444 had pulled the R/H bolts from the engine. I had to helicoil all four engine base bolt holes, weld the mount bracket holes, re-drill and countersink for the new flat head bolts.
When the Kohler mounts fatigue and settle, the bracket on the R/H side makes contact with the frame and vibrates the entire machine. I had to replace almost every bushing and the entire EZ adjust clutch including the clutch rod as it was chaffed deeply from chaffing on the metal oil line near it. The clutch fork had worn its cam tips so much that the clutch would not engage. A new fork came with the new clutch kit.
One of the older 444s that I repowered with an 18 Vanguard had also pulled out the R/H bolts from the engine oil base and severely damaged the oil base to the point where it wasn't repairable. The frame damage had to be welded and ground flat for the Vanguard to sit squarely onto the frame. The only thing that I don't like about Vanguard repowers in a 200/400 series machine is the muffler sticking out on the R/H side of the engine. I normally mount/dismount from the L/H side, but some operators do the R/H side where they come close to a hot muffler.

 

[Mackie]

Just looking over the 16 Vanguard overhauled engine that I installed in my Odyssey. Engine oil does pool under the low side of the rocker covers as the oil return hole is further up. When I replace the rocker cover gaskets, I apply oil to them and this allows them to seat easily. This 16 Vanguard did have a blown cylinder head gasket on one cylinder, unfortunately fairly common with many Briggs engines. The Vanguard service manual doesn't mention a head bolt retorque after the initial run, maybe a retorque would help to reduce failure of the Graphoil head gaskets. Two head bolts are under the rocker covers and the other two are exposed.