Bought an exmark LZ 60 with a fresh 23.5 ch730-3225 motor. Cut great no issues until all of a sudden after a few weeks it started leaking somewhere on the front of the motor behind the seat. Since the oil was leaking onto the plastic fan, for lack of a better term, it was slung everywhere and made narrowing down the source of the leak impossible. I also discovered that the flywheel magnets and the stator were destroyed like something had dropped in there and got caught up and grenaded the whole thing. I replaced them and the crank seal and it still leaks. My next step is the head gaskets I guess. Anybody seen anything like this before or have any advice? I'm getting pretty frustrated and my 5 acres of grass is not slowing down.
Kohler command pro 23.5 horizontal major oil leak
Greene guy
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Bought an exmark LZ 60 with a fresh 23.5 ch730-3225 motor. Cut great no issues until all of a sudden after a few weeks it started leaking somewhere on the front of the motor behind the seat. Since the oil was leaking onto the plastic fan, for lack of a better term, it was slung everywhere and made narrowing down the source of the leak impossible. I also discovered that the flywheel magnets and the stator were destroyed like something had dropped in there and got caught up and grenaded the whole thing. I replaced them and the crank seal and it still leaks. My next step is the head gaskets I guess. Anybody seen anything like this before or have any advice? I'm getting pretty frustrated and my 5 acres of grass is not slowing down.
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197 Posts
Hello, Wow, that is a major league leak if its being slung around by the fan. I also have the same mower / engine combo. My engine also needs its crank seal replaced but it just leaks real bad under the engine... I don't think that head gaskets would cause that much of an oil leak. I'm just wondering if you have a hairline crack in the block. Since this is a replacement engine, is their any warranty on it? Keep us updated. Best of luck with it, George
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7 Posts
Well as it would have it the motor is shot. Something is wrong with the internals that caused the motor case itself to wear around the crankshaft resulting in an unfixable issue. Since I replaced my own kohler oem parts with oem kohler parts but I am not a certified kohler technician I voided any and all warranties. Thanks kohler, now I have a useless mower I have $4000 wrapped up in it that due to a manufacturer flaw is junk. Time to part it out 
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197 Posts
I am so sorry to hear that Kohler didn't step up to the plate on the warranty on this engine. Sounds like a lame excuse to deny a warranty claim. Maybe you have already done this but I would consider contacting Kohler directly and explaining the problem you have with this engine.
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4,378 Posts
Was there any metal in the oil ? Silvery mud?
If the PTO clutch shorts out it will use the crankshaft as a ground path and wipe out the upper and lower bearings (and everything else ) in the block.
The bearing surfaces on the crank will look like they have hundreds of little spot welds on them..
It usually only takes a few hours to waste an engine once the clutch shorts to ground ..
In any case....neither a shorted clutch or dropping something into the stator are warranty issues .
To check the clutch...
set your meter on ohms...put both leads on the clutch wires...it should be around 2.0 ohms..
Then..put one lead on the case of the clutch ..or the engine block if its still installed.. and put the other lead on one of the clutch wires..If you get any reading (continuity) the clutch is shorted...don't use it...
If you reuse the clutch it will wipe out another engine ...not warranteed either ..
If the PTO clutch shorts out it will use the crankshaft as a ground path and wipe out the upper and lower bearings (and everything else ) in the block.
The bearing surfaces on the crank will look like they have hundreds of little spot welds on them..
It usually only takes a few hours to waste an engine once the clutch shorts to ground ..
In any case....neither a shorted clutch or dropping something into the stator are warranty issues .
To check the clutch...
set your meter on ohms...put both leads on the clutch wires...it should be around 2.0 ohms..
Then..put one lead on the case of the clutch ..or the engine block if its still installed.. and put the other lead on one of the clutch wires..If you get any reading (continuity) the clutch is shorted...don't use it...
If you reuse the clutch it will wipe out another engine ...not warranteed either ..
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7 Posts
Checked the pto, it's not shorted. It is also new. I'm wondering if the old one had shorted and that's why it was replaced. I did not install the motor or clutch so I will never know. I guess I'm probably going to go with a 27hp kohler, oddly enough it's $400-700 cheaper than the 23.5 and I always thought it felt a little underpowered. I'll at least have a 3 yr warranty and if it gives me an issue you can bet it will be headed to the dealer.
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7 Posts
Maybe the old pto did just enough damage that it took some hours to chew up the case.
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7 Posts
Oil was not silvery with flakes.
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