Sorry if my last post sounded abrubt (not intended), re-read and I should have worded it differently. I do appriciate the help. About the possibly overfilling it. That would seem to be good news considering the alternative. I've changed the oil before and it never did this...but maybe. I'll go back out and add some oil well below full and see what happens and just keep adding little by little. If in fact I overfilled it is there a mess inside the enginge that could harm the motor when I finally get around to starting it? You understand that when the oil started leaking I hadn't ran the engine at all yet, right? In other words would it be leaking w/out ever starting up if overfilled? Going now to re-read oil filling instructions.

Bill: Since at least the 1990s. Within the OPE arena Champ (easily identified) has for decades pretty much does OEM'd for all the OPE manufacturers (I'm aware of 2 small exceptions). Tell you what - why don't you show us someone the DON'T OEM to... If Allied Signal has made inroads this is a new development.

I'd check that the choke butterfly is not stuck closed. This is what happened on mine, Sears lawn tractor 917.275371, Engine Briggs & Stratton 31C707 type 0230-E1 (31C7070230E1) I sprayed carb aerosol cleaner on it, noticed that the choke would not open, so it was running real rich. I ended up drilling a small hole in the red palstic motor housing and attaching a spring from that hole to the already-there hole in the black lever on top of the carb, the lever which actuates the carb butterfly. Pushing the throttle all the way forward closes the choke for starting, but the internal spring to open the choke is too small, or some have posted that the shaft is too large and that one should take it out and shave it a little smaller. The added spring works for me. Sorry, I don't have a photo yet, the lawn tractor is 100 miles away.

So how about getting a JD zero turn, and keep your JD 265 for garden cart work and other pulling duties? Once you go ztr, you may never want to go back. It's just so fast and maneuverable around obstacles. I've finished mowing my lawn when my neighbor is just half way done. I know, this is a lawn/garden tractor site and this may be considered heresy by many here, but I've mowed with a tractor rider for years up until i got my JD 425EZTrak, and I can't imagine changing back. I've been retired for the last year, and though i have more time to do yard work now, I don't like to spend it mowing. But hey, that may be just me. o) This post was edited by larso1 on Wed, Oct 30, 13 at 20:35