For those of you that run Kohler's.......

[Jeff in AL]

Hey guys, today was the big day for the yearly Kohler update school, and I thought I would share the latest information from the class.

For those of you that run the OHC engines:

There is an upgrade kit (NOT a recall) which contains hardened gears, and a different style dipstick and tube assembly.
AS FOR WARRANTY: PER KOHLER
"For units that are still under the warranty period AND LESS than 400 HOURS, Kohler will pay for the repair, parts and labor".
For units that are OVER 400 HOURS will NOT be eligible for labor, but will pay for parts.
Part # 28 755 37S
Kohler will also have an OHC 20 hp available soon.

For those of you that run the Command Series (CH/CV):

Kohler will have two new Command Series engines in 2002
CH730---25 HP without the smartspark, and a new camshaft.
CH740---27 HP with a NEW DIGITAL spark advance and new camshaft.

AND NOW FOR THE BELOVED 25 HP COMMAND SERIES:

In August 2001 Kohler CHANGED FROM THE NICKEL-SILICON
PLATING, BACK TO THE CAST IRON SLEEVES on most 25 HP engines. (Still using the nickel-silicon plating on gaseous fuel engines, EFI and some OEM specs.

For those of you that have noisey valve train in the CV Series, this will be the running change.
Kohler initiated two design changes, especially to the #1 intake lifter (this is the highest lifter in the engine). One was a bleed-off hole at the top of the oil chamber that feeds the lifters to help trapped air escape into the crankcase. The other was to relocate the hole that feeds the #1 intake lifter to a lower position in the chamber. These changes will reduce the amount of trapped air entering the lifters and causing lifter noise.
As for engines that make noise now, try using a synthetic oil, which will have an additive to help reduce the amount that the oil foams, thus limiting the amount of air to get stuck in the top lifter.

AEGIS Series (Liquid cooled Command Twins):
By mid 2002, they will have introduced three new liquid cooled horizontal twins:
LH630---22 HP
LH685---25 HP
LH750---27 HP


Hope this is of use to you guys, and if you have any further questions, feel free to post them or emal them.

Jeff in AL

[MOW ED]

Thanks for the update Jeff. You may recall that I was a former owner of the beloved 25's from hell but now have a 26 and only had 1 problem with it.
Did they talk about any issues with the 26's. My fuel pump took a crap earlier this year and it took a while to get it diagnosed and then order the pump - from Germany. I would have thought that Kohler would have had this in stock (besides they are 60 miles from me).

Why is the 400 hour a benchmark in determining if they would cover labor? Of course I am over. What would be the harm in not upgrading with the fix. I know its not a recall so the dealer won't call so I am assuming that your engine has to crap on you before they do the upgrade.

Thanks again.

[65hoss]

Increase in quality only means good things for all of us regardless of what brand you run. It drives competition. An increase in quality by Kohler puts kawi striving to get better. Then better kawis make Kohler get better. In the long run competition helps us all out.

Didn't I learn something like this in college economics?;)

[Jeff in AL]

Ed, the updated service books that they pass out at these classes, which contain the latest information about specific problems and update kits along with service bulletins, did not show up in time for us to get them at class. However they should have arrived to my supplier that same day, and they will be mailing them to us. When I get it i will go through it and post on any new information that is in the book that I haven't covered here.
As for the EFI engines that had the fuel pump problems, there is nothing new that I know of that I can tell you at this time.

As for the updated gears on the OHC engines, they said that the new gears are either heat treated or of a harder material, to reduce premature wear on the metal pulleys. The pulleys on the camshafts are made of a composite material, and they say that those pulleys get harder from the heat that is built up from normal friction during running. Although some of the metal pulleys had some pretty good wear from the same conditions.

As for Kohler only covering engines that are under the 400 hour mark......
I have no idea as to why that is the cut off time period, but i'm sure if the machine is maintained fairly well, your dealer CAN help you get it covered.

Through a joint effort between Bosch and Kohler, they have come out with a Diagnostic Test Kit for the EFI engines only.
This test kit, comes with a computer program and a patch cord that plugs into a computer, and into the machine. It reads the fault codes and then tells exactly which part has failed. The part numer of this kit is 25 761 23S. This tester costs the dealer approx. 300.00 to purchase. Most dealers probably wont purchase it, due to the price.
However I look at things differently. To me that is money well spent, because it saves me time troulbe shooting the equipment, and getting on to the next problem on that machine, or the next piece of equipment.
It also saves you money from not getting a labor charge that is out of sight, while your dealer trys to locate the problem, and then starts to replace items one at a time until the problem is found and corrected.
Now I'm not bashing any dealers here, but they know who they are and what I'm talking about.

That should do it for now......

Jeff in AL

[awm]

that command 27hp ought to be able to power a 60 cut thru anything,without losing much rpm. sounds good to me.
my opinion is based on what a 20 can do . later now