Hello all you wrenchhead.com fans, I need some answers before I take my 22 smokin' Kohler to the shop, don't want to get flim flammed by my dealer.............again. What I would like to know is what possible causes contribute to a engine with a little less than 700 hrs on it to smoke, consume in a 5 hr period enough oil to go from the full mark to the add mark, and now it is running on when the key is cut off. I changed the bottom filter the other day, the fuel filter and the plugs, one was terribly fouled, the other was good. I thought that would help but it didn't, still using oil. It isn't making the compressor sound so I wouldn't know if the head gasket was blown or not. It has a history of knocking but everybody say's that is common for the Kohler. I have been running the wix oil filters and Havoline 10-30 oil. One thing I have noticed is at the very top of the oil fill spout there is a white milky substance, almost like water in the oil on a car, but I haven't been adding water!!!! Any ideas, I'll write them all down, still have 1 yr on warranty and want it straight before it runs out.<p>Thanks,<br>Homer
Homer,it sounds like you have a cracked piston ring.Could POSSIBLY a combination of the above and a blown head gasket,but that would suprise me.Cracked ring would explain the smoking. Let us know how you get on.<p>Karl<br>
It could be rings or even a cracked piston. It's nice it's still under warranty. I have almost 4 times that many hours on my 22 Kohler and it doesn't need any oil added between changes, so something major is wrong. Maybe you will end up with a new one if the cylinder walls got scored. Or maybe they just re-sleave it. Best of luck Homer and let us know what the problem is.<p>----------<br><a href="http://www.townserver.com/elm/">Eric@ELM</a><p>
Tough call. Could be rings, piston or cylinder. The oil consumption and knocking sound would lead me to believe a piston "slap" was occuring rather than bearing failure.<p>When you say it is running with the key on are you referring to detonation or the fact the key just isn't turning it off. If it is detonation that is causing it to run on, the oil is the problem. Oil in the combustion chamber will effectively raise the octane requirement to prevent detonation. This is why a lot of older cars need higher octane gas than they used to. Detonation can cause a bunch of problems including ring and piston failure and blown head gaskets and others.
The key is off, it must be detonation but I didn't know oil had anything to do with it. I'm taking it in tomorrow to let the dealer look at it. It's too early in the season to be having problems!<p>Homer
Yep. When too much timing or compression is not the cause of detonation, oil blowby is a likely culprit. If you have a hot or burning oil hot spot in a chamber, the spark plug is no longer lighting the A/F mixture, the oil is, and doing it way before TDC, causing the "dieseling" and extreme cylinder pressure too early. It ain't good to have it happen at idle, when you shut the mower down, but it is far worse when the mower is under load at 3000+ rpm. At that point you can't hear it over the engine noise. The best thing to happen would be for the head gasket to let loose. It beats a liquified piston.<p>Here's the kicker. Detonation could have been the cause of the oil control problem. I think Kohler runs these engines as lean as possible to keep emissions down. Teamed up with an air cooled 9:1 compression engine, 87 octane is probably just enough. A bad tank of gas and you risk excessive detonation, which can lead to blown head gaskets and cracked cylinders or rings. But who wants to run premium fuel? <p>
I run the mid grade 89 octane, never have run 87. Even put a couple dollars of premium in it the other day thinking if I did get a weak tank I could perk it up with the 93!<p>Homer
Homer,<br>This happened with my 25hp anchor when it had 100 hrs on it. The ring was shot. If I were you I would change the oil filter back to a Kohler before you go to the shop. If a rep has to look at your motor and he sees a filter that isn't a Kohler it might make for some out of pocket expenses. Good Luck.
what grade of gas do you guys run in your equipment? can you see a difference running hightest in a kohler? i think it runs better myself
