[Sylvester Calzone]

kohler is a new beast to me.
did a oil change on my 222.

before the change the tractor ran slightly rough but usually smoothed out. I had noticed smoke out of the breather once and oil dripping from the governor (where it comes out of the block)

today I have more troubles, electrically the key switch is either not working or my battery is going. anyways the tractor runs smooth at a low rpm but around half throttle it becomes very violent and sounds super horrid as its missing.

I am guessing cleaning the breather, looking at valve lash would be a good place to start?

since purchasing this tractor I am running a good mix of sea foam in it so the thought of carbon blocking a valve crossed my mind, but why would it run fine at lower rpm then a higher rpm.

or could my coil be going?

:crazy:

 

[mikebramel]

checking the valve gap and setting the points

 

[Billygoat]

The Case spec'ed oil pan is smaller than others. The manual for Kohler will say 2 qts., but the smaller Case spec pan will only allow you to use 1 1/2 qts. (3 carefully measured pints as the Case owners manual states)

 

[Sylvester Calzone]

Mike, went out and got feeler guages.
billyg, I filled it till the dipstick was at full mark. about 1.5 quart if I recall.

 

[wurkenman]

I would have to say it's the coil. Try a new one and a plug wire.

 

[ByCo]

Check the condenser.

ByCo

 

[animalsonly]

There are two adjustment screws on the carb. One for idel and one for full throttle. look at the engine specs for your engine and adjust accordingly. Of course after you checked the plug, points and plug wire.

 

[robynrj]

you may want to remove point box to check plunger is not sticking or worn on one side.......they get gummy over the years. Bob M

 

[Sylvester Calzone]

okay today I had the time to get at it. after rebuilding my carb and replacing the high speed needle it was bent! (*thanks Dhiesel for the replacement!! :thumbsup: ) I installed put everything back to factory settings, started right up no problem but something else is wrong the engine cant maintain a good rpm, governor was checked and is fine.
borrowed neighbours digital tach to read the spark plug and its all over the place which is very odd for that unit, so I am assuming the ignition components need checking, took the points cover off (I did this when I bought the tractor and they looked wonderfull) now they are all melted!!!!!!!!! I am surprised the damn thing even ran with the points pushed into the plastic.

what would cause this?

planning on borrowing a good coil and condenser with new points to see if that solves it.

you may want to remove point box to check plunger is not sticking or worn on one side.......they get gummy over the years. Bob M

 

[Hydriv]

Sounds to me like the wrong coil.

If someone put a coil from a car on that engine, that would be wrong. Car coils are 8 volt, not 12 volt. They rely on an EXTERNAL ballast resistor to look after the other 4 volts. Kohler K engines must have a true 12 volt coil. Bosch makes 2 models that are available from NAPA and NAPA also has the OEM Kohler coil in their OPE catalogue. Replace the points AND the condenser along with the correct coil.

 

[horton20]

I run auto parts store coils with external resistor with no problem on lots of kohlers, that is not the problem Horton20.

 

[Hydriv]

Steve,
If YOU are adding the EXTERNAL resistor to the automotive coil, then I agree...... that's OK. But..... if there is NO external resistor being added, then I disagree with the use of an 8 volt automotive coil being used on a Kohler K.

 

[Sylvester Calzone]

I will have to check tomorrow if the coil is automotive or not.
I think its kohler as I have some receipts from the previous owners last tune up which everything was replaced oem.

will report back tomorrow just to be sure.

 

[myerslawnandgarden]

Check the condenser.

ByCo

Nice call, Casejunkie!

These engines will start and idle fine with no conderser at all, but "pop" "spit" "bang" at any increase of throttle.

Take a look at the breaker points with the engine running, you will see a nice blue light show in the dark.

If the condenser isn't bad I'd bet it's connected to the positive instead of the negative side of the coil.

Bob

 

[Sylvester Calzone]

okay so I replaced the points and condenser. the engine does run nicer, but I have minimal throttle control.
it idles alright, push up throttle and it immediatly bumps to around 3k (doesnt hold steady) and move the throttle ever so slightly it takes off like a rocket.

so I am thinking the governor gear assembly is messed up?
hope the engine is still alright after all that rpm fluctuation.

is their anything I can try befor I tear into the motor.

 

[Sylvester Calzone]

perhaps an adjustment could be made on the governor arm assembly?
or does any adjustments not matter here.

 

[Hydriv]

Tech Library. Service Manuals . Engines section.

You are a trained student. ....READ :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh: :sidelaugh:

 

[Sylvester Calzone]

unfortunately that is the only manual that wont open on my computer, dead link?

I do have the k301 service manual on my computer.
it does seem like I can play around with the governor settings.

on page 6.30 on the figure I do not have the speed adjustment nut, but rather on page
6.31 I have the high speed stop, my criticism to this design (maybe something is wrong on my engine) but the stop likes to move around by itself, if you tighten the bolt to much then the throttle doesnt move. no happy area either to tight or to loose!

I really am not sure why I would loose my throttle control all of a sudden, but I will check out the governor settings to see.

 

[Hopeless Case]

Hopefully I won't scare you with this..

I gave a 222 with a Kohler 301 to my Grandfather this spring, he called me a couple of weeks ago and said that it wasn't running well.

I simple assumed the same problems as the rest of the Members, Electrical problems.

So after replacing the coil, and ensure that there was good spark, my Grandfather said that the engine still wouldn't start, it would run for a second and die. but he said that it sounded like it was backfiring.

So i made the 2hr journey to his place to help fix it.

Well it wasn't Electrical..... I got to his place, Fired it up once and, pulled the head off.

Sure enough when i turned the crankshaft there was about 5-10 degrees of play before the piston would move, with a bit of a knock.....

So out the motor came. and once the engine came out there was no doubt what the problem was. the first thing that we found was a nut from the connecting rod, multiple aluminum shavings, and the splash fin laying in the oil pan. :thumbdown:

But on the good side of things it's not a 12HP as the piston is 3.5" in diameter, that would make it a 14HP correct. There are signs that the P/O had rebuilt this, new gaskets other things, to bad no one clearly gave him a torque wrench.

just took it apart late last night, still assessing.

Anyways I'll see if i can figure out how to add pictures and will keep you in touch.

 

[Hydriv]

Are there any marks on the bottom of the oil pan (inside the engine) that would indicate the splash fin coming in contact with it?