Valve adjustment

I've got a cub cadet from a box store with a 20 horse Kohler Courage. I know this is a throw away unit but I have really been pleasantly surprised by it. I maintain things well so it should last for another few years. It currently has 211 hours on it and starts well and has good power.

The valve cover was leaking so I pulled it off today and put a little Permatex on it. When it was off I noticed that there is a lot of play in the rocker arms. When the valves are both closed you can wiggle the rockers pretty good. If I remember right something about this is a compression release.

My question is - what about these engines makes them about a 400 hour engine (or so I have heard)? Valves? Seats? Rings? When it is close to shot I will retire it to pulling the sprayer and buy a new rider for the farm. I just kind of want to know if I will suddenly have a window in the block or something.

A single cylinder 20 hp.Courage, I presume.

I don"t know how many hours you can get out of those engines. I think Kohler is getting most of the bugs worked out of them by now. Over the last 5 years I have put in many short blocks under warranty.

-First the cover plate wasn"t properly torqued and it worked loose, causing the block to crack, usually near the exhaust camgear.

-Then some had a main bearing fit problem, the bottom main bearing would seize to the crank.

-Briggs complained that the balance weight was using their idea of a locating track in the case for the counterweight to slide on, and Kohler went through 2 or 3 different counterweights to get one that the bearing inserts wouldn"t come loose in or that the bearing rings wouldn"t bust themselves. Or that the locating arm wouldn"t work loose and go through the case.

-Some had oiling issues, some of the oil passage gasket bolts in the top cover weren"t tight enough.

And yet, last year I serviced some of those same Courage engines that were just as old as the others, racking up hours and still giving good service.

The main thing is to keep the oil checked and change it on regular schedule. They don"t tolerate being low on oil at all. That is about all you can do.

If you bought it new, keep your receipt. It may still come in handy if you do have a problem with it.

The Courage twin engines are far better in my opinion. That may be because they share the same pistons and rods with certain of the Command series engines. I don"t know if they will last as long as a Command engine or not. They told us at Service School that the Courage twin was going to be replaced. Probably by a Chinese engine.

those valves are set at .004 I think.

Hi per the Kohler service manual its recommended that the valve lash be set every 200 hrs, Intake= .005" Exhaust = .007"
GB in MN