Smoky redux:
upon further investigation, and some driving around resembling a smoke generating machine at a tractor pull, i found the oil filter had loosened, which allowed it to leak under pressure. A hefty turning of the filter solved the problem, and did away with a lot of head scratching, and wondering how an engine had gotten so bad, from being stored since last summer! At the least, the frame and under-carriage will never rust!
RJ

I too have one of the unlock and twist drain plugs. Not that crazy about them and they don't give me warm fuzzy feeling due to the fact it don't take much to just pull them off. So far mine hasn't leaked or come apart yet (4 years old).

yah , I ruined my good Tecumseh last winter when the oil drain pipe vibrated loose whilst blowing snow.

If we're talking about the same Briggs style engine, my GT had one of those, removed it and a few 1/2" NPT pipe fittings with cap and I have a very accessible drain point with no worries.

Just MHO.

Ev

Yeah, my next trip tp hardware store will be to buy a length of pipe and a pipe cap, and do away with that engineering flub!

Yeah, I think that engineering flub was dreamed up by the marketers to sell it as a convenience feature.

I prefer the pipe and cap method (as used on my snowblower), but they need some protrusions on them so that they can be safety-wired.

Is there room for a skinny lock nut where the pipe screws into the block? I'm going to the hardware store to get the pipe and cap, aand some other things.

I don't know if there is clearance enough for a lock nut.
Besides, even if there was room for one, I don't think there is such a thing as a "1/4" NPT lock nut".
The only time the pipe extension nipple would be apt to loosen is when you are trying to remove the pipe cap to drain the oil.
So, to address that, I suggest you add a 90 degree "street ell" (elbow fitting) to the end of the extension pipe and orient it straight down. Then you use the pipe cap on the male threads of the street ell. Set up like this, the forces that loosen (or tighten) the cap will not tend to unthread the extension pipe itself from the block. And it's only 1 more fitting to buy.
A street ell has female threads at one end and male on the other end.

I more or less agree with Mownies solution of piping orientation. As for Safety wiring it's really not req'd if you use permatex black pipe compound on the male threads going into the block and teflon tape on the nipple thread of the close nipple prior to the cap . The Street Elb will be one less leak source as has been advised. I have used the 3" 1/4" pipe nipple and cap on manny units but the Street Elb is an equal solution if you have sufficient clearance to draining , every example is different.

P.S. There are Jam nuts available in NPT Thread Orientation but they are much to expensive for this form of resolve Parker Fluids or Swagelock Manufacturing has them available within their Compression or Flare Tubing suppliy fitting in either brass or stainless 316 Stl.

I would use indexing washers (available at your auto parts store) to orient the street ell to point downward.

Index washers have nothing to engage with on pipe thread fittings.
Properly installed and tightened pipe thread fittings are "self holding" after being tightened into the correct orientation.
The whole idea behind employing a street ell in this was to eliminate counter torque from loosening the long pipe nipple whenever a tool is used to remove the pipe cap at oil drain events.
By putting the street ell in the set up, there is no counter torque present to cause loosening of either the long nipple or the street ell when you unscrew the pipe cap.

Mownie is 100% correct that the axis of rotation of the pipe cap would be perpendicular to the axis or rotation of the nipple within the block . If nominal length of the st. elb is not sufficient then a close nipple and pipe coupling could be added . I have even utilized a 4-6 inch section of fuel line with a short nipple on one end and nipple and cap on the other a simple Band-it clamp or hose clamp used for securing the npt piping to the fuel line . Always more than one way to skin the perverbal cat lol .

As always, Mownie is on top of things.

For those of you who have never taken the time to look at pipe fittings, they're TAPERED and inherently provide a very tight connection. I've been adding pieces of pipe, etc. to small engines for over 40 years for convenience in changing oil and never had one loosen up.

JMHO

Ev

And, today, i found just what i needed on an old engine in the scrap pile, so i installed it in the hole. But-after i got the oil back in it, and the new filter--the fun began. I installed new oil again, got it all ready, backed it out of garage, and now it leaks somewhere else. Blows smoke like a cigarette fiend! There ain't any skeeters around my garage! I've smoked them out!
I'm thinking that the sump gasket might be blown out. The lower crank seal doesn't leak. Nor does the new oil filter, but oil is coming out of something.
Thing that irks me--i got an old MTD lawn tractor as a gift, and it runs really good. No leaks, but the P.O. was one of those folks who was all thumbs with anything mechanical. I wondered why the blades didn't turn when i put the deck in gear. I found a belt on the deck that was a foot too long! DUHH!
It has red and yellow clearance lights, front and rear. Not wired up. He had a female, house current extension cord plug wired to those lights! And they didn't have an on-off switch! Weird. (They live among us) His wife divorced a hard-working auto mechanic, took their 2 kids, and ran off with the nut i have mentioned! Rotsa ruck!

Roflmbo Rusty :)