Major overhaul of K301

[richmondred01 2,205]

1 minute ago, Maxwell-8 said:

 

 Srry guys.

 Not a problem.

Start another thread with your issue.

It’s easier, at least for me, to keep track.

[WVHillbilly520H 10,369]

18 hours ago, Handy Don said:

If there was wince emoticon, I'd have used it!

😫😩

[ebinmaine 63,113]

14 minutes ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

😫😩

This one I found would have worked as well. 

 

[Rob R 951]

19 hours ago, Maxwell-8 said:

Normal wear for such an old engine

 

And those Valve guides, it's a small area, would they really leak that much oil that the engine is almost struggling to keep running because of the amount of oil?

I did a M10 out of a 310-8 that I acquired that was blowing oil in smoke rings and particulates of oil out thru the exhaust I took the piston out ring gap was plus 40 thousandths the bore was within Kohler max specs, the piston was scuffed on top due to normal cylinder top ridge. removed that, carefully honed out the cylinder, installed new standard rings, new piston (YOU HAVE TO REPLACE THE PISTON ANYTIME YOU DO THIS) put it all together....  I have been mowing a 1.5 acre lawn with this tractor for the last two years starts and runs perfectly with NO smoke and have yet to add oil.... p.s. I installed hour meters on all my horses and change the oil every 25 hours (Rotellar T) just like the manual says. You simply cannot kill those Kohler K series if you follow the manual specs and change the damn oil (p.s. you can use any good oil). 

[Maxwell-8 4,270]

10 minutes ago, Rob R said:

I did a M10 out of a 310-8 that I acquired that was blowing oil in smoke rings and particulates of oil out thru the exhaust I took the piston out ring gap was plus 40 thousandths the bore was within Kohler max specs, the piston was scuffed on top due to normal cylinder top ridge. removed that, carefully honed out the cylinder, installed new standard rings, new piston (YOU HAVE TO REPLACE THE PISTON ANYTIME YOU DO THIS) put it all together....  I have been mowing a 1.5 acre lawn with this tractor for the last two years starts and runs perfectly with NO smoke and have yet to add oil.... p.s. I installed hour meters on all my horses and change the oil every 25 hours (Rotellar T) just like the manual says. You simply cannot kill those Kohler K series if you follow the manual specs and change the damn oil (p.s. you can use any good oil). 

CAST IRON!!!  I have not worn out a single motor, that motor i got for free, somebody did a bad job rebuilding it. planning on doing a proper rebuild if i can find all the parts needed. I do an annual oil chance, because most of my machines don't even get to see 25 hours of use a year, my car, i follow the owner manual, but then i don't drive that much so also annualy. And my chainsaws, i use 40:1 instead of 50:1. 

I have blown up an old worn Brigss, because gas leaked out the carb and mixed with the oil.

Edited January 17, 2021 by Maxwell-8

[Mickwhitt 4,143]

So, today I made a valve spring compressor from a spare G clamp and took out the valves.

The exhaust is pretty worn with little proper sealing going on. The inlet looks much cleaner as I'd expect but both stems are worn and need replacing. Not sure what the guides are like but if easy to replace I may as well.

 

Given it a good decoke and wanderdd off to our local machine mart for some grinding paste and suckers which have not been part of my tool box for a long time. 

Everything is cleaned up now and ready for a trip to the machine shop. I will call him tomorrow to see when I can drop off the parts for him.

Mick 

[lynnmor 6,775]

8 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

So, today I made a valve spring compressor from a spare G clamp and took out the valves.

The exhaust is pretty worn with little proper sealing going on. The inlet looks much cleaner as I'd expect but both stems are worn and need replacing. Not sure what the guides are like but if easy to replace I may as well.

 

 

Given it a good decoke and wanderdd off to our local machine mart for some grinding paste and suckers which have not been part of my tool box for a long time. 

Everything is cleaned up now and ready for a trip to the machine shop. I will call him tomorrow to see when I can drop off the parts for him.

Mick 

If the valve stem on the intake valve measures OK, I would have it reground.  The exhaust valve appears to have been leaking for awhile and may need replaced, but I don't see evidence of leakage on the valve seat.  I gave up on lapping valve seats a long time ago, to get the proper angles, seat widths and be concentric, the valves need to be ground and the seats need to be cut or ground.  Just look at the contact width that you currently have and you will see that it is too wide causing lower pounds per square inch of pressure.  The correct width will prevent valve leakage and burning.

[richmondred01 2,205]

1 hour ago, lynnmor said:

If the valve stem on the intake valve measures OK, I would have it reground.  The exhaust valve appears to have been leaking for awhile and may need replaced, but I don't see evidence of leakage on the valve seat.  I gave up on lapping valve seats a long time ago, to get the proper angles, seat widths and be concentric, the valves need to be ground and the seats need to be cut or ground.  Just look at the contact width that you currently have and you will see that it is too wide causing lower pounds per square inch of pressure.  The correct width will prevent valve leakage and burning.

The vast majority of my engines I get the seats ground and valves resurfaced. 
I even get new valves resurfaced just a touch so there’s no issues. 

Edited January 18, 2021 by richmondred01

[Greentored 3,201]

Following this thread-  because there is no better feeling, sound, and smell of a freshly overhauled engine lighting off for the first time!

[Mickwhitt 4,143]

So,I took the block and crank to the shop today and had it measured. The wear he found made him ask for a 20 thou oversize piston and a 10 thou undersized con rod.

These items are now on  order so its just waiting for delivery.

While out I went to my local transmission shop and got the crank main bearings and oil seals.

The little video clip shows the difference between a worn and noisy bearing and a new out of the box one. Should make a bit of difference to the way Fred sounds.

Mick

 

[Maxwell-8 4,270]

15 minutes ago, Mickwhitt said:

So,I took the block and crank to the shop today and had it measured. The wear he found made him ask for a 20 thou oversize piston and a 10 thou undersized con rod.

These items are now on  order so its just waiting for delivery.

While out I went to my local transmission shop and got the crank main bearings and oil seals.

The little video clip shows the difference between a worn and noisy bearing and a new out of the box one. Should make a bit of difference to the way Fred sounds.

Mick

 

Those Kohlers have some beefy bearings

[Mickwhitt 4,143]

I knocked out the valve guides today with a custom made brass drift. A lot easier than trying to pull them out with a slide hammer as is shown in the manual. 

I also bought a tin of high temp black paint for the crank case. Its good up to 190 degree c

Should I just paint the lower part of the casing or will it be ok to paint the cooling fins too?

Mick 

[richmondred01 2,205]

1 minute ago, Mickwhitt said:

I knocked out the valve guides today with a custom made brass drift. A lot easier than trying to pull them out with a slide hammer as is shown in the manual. 

I also bought a tin of high temp black paint for the crank case. Its good up to 190 degree c

Should I just paint the lower part of the casing or will it be ok to paint the cooling fins too?

Mick 

im sure the machine shop will hot tank the block after the machine work to remove and debris from the bore, seats and reaming guides. 
Once it goes into the tank all the new paint will be melted off.

you may want to wait. 

[ebinmaine 63,113]

9 minutes ago, richmondred01 said:

may want to wait. 

I'll second that. 

[jebbear 377]

48 minutes ago, Mickwhitt said:

Should I just paint the lower part of the casing or will it be ok to paint the cooling fins too?

Just my 2 cents, but I read somewhere NOT to paint the fins. I did not paint the fins on my K181.

[ebinmaine 63,113]

28 minutes ago, jebbear said:

Just my 2 cents, but I read somewhere NOT to paint the fins. I did not paint the fins on my K181.

Going strictly by the book Jeb, that is the case.

The reason it is not recommended is because some folks have a tendency to lay paint on fairly thick and the older paints in particular were thick enough when laid out that they had potential to reduce the cooling effect of the fins.

 

A couple of fairly thin coats just to slow the rust down and give some tint to the fins really shouldn't hurt anything.

 

[ebinmaine 63,113]

30 minutes ago, jebbear said:

Just my 2 cents, but I read somewhere NOT to paint the fins. I did not paint the fins on my K181.

Just as a clarification I'm referring to the engine cast iron fins. The aluminum cylinder head should never be painted.

 

 

[jebbear 377]

Agree totally Eric. I should have clarified, I did not paint the head fins, but as you mentioned, I did get a LIGHT coat on the cast iron fins, mostly from just the over spray.

[Mickwhitt 4,143]

I will hang fire then and just do it when the machining is done.

All parts are on order so we will see how long it takes to arrive.

Still plenty of cleaning and prep work to do. 

 

[Mickwhitt 4,143]

Made a couple of press tools for pressing the bearings and crank oil seals in.

Also painted a few parts while I wait for delivery of the rebuild kit.

 

[richmondred01 2,205]

Outstanding 

[Maxwell-8 4,270]

@Mickwhitt Any idea how many hours where on you kohler?

[Mickwhitt 4,143]

Maxwell. 

It did not have an hour meter fitted so I can't say. 

I bought it from rural Wales where it was on a farm. 

The guy told me that the last job he used it for was to move stone with a little trailer.

Not just any stone, Welsh slate. Very dense impervious rock used in house building.

In fact enough stone to build an entire farm house. He had it delivered to a lay by at the end of his 1/2 mile long drive. Then spent months hauling tons of rock to the building site with this little tractor. 

Quite a harsh job for a machine that was already 30 years old.

So the engine has had a tough time but is still pretty good considering.

I hope his retirement with me will be a little kinder.

 

[Mickwhitt 4,143]

Not much going on as I wait for parts.

I am looking to get an engine data plate engraved with all the information on from the labels on the fan cover. Mine are pretty worn so a nice shiny new plate would look good. I'll keep you up to date as we go.

I've written a step by step idiots guide to removing and stripping the engine so I don't forget how it all goes back together. As well as taking photos I figure it will help when I rebuild.

Mick 

 

[richmondred01 2,205]

Let us know if you are getting into a jam.