Think about it - its not an oil seal. There's no oil sump in a 2-cycle. Its a compression/vacuum seal. The seals have to hold pressure and vacuum for the 2-cycle to work, so you may have stumbled across the right answer anyway. When they leak, the fuel/oil mixture can be blown out instead of being pressurized and forced into the cylinder as it comes down, uncovering the intake port. Replacing the crankcase/crankshaft seals is typical and requires the usual automotive-type seals tools - a pick to get it out and a driver to install it. You can use ordinary things for these jobs, like a short piece of PVC pipe of the right diameter for pushing the new seal into the recess. Its important to clean the crankshaft with emery cloth before installing the new seal to prevent damaging it or carrying contamination into the bearing.

I looked the part up on line and they called it a oil seal. http://www.partsandservice.com/bin/ipl.cgi item #40

The lawn boy service manuals and parts books refer to this as an oil seal. Very standard part for nearly all 2 cycle models. If the seal fails oil and gas mix will excape out the seal and oil residue will remain around the crankshaft and muffler. In exteme cases oil will collect on the lower side of the deck after running several minutes. This seal can fail due to age, wear, or off balance blade. The lower bushing could be worn out if has extreme crankshaft play By the way i do not recomend mulch covers used on any d series engine including this since mulching makes the engine work harder and more wear on engine bock for all mowers. The extra resistance on the blade from mulching will put alot more wear on these engines. Some people may disagree but many of these mowers last 30-40 years plus using only side discharge or bag kit. Also when installing the new oil seal i belive you need to countersink it slightly below the casting to fully seat the oil seal. I use a small punch or use a flat head screwdriver on a slight angle and hammer to seat the seal. Do this carefully to avoid damage. One last piece of advice is to clean the shaft with sandpaper to remove rust and debris otherwise debris will be pulled down the shaft by the oil seal when installing

Replaced the bottom seal and reassembled the motor to the frame. I Gap the points and cleaned everything while I had the flywheel off. I am still not getting a spark. Is there another method of checking the mag pickup? Hate to buy one and that not be the problem.

The coil used on this model (and others) rarely fail. I would replace the condenser first and then check for spark..

Thanks Mike. I will. Someone said you can buy a condenser from an automotive place. Is this true? If so what kind would it take?

Make sure the 2 terminals that atach to the condenser are not touching the engine plate. If either of those wire leads touch the engine plate it will ground the electrical system at all times.

Try NAPA . The Lawn Boy part number for the condenser is 677299. And as eric says make sure the terminals are not touching.

ITS ALIVE!!!!! I went and replace the condenser today and got good spark. I added some fuel to the tank and it sounds sweet!!! Its hard to start but I think its due to the carb setting so long but that is an easy task. I also changed the pull rope and that in itself is a task. Those little metal keeper wires are a butt to change. I think the cord is too big because after all I did the string is way too short. I will fix it later but at least I know its going run...Thanks for the help

Can you tell me what the total length of the pull string should be?

"Can you tell me what the total length of the pull string should be?"

5' of the appropriate size.

hey guys i have a feeling you can help me, i recently acquired a lawnboy for a overhaul as well, it has a 6.5 hp dura force eng, the pull start cord was broken as well as the recoil for it, the mower starts but the string won't retract, it appears that the housing is rivetted and i don't see anyway to remove to recoil system without drilling out the rivets, is it sold as an entire assembly or does the recoil mech come apart?? thanks for your help

ryan