Geo-TH,In
Well-known Member
You can't always believe what everyone tells you.
Service manager at the mower repair shop told me, without seeing my kohler 20 hp engine, I have a blown head gasket. He even showed me where it blows.
Yesterday, I did a compression test. The rich cylinder had 180#, the lean cylinder had 165#. It takes about 10 minutes of run time for the right plug to turn black. I've tried many things. Then I started thinking like Edison, who said "I know 100 of ways how not to make a light bulb."
Well I know many things that can't be my problem, so move on and try what you haven't tried.
Stopped of at HF and bought a cylinder leak down tester. Warmed the engine up, followed the instructions. Tested the good cylinder first. No hint of air leaks in exhaust or intake. Small sound in crankcase, 25% on gauge which is in the green range for being good. I was impressed. Engine has 1600 hrs on it. The rich cylinder was slightly better. Good valves. Small sound in crankcase, air going past the rings. 22% leak down,slightly better.
The service manager showed me on a head gasket where typically the kohler will blow out. So I removed the valve cover, sprayed a little WD40 in the place he said to look, NO LEAKS. Guess you can't trust what people tell you, have to test it yourself.
So, the last thing on my list was to replace the carb. Recently I purchased an 18 hp kohler command, that had an overheating issues, grass choked fins, not to mention a mouse nest. I picked it for $35, removed all the parts and sold the block to a guy for $50. He knew the head had a problem, but wanted it anyhow.
So, I took the 18 hp carb apart, cleaned a little junk off the bottom of the bowl. Blew everything out, Installed it. Works fine. I can tell when it's warming up, I need to give it about 1/4 inch on the choke. So, I feel the engine is a little leaner. After letting it run wide open, I sprayed bursts, about 1 second, of sea foam in carb. Did this for about another 10 minutes. Then I tested out the engine power on a frozen mulch pile. All is well. Good power under load. The plug was cleaner than I've ever seen it. Hopefully there will be no more posts on the kohler sago, done, finished chasing windmills, splitting hairs and all the other things I was told I was doing. And if I blow the engine, so what? Less than $2K for a new one.
Service manager at the mower repair shop told me, without seeing my kohler 20 hp engine, I have a blown head gasket. He even showed me where it blows.
Yesterday, I did a compression test. The rich cylinder had 180#, the lean cylinder had 165#. It takes about 10 minutes of run time for the right plug to turn black. I've tried many things. Then I started thinking like Edison, who said "I know 100 of ways how not to make a light bulb."
Well I know many things that can't be my problem, so move on and try what you haven't tried.
Stopped of at HF and bought a cylinder leak down tester. Warmed the engine up, followed the instructions. Tested the good cylinder first. No hint of air leaks in exhaust or intake. Small sound in crankcase, 25% on gauge which is in the green range for being good. I was impressed. Engine has 1600 hrs on it. The rich cylinder was slightly better. Good valves. Small sound in crankcase, air going past the rings. 22% leak down,slightly better.
The service manager showed me on a head gasket where typically the kohler will blow out. So I removed the valve cover, sprayed a little WD40 in the place he said to look, NO LEAKS. Guess you can't trust what people tell you, have to test it yourself.
So, the last thing on my list was to replace the carb. Recently I purchased an 18 hp kohler command, that had an overheating issues, grass choked fins, not to mention a mouse nest. I picked it for $35, removed all the parts and sold the block to a guy for $50. He knew the head had a problem, but wanted it anyhow.
So, I took the 18 hp carb apart, cleaned a little junk off the bottom of the bowl. Blew everything out, Installed it. Works fine. I can tell when it's warming up, I need to give it about 1/4 inch on the choke. So, I feel the engine is a little leaner. After letting it run wide open, I sprayed bursts, about 1 second, of sea foam in carb. Did this for about another 10 minutes. Then I tested out the engine power on a frozen mulch pile. All is well. Good power under load. The plug was cleaner than I've ever seen it. Hopefully there will be no more posts on the kohler sago, done, finished chasing windmills, splitting hairs and all the other things I was told I was doing. And if I blow the engine, so what? Less than $2K for a new one.