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erik

Kohler rebuild

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erik

I was wondering what everyone's experience is with Kohler engines.

How many hours before smoking at start?

How many more before a rebuild is necessary?

Ballpark price for parts? Can you get away with just new rings or have to do more?

What are good replacement options? Upgrade options for more power?

I'm anticipating needing to take care of mine soon. Got some smoke at start up with 826 hours (if the meter is accurate, bought used)

Thanks!!

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pfrederi

Doing a rebuild correctly is not a cheap process. Parts plus machine shop work and you can quickly get to the 4-500 dollar range. Yes you can just slap in some new rings and that may work for a while....BUT

so it smokes some on start up as long as it starts well an has adequate power why do anything... I have a KT 17 that I got for free out of a JD It must have 2000 hours on it and yes it smokes for a while when it starts and you have to add oil on a regular basis but it runs just fine

Unless your motor was really abused I would think you could get several hundred more hours before you had to rebuild it....

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Duff

I'm going to side with Paul on this one. I've got a Kohler vert in a 1994 JD STX46 I inherited from my late father. It has well over 2,500 hours on the motor and does smoke a little when it starts up but otherwise runs very strong and quiet. I'd leave your engine alone if a little smoke is the only issue. If it starts to really smoke or gets noisy, then may be the better time to get into rebuilding. These Kohler engines are really tough.

JMHO.... :thumbs:

Duff :notworthy:

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rickv1957

Duff,I have seen the kohlers go over 2000 hours if taken care of,I purchased a 68 charger 12 a while back from original owner,has lots of hours but motor has never been touched,over 40 years of service!,Rick

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dadstractor1

kt17 is very pricey to work on but seris2 is a good engine dadstractor :notworthy:

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floor-it

Erik,

I just replaced the rings and honed out the cylinder walls on my KT-17QS after 1780 hours. The engine was using oil and smoking so we finally did a quick rebuild.

The KT-17QS or any others are very good engines. The bottom end of this one was very tight so we only rebuilt the Top End.

Just order a Kohler Engine Service manual # TP-2043-A and this will guide you through the process.

Gary

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erik

Thank you for the information. Very helpful. I will hold off for now. The engine runs good, starts right up, no excessive noise and only smokes for the first couple seconds.

How many hours do you go between filter changes? What weight oil do you use?

Thanks again everyone.

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dgjks6

got a question about smoking at start up.

My wheel horse smokes slightly until choke closed. This has always done this and I thought it was normal.

My sears with a briggs started to bow a huge cloud of grey smoke at start up. This I think is not normal.

What is the difference and what causes it?

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Duff

How many hours do you go between filter changes? What weight oil do you use?

Hi, Erik,

My "rule of thumb" on my green tractors :WRS: with Kohlers and pressurized lube systems/oil filters is every 25 hours in dusty conditions (summer mowing), and up to 50 hours during the cooler, wetter months. I would guess with proper warm-up times, somewhere between 25-50 hours in the winter would be OK. Others with more knowledge should chime in here, though...... :banghead:

Duff :thumbs:

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