14Hp Kohler K-Series questions

[handyman 1]

About 15 years ago, I had to put a new connecting rod, piston and rings in my C-141. The engine shop said the bore was good and still showed cross hatching. Over the last year, the engine is using more oil and smokes. I pulled the head and the bore is completely smooth. Can I put a new set of rings in and get a little more life out of it or do I need to hone the cylinder bore? Thanks.

[MaineDad 87]

You could put some new rings in but it really would not make too much of a difference. I would take it back to the machine shop and have them measure the bore and find out why you are burning oil.

[Fordiesel69 271]

From home just measure your piston to culinder clearance with a feeler guage. If in spec, get a cheap harbor freight hone that you you put on a cordless drill, then run it thru the give some new crosshatch. Install new rings and you should be good.

[handyman 1]

That is what I was hoping to do to keep the cost down. Would it be easier to open the side of the engine to get to the rod bolts or would it be better to unbolt the whole thing from the tractor and take the oil pan off and come in through the bottom?

[Fordiesel69 271]

Remove head, remove engine from oil pan leaving the pan bolted to the tractor frame. Pop the piston and rod out from the top, service as required.

If you need to hone it, use kerosene in an oil can and keep it wet at all times during honing. Flush the engine very well inside with some solvent like kero, stoddard, paint thiner, mineral spirits, etc. This will get rid of any metal from the honing process.

[MarkPalmer 81]

If the bore dimension is still in spec and new rings don't show too big of an end gap in the cylinder, (under .030) you can just deglaze the cylinder and install new rings- the cylinder must be deglazed when new rings are installed in order for them to get a good seal to the cylinder. You don't need to remove the bearing plate, just the oil pan and head. I use a thick piece of cardboard under the cylinder that can be held in place with the crank flyweights to keep the deglazing tool from contacting the crank and any debris from getting down, that way you only have to clean the cylinder itself after you are done with the deglazing tool. Only run the deglazer enough to get rid of the glaze and give new cross-hatches. Break the new rings in under some load to seat the rings quickly. Job done.

-Mark-

[Fordiesel69 271]

BTW, the engines I have done all have the one piece oil ring. They were bad oil burners. The new design three piece oil ring is a much more superior ring, and will solve almost all of the oil burnign issues.

Keep in mind that air cooled engines can use oil during heavy loads and have nothing wrong. So as long as there is no smoke, you will be fine.

[bowtiebutler956 650]

I think I would at least have the bore measured to make sure its not to far out of spec, if its not then a hone, and rings would be ok.

Matt :flags-texas:

[MarkPalmer 81]

BTW, the engines I have done all have the one piece oil ring. They were bad oil burners. The new design three piece oil ring is a much more superior ring, and will solve almost all of the oil burnign issues.

Keep in mind that air cooled engines can use oil during heavy loads and have nothing wrong. So as long as there is no smoke, you will be fine.

Thanks for the advice on the oil ring, the last K engine I did was burning more oil at first than I like to see. It did settle down after break in, but I used the one piece oil ring on a cheapo set from Rotary. I'll try the three piece oil ring on the one I am rebuilding now.

-Mark-

[handyman 1]

Update on the work. First off, I had to remove engine from the vibration cradle (C-141) to get at two of the oil pan bolts. I borrowed a hone from my neighbor the other day. It is the type with the three stones . I ran it in the cylinder about a dozen times at various speeds moving it up and down and the result was basically a bunch of lines areound the cylinder in a circular pattern. Do I need to get a ball type hone tpo have the pattern be more random?

[oldredrider 2,553]

If you've got a good cross hatch pattern, you're good to go. Don't hone more than you need to.

[squonk 43,899]

Update on the work. First off, I had to remove engine from the vibration cradle (C-141) to get at two of the oil pan bolts. I borrowed a hone from my neighbor the other day. It is the type with the three stones . I ran it in the cylinder about a dozen times at various speeds moving it up and down and the result was basically a bunch of lines areound the cylinder in a circular pattern. Do I need to get a ball type hone tpo have the pattern be more random?

To get the cross hatch you slow the hone speed/drill way down and speed up the up and down movement.

[Fordiesel69 271]

Although a good pattern is better, any deglazing will do just fine. Once the rings are seated in, the pattern is not as useful any longer.

[MarkPalmer 81]

A lot of guys get paranoid reading all these things about getting a precise 45 degree crosshatch and whatnot when deglazing, but with these engines the crosshatch is not real critical. Kohler only calls for 23-33 degrees in the manual, so you don't want the lines to intesect really sharply and the angle degree isn't real critical. Just try to get some angle there, and not have the lines be horizontal across the cylinder. Those stone tools take a bit of practice. The first time I used one I got nothing that looked like anything that was in the textbooks or online photos.

-Mark-