Re-installing a posi-lock rod

[wooley12 0]

I'm trying to decide whether to rebuild my K301 that dropped the oil splash paddle, caused it to overheat and the rod to shatter. Using muriatic acid I've cleaned all the melted aluminum from the crank throw bearing surface. In order to measure the rod/crank connection without taking the crank out and using a micrometer, the plan is to use plasti-gauge wire the check the clearance. This means I'll need to assemble the rod onto the crank, remove it, and if the results are good, re assemble. Plasti-guage wire is a wire that is squished between two parts and when the resulting flattened wire is measured against a supplied template, the clearance can be determined.

MY QUESTION IS- Can I assemble a Posi-Lock connecting rod, take it off and re assemble it without negating the locking power of the Posi-Lock collar that holds the nut on.

I see in another Kohler manual for the M18 engine that it says to use 140 lbs of torque when installing a new rod and 100 lbs when re-installing a used one but no mention of that in my K301 manual. The instructions with the new rod says to tighten to 260 and DO NOT to over torque or loosen and re torque.

Confused

:woohoo:

[shorts 182]

use your old rod bolts to platiiguage the engine and then change them and use the new bolts for final assemble and replace them with new every time that you reassemble the engine. modern fastener technology has the bolts being streched to the limits of elasticity, the material cannot be repeatedly retorqued like the old time fasteners without loosing reliability.

You really should mic the crank at several locations to make sure that it is round and the same dia across the journal. you got lucky once and didnt destroy the block when the rod failed

[Anglo Traction 761]

Kohler Manual (chapter 1, page 7) for K301 states-

New Posi-Lock Conrod 260 Inch Lbs.

Used 200 Inch Lbs. (with No overtorque proviso #2 at the bottom of the page)

Capscrew 285 Inch Lbs (with over torque proviso #3 at the bottom of the page).

These torque settings should not really overstress the Nuts, Studs or Capscrews too much, but are more likely to stretch the threads in the Body of the Conrod, being softer Alloy.

As Shorts says , check several points of the Crank Journal for measurements.

[wooley12 0]

Thanks for that. I'll go with 200 lbs for the 2nd install after measuring. The big issue that I have is a personal one. Have a "4 sale" sign up on the house now and will be relocating w/o the Horse so sinking $400+ and a bunch of time into doing the job correctly (Re-bore, crank measure and re-work, etc.) so i can mow/tow for a few weeks isn't making sense. She gave me 25 years of service and fun with one rebuild so no complaints. When I go I'll probably sell it for the $150 in parts that I put in with a full disclosure.