New to me K301

[BrianX128 109]

I picked up a K301 tonight for relatively cheap, the plan for it is to be on my old frame from a c161 that I'm going to use as the plow / snowblower/ tiller machine and maybe an extra rear discharge deck I have to blow grass into a yard sweeper just to mow our back yard as it grows out of control all year and with side discharge decks you end up with clumps of grass no matter what..

 

Anywho it runs pretty good, purrs at idle and no knocking or anything but I noticed when you rev it up quickly it smokes a decent amount and I can see smoke leaving between the head and the block around the head gasket. It's all sooty there and the breather looks a little wet too. I ordered a new head gasket I'm going to put on this weekend and was just wondering if someone could direct me to the torque specs and patter for the head, I'll try and search some more for it but I must be missing it. It doesn't seem to smoke near as much once the throttle settles to a constant rpm, I can't tell if there isn't a faint haze at wide open but it's nowhere like the revving up.

 

Also given how it won't be a "big worker" just 15-30 minute intervals of use here and there throughout the year, if even with a new head gasket I still have some mild smoking and slight oil use [haven't noticed any oil use yet but I only had it running 15 minutes] do these typically live that way happily? I have an 11.5 horse briggs in a lawn rov'r that has used a quart of oil every 4 hours of mowing for the last 20 years and it used to mow 2 hours at a time. Any heat any stress and it was the same. Still is, still smokes. 

 

I've just never had a kohler that smoked yet.. two k341s that just run, a magnum 14 that just runs.. this is a new experience ha.

 

[ZXT 2,401]

You will probably want to surface the head before you reinstall it. It's probably warped, otherwise it wouldn't have blown the head gasket. Others will be along to give advice on how to do that.

 

As far as it smoking... Keep oil in it and it ought to run a long time if the bottom end is tight. 

[The Tuul Crib 7,339]

[BrianX128 109]

Awesome, thanks I wanted to look at the breather as well, I think the gasket might be bad there. It's slightly wet around it but I can't tell if it's gas leaking from the makeshift gas tank the previous owner put on the engine so I could hear it running.

 

I tossed it on the old frame last night, didn't have time to wire really anything up except the starter and the choke, that's tonights project. It actually runs pretty well, I have a spare head that should fit so I ordered 2 head gaskets, I might try the other head and see if it magically stays sealed before I mess with this one.

 

My engine pulley comes today, so I have a fun night of re-wiring a nightmare and getting it to move under its own power for the first time, if all of that checks out I'll move onto swapping the head over before I make it do any real work.

 

 

[The Tuul Crib 7,339]

28 minutes ago, BrianX128 said:

Awesome, thanks I wanted to look at the breather as well, I think the gasket might be bad there. It's slightly wet around it but I can't tell if it's gas leaking from the makeshift gas tank the previous owner put on the engine so I could hear it running.

 

I tossed it on the old frame last night, didn't have time to wire really anything up except the starter and the choke, that's tonights project. It actually runs pretty well, I have a spare head that should fit so I ordered 2 head gaskets, I might try the other head and see if it magically stays sealed before I mess with this one.

 

My engine pulley comes today, so I have a fun night of re-wiring a nightmare and getting it to move under its own power for the first time, if all of that checks out I'll move onto swapping the head over before I make it do any real work.

 

 

Also don't forget to flatten the surface on the head. Use  some fine sandpaper on a good dedicated flat surface to clean up the head. The best thing I use is a flat piece of glass about a half inch thick.

[Rob R 973]

AS others have said you can use as is or do a mild rebuild, hone cylinder if within specs, new piston and rings.... I have done at least three 301's and all have been successful. It is a work horse of an engine....  You got to remember that engine is probably + 40 yrs old. 

[bottjernat1 2,193]

Id do what you are doing. Put a new head gasket on change the oil use an sae 30 and i have one that use to putt out a small bit of smoke so i also added a bit of lucas oil to it. now she dont smoke. if you want to go really into it hone it and put a new set of rings in it.

Edited June 25, 2020 by bottjernat1

[BrianX128 109]

2 minutes ago, bottjernat1 said:

Id do what you are doing. Put a new head gasket on change the oil use an sae 30 and i have one that use to putt out a small bit of smoke so i also added a bit of lucas oil to it. now she dont smoke. if you want to go really into it hone it and put a new set of rings in it.

 

I think I'm going to at least try this first, if it was going to be a main mower for me I'd just dig into it now but I'd like to see if it runs ok with just the new head gasket and different head that I'll try and lightly sand to make sure it's flat. 

[bottjernat1 2,193]

1 minute ago, BrianX128 said:

 

I think I'm going to at least try this first, if it was going to be a main mower for me I'd just dig into it now but I'd like to see if it runs ok with just the new head gasket and different head that I'll try and lightly sand to make sure it's flat. 

i also dont use mine for a main mower but just to scoot around with once in a while and once in a while i will use it to mow. but not all the time. i switch mowers like folks change there under dillies. LOL

[BrianX128 109]

Just an update, all I got was the engine pulley tonight. Got that on and made a key for the shaft, got everything together and went for a ride without the hood since I still didn't switch fuel supplies. Everything seems to work but I have a couple of silly issues, one the engine is now mounted on a flat plate instead of a shaker plate even though they are both k series and seemed to mount at the same points the belt is too tight. You have to slam the clutch to get the belt to stop. Second the throttle cable that was going to the 16hp apparently isn't the same as this one going to the 12 in terms of total travel needed to get to wide open throttle. I get to like 2/3 throttle. The mounting points don't line up so I had to do some zip tying unfortunately but the outside of the cable isn't moving. The only thing I can think of is if I shove the whole cable more forward maybe it will still govern down to idle but that will travel more to get to wide open throttle when pushed.

 

Also I need to still hook up a charging system. Stator wires work, but I don't have a rectifier. I do have a "voltage regulator" from the old dead kt17, I'm wondering if I can hook that up just the same?

[BrianX128 109]

Got the electrical all hooked up, everything is done except sanding the head and putting the new head gasket on tomorrow. It actually seals once the engine heats up, but I'm going to fix it anyways since this is so easy to do as long as all of the head bolts cooperate. I mowed with it for a half hour and it used no oil or nothing recognizable. Fixed the throttle issue too with a different hole on the governor rod.

 

Only issue left after doing the head tomorrow will be the drive belt. Since I didn't mount it with a shaker plate and just used a large flat steel plate an old kt17 sat on it doesn't like any size. I had a belt that is 82.5 which was super tight. Couldn't press the clutch to stop and if I slammed it the belt jumped off the trans drive pulley. I have an 84 on it but its loose just enough 3rd slips up hill. 83 is probably still too tight. Wish there was an 83.5.. not sure if there's anywhere under there I could add another idler pulley for some more tension? This belt doesn't need much to be right and its routed right..

 

 

I've since cleaned up the wiring and got rid of the little top mounted gas tank to haha.

Edited June 26, 2020 by BrianX128

[BrianX128 109]

Everything is done! Head gasket went great after sanding it and it's no longer leaking. Also the piston and valves looked really good. Piston looked good and tight except for one small spot towards the front of the tractor right between the valves when the piston is down but I've seen way worse that still ran. I also put an old facet duralift pump on it since there was a block off plate where the fuel pump is on the engine and I didn't have a spare. Works good. I also added a pulley on the inside of the belt guard between the pto and the dash right about where the brake pedal is. Helped keep the belt from slipping on hills and kept the clutch working as intended. 

 

Only thing left is to get a longer pipe for the exhaust so it's not angled like it currently is.