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Lagersolut

Kohler M10 - some smoke

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Lagersolut

The M10 on my 310-8 smokes ( oil ) at start up, but only when it's  throttled up -or put under load - after a few minutes and it's up to temp it's hardly noticeable - runs like a top - I'm on the fence whether to run it,  keep good oil in it or start planning a rebuild next spring - ran it 3-4 hours ( mowing ) after my last oil change,  barely moved off the full mark.

 

I'm not even sure if this is a ring issue, when the rings were bad in my 241 before rebuild - it smoked all the time .

 

Run or rebuild ?

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KyBlue

You can get away with running it for awhile like that , but it'll continue to get worse. 

 

Depending on how many hours are on it, planning a rebuild for the down months might be a good idea... but I don't think you'd have any issue running it for another year or maybe longer...just keep a eye on things.

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Catmanii

Like 4StarCstms said it is not going to hurt it to keep running it. Just watch the oil and make sure it stays full. My K-301 will use a half quart mowing a half acre. I mow half of that and fill it back up and do the other half. I'm going to overhaul it this winter, but it has been running just fine like that for several years.  :)

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Fordiesel69

If it bothers you, rent a bottle brush / dingle ball hone and hone the cylinder just enough to take the glaze off, and slap a set of rings on it.  The M10 will have a style "A" piston, as there was never any other type offered.  So you could buy just about any set of rings and be OK with it.

 

You will be out $20 for the rings, and $5 for the base gasket.  Then just 2-3 hrs of labor. 

 

It will last a long time.  At times I wonder if the older rings were junk.  Quite a few engines I have tore down were not worn overall, but the rings were.

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shorts

There are 2 schools of thought on piston rings, relativly soft alloy that wears to the cylinder or a hard ring with lots of spring tension that will bore the engine as they wear.  Its kind of a catch 22 thing but I lean towards the soft rings on the kohlers to limit wear on the block/bore.

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Fordiesel69

How do you specify soft vs hard? 

 

Cast iron or Chrome?  Often chrome is all you will find.

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shorts

chrome are hard, and usually on a stiffer base material, the cast iron rings tend to be softer, also the amount of tension engineered into the oil ring expanders make a difference.  Unfortunately most of the engineering data on the ring packs is protected /unpublished data. with enough experience you will learn which manufacturers tend to market ring kits that will bore an engine in use or wear the rings out. also the metalurgy of the block material comes into play

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Fordiesel69

This is one area I am not familiar in.  I think based on the way stens rings are, they are chrome, in addition to the facotory kohlers. 

 

Another thought is overboring a kohler and pressing in a new sleeve with a more robust alloy.  Nobody wanted to entertain that thought, and getting info on that is also tough.  I would do it on a rebuild for the little extra cost if it would add durability.  A Magnum / K series could easily surpass 2k hrs if it weren;t for rod knocks and oil burning. 

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