MightyRaze - Red Bandit

UGH! That don't look good.

Yep it appears to be cast aluminum rod.  Can't weld that dipper back on.  I could get another rod, but do I want to keep dumping $$ into this engine?  Hmm.  I might could polish that crank back out.  We're talking mower engine here.  Hmm... what to do.

Kind of thinking of making a dipper that connects to the bolt and sending it till she's done.

OK, I am going to give the kohler 1 more chance.  I went ahead and purchased a new rod.  Should be here friday.  Maybe I'll get it fired up again Saturday.

Crank cleaned up nicely at lunch today.  This looks promising.  There are a couple knicks in one spot, but I think it will be fine.

#savethekohler #KeeptheKohler
Here is some more Kohler intimate shots for you guys to drewel over.

Rings looked new.

rod was slapping the bottom of the piston wall.  Piston wall is ok.


.010 piston.


Cleaned pretty well.


Piston wall looks good.



Made some pins to help put the engine back on without fighting the gasket etc.

Nice to see you giving it surgery even if it will end up getting shelved!

So it looks like it's already been into as it has a 10 thou over piston, guess they didn't follow the proper torque procedure for the rod end (which is an odd one IMO) and I'll assume no Loctite either? You caught it just in time man, good for you!

I bet those rod cap bolts were only finger tight.  Also, the camshaft looks pretty new as well.  Lobes are perfect.

As for shelving... that could get pushed out a while.

More research on these engines. I have found out that aftermarket rods seem to come loose.  We we have established the engine has been rebuilt at least once.

Also, the balance gears.  In the pulling world, they recommend you yank them out or they may grenade on you.  I believe, that with offroad use, the recommendation will probably be the same!  Those will be coming out.  The bottom one is already looking sketchy and ragged.

The machine shop yanked the balance gears out of my K301 when that got done. I think they were already broken.

There is still aluminum deposited on that crankshaft. Do this outside! You can dissolve it off with muriatic acid or perhaps white vinegar will do the same. Then you can polish it up again. Looks like a perfect candidate for a new rod.

@Crazy_Carl,
I haven't really finished with the cleaning of the crank.  I just did a quick 2-3 minute cleaning.  I saw that it was coming off pretty easy.  I was going to give it more love between now and the new rod Friday.

With the recommendation from The Captain,  @Wheelinhorse, I did go and yank the balance gears out.  Good thing too.  

One was missing needles in the needle bearing.  I search all over the inside of the block with a magnet to be sure they didn't fall out.  That could have been some flaky debris I found in the pan.


One of the gears was already starting to flake apart.



Empty shafts where they were.



Note the shaft closest to the camera.  See the scoring from the missing needles?

I've read that without the balance gears, I will see anywhere from, unnoticeable to some shake that will eventually not be noticed after some time.

Now to figure out how to get the spacers off.

My k301 and K241 are both solid mounted and vibrate quite a bit. Bonus: free foot massage!

I may need to do the following just below the red section.

https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/83823-planetary-gears/?do=findComment&comment=826775

I'd bet the set screw had something to with it doing what it did

Actually there is a problem with aftermarket rods coming loose.  This engine had an aftermarket rod.

MightyRaze wrote:

Actually there is a problem with aftermarket rods coming loose.  This engine had an aftermarket rod.

Definitely feel like an oppy swap would be the quickest bestest fix lol

Im diggin this build!

I had a kohler magnum 20hp and even with 2 cylinders it shook like hell, pretty sure thats just normal kohler stuff

Wow mighty, I didn’t know those engines fall apart like that! Be interesting to see how the new rod turns out, I bet it will work fine.

New rod is back in town. Here is hoping it comes to the house tomorrow as they say and not back to Florida.

OH!  Forgot to mention.  I left my mark inside the block on the crank.  LOL

Yay!  Rod finally made it today.  Shocked it was not made in china, but was made in Taiwan.  LOL.  Anyways, I was excited to get it in that I forgot to take any pictures.



Engine is back on and all hooked up.  I have not tired to fire it yet.  I'll do that after work.

#KohlerLives #savethekohler #keepthekohler

The Kohler lives again!  Knock is gone, and there isn't any vibration even though I took out the balance gears!

MightyRaze wrote:

#KohlerLives #savethekohler #keepthekohler

The Kohler lives again!  Knock is gone, and there isn't any vibration even though I took out the balance gears!

Did you get to drive it yet?

Not yet, My belt is 1 inch too small so it does not disenguage.  I know I don't have the guides on yet, but I'm going by the clutch pulley placement.  It's close to driving.

In other news, I have myself a battery box welded up now!  Not finished, but seems to be good to go.

@MightyRaze this one sure looks familiar lol, what kind of battery are you using?