The deal with Kohler lifters

[leaflawnandlimb]

Two years ago my dealer told me that if I used a 10w-30 witha "C" rating the clatter would go away, and it did. The problem, the only C rated oil I could find was Kohler brand oil at $2 a quart. Try it, it worked for us.

[Dave]

I would have to look it up but I do believe kohler stop selling that oil due to lack of sales

[linky]

I wonder whats in the c rating oil. My Kohler ticks monday and tuesday of every week. It seems funny but i'm guessing its from sitting over the weekend. One would think as soon as the oil psi built up the ticking would go away. I have seen Kohler oil in some shops and i am gonna give it a try.

[mowerparts]

When my 22 Kohler starts ticking I just add a little Marvel Mystery Oil to the crank case and the problem goes away.:angel:

[smburgess]

I have a 15hp Kohler on a 52" walk behind that was "ticking" loudly. My dealer recommeded "Seafoam" in the crankcase, he said to change the oil, put it in and run it for a while and the "ticking" should stop, it did after about 5 minutes.

[Mark]

I have a 25hp Command and it never ticks i have always run Kohler Command 10-w-30 i get it at rual-king stores for 1.99 per qt.Kohler universal oils are blended from special basestocks and elevated additive concentrates to provide performance beyond that of conventional automotive type oils.Its very good oil id recomend it in the use of Kohler engines. Marks Mowing Service

[EJK2352]

After I put 200 hrs. on my CV23S Kohler engine, I switched to
Amsoil 10W-30 synthetic oil and haven't had any lifter noise since.
ED

[curry]

I have a 15 hp Kolar. When I bought it new the dealer put 30w oil in it. It clatters bad. It was sent back to Kolar and they said you MUST use 10w-30 with hydrolic lifters. I bought Snapper 10w-30 and havent had a problem in 5 months. Snapper oil was $7.50 a quart but it doubled my engine warrenty if I used only Snapper oil and bought 6 quarts.

[Eric ELM]

I always ran Penzoil 10W/30 in my 22 hp Kohler. At times, it would clatter a bit, but a year ago, I started running the same oil as I run in my diesel, 15W/40 Rotella T oil and it hasn't clattered since. I've run it for about 600 hours on this oil and this engine has about 3,520 hours on it.

The rpm's are set at 3,870 and have been since it was broke in, so it hasn't had an easy life, but a good long one. :)

[MATTHEW]

So glad you guys brought this up! I bought a new Kohler 15 for
my 44" toro. Sounded great the first 3 months. Seemed like after the first oil change, I got that horrible clatter. Still have it> Thanks for the tips. I will try the Marvel. If it does not work(hey SMBURGESS) where do you get this Seafoam?

[Brieldo]

Seafoam is available at just about any hardware store. CHeck it out...it also does wonders for putting in your mowers if you leave gas in the tank for an extended period of time without operation!

Ben

[Jerrys Lawn Service]

You can still buy KOhler oil I just bought a case last week. We changed over after we had the same problems and the rep told us to change so we did and no more noise!
jerryslawnservice@home.com

[Jman]

One other bit of info on the lifter noise. Make sure you do not over fill the oil at all. The reason all of the tips are working is the oils and additives you guys speak of do not allow air bubbles to form as easily as standard duty oils. Air bubbles in the oil means air gets into the lifters and then your noise will start. If the oil is overfull at all it can get into the crankshaft and start foaming. Good tips from all of you.

[jdjoe_97]

I ran the same rotella 15-40 that your talking about in my Kohlers. I asked my local Kolher dealer, he said that it would work until it got cold out. Then he said I should be running the 10-30. I did switch back to 10-30. Since the Rotella was running about $1.60 per quart and the Shell 10-30 was only $.80 per. Probably both would work fine as far as I am concerned just thought I would pass along the info. Joe

[leaflawnandlimb]

Were do you get the rotella, I've never heard of it.

[75]

Rotella T is made by Shell, so it should be fairly easy to find.

It's made for use in heavy-duty applications such as truck diesel engines, so a heavy truck garage might be a good place to try if you have difficulty finding Rotella T.

[thelawnguy]

Sams Club stocks it.

[Eric ELM]

Sams Club has it for about $32 for a case of 6 1 gallon containers. It is for diesel or gas engines.

[EJK2352]

Autozone stores in my area sell Rotella. They also sell it at all the truck stops in my area. ED:)

[Jman]

One thing I want to caution people about, when you use 15W-40 oil instead of 10W-30, the 15W-40 is a much thicker oil especially in cool weather conditions. When an engine is fresh and new the tolerances are very tight. On the Kohler engines the pressure relief valve passage in the oil pump that controls pressure, is fairly small. If the oil is too thick it can't dump enough off to control pressure properly. On cold engines this can lead to too high oil pressure. Kohlers normally run 35-40 p.s.i. I have seen in the mornings pressures as high as 80-90 p.s.i. This can cause the hydraulic valve lifters to over extend and hold the valves open. This used to break some of the rocker arms in early production units, that's why they changed the design of the rockers back in the mid 90's. On engines with high hours there's more wear in the bearings and can tolerate the thicker oils better. There is nothing wrong with the lubricating properties at all with 15W-40 oils, just want to make peolpe aware of some of the "side effects" that could happen, most of the time it won't cause a problem. Just like all the t.v. adds for the new medicines they keep introducing have the disclaimers at the end.

[plow kid]

We use Rotella in everthing, Tractor supply (TSC) sells it in 5 gallon buckets for 24.99 and 55 gallon drums are around $225.00

[Fallguy]

at what ammount of hours on your hour meter did you that are having problems with the 25hp kohler start hearing this ticking sound you speak of ? - im pro valvoline and run 10w - 30 in my snapper - i did run kohler oil in it throughout the break in process.
i take unusually good care of my equipment - although timely and expensive in addition to greasing , i change my oil and filter every 25 hours of running time. i just cannot stand to see black residue in the oil of a machine that cost more than the truck i use to pull it - call me anal- but im not looking forward to spending the money to have it rebuilt or replaced after 1000 hours like several people have already reported that they have had to do.