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Kohler smoke

15 years ago

I have a 2001 24 hp ohv Kohler. Sometimes when it is started it smokes bad and will continue to smoke. The next time it is started it may not smoke at start up or while in use. You never know when you start if it will smoke or not. Both head gaskets were replaced in 2003. It has 500 hrs. on it.

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Comments (3)

tomplum
15 years ago
On the HG replacement- are you aware if the head bolts were replaced? They have come with the gasket as a kit for a while now. Did they 5 years ago, I don't recall. Kohler had a fastener problem. If the obvious doesn't present itself- it sounds like the start of another HG leak.A few things you could check. You could run a compression test , verify that there is no fuel in the oil and that the oil level stays proper, look for fuel puddling @ the intake before you crank it up (horizontal or vertical?), smoke from the breather hose, contaminated air filter etc. Any signs of external oil leaks, rotted breather tube or broken canister grommet @ the valve cover? I suppose you could have a reed problem as well (in the cyl heads).Oh joy...
dw2110
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, no bolts replaced-no fuel in oil-no oil usage-no fuel puddel at the intake-no smoke from breather hose-air filter and pre filter clean-no oil leaks- tube and grommet ok. Down to head gasket or reed problem? Funny thing, the last two times i ran it , no smoke at all. Ran for about two hours. Haunted?
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Did you tip the machine up on one side when servicing? Sometimes oil will get into the intake tract and muffler when doing so and may take a few minutes to burn off. I don't see anything else in what you did that would cause sudden oil-burning, unless there's too much oil in the crankcase. I think filter oil is great for the pre-filter, but too much of any oil will migrate to the paper filter causing restricted air flow and a rich condition which will sometimes cause blue/black smoke as the excessive fuel 'washes' oil off the cylinder wall. Also, just by chance are you storing it differently after use than before the service, so that it's not level?
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"A few seconds of start up smoke isn't uncommon." We have a Kohler CV14S on one of our Dixons. *Sometimes* when it first starts up, it smokes up the yard to the point I am ashamed to be out there with it. Other times it doesn't smoke at all. I bought rings, gaskets, seals, etc. two years ago to overhaul it but it doesn't use oil to speak of, runs great so I have never done anything about it. None of the Briggs engines we have do that. Walt Conner
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Rick, are you looking for Sears to repair or acknowledge something is wrong? Is a warranty involved? The above posters made good points. There is a certain amount of emissions that is not abnormal- which politically is different than "normal" btw.. Yes, Kohler has issues with head bolts and therefore head gaskets. As Walt stated- could be a start of an issue there. When they fully vent- it will smoke abnormally all the time. Maintenance is a big factor here. How is the air filter BTW? Very few times do I ever change oil w/o a filter. I'm with Mownie on that one. Kohler has the 100/200 hour schedule on oil - with their disclaimer except in severe conditions. Maybe if it were on a golf cart...
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The valve cover gasket is leaking. You can look through on the underside and see it puddle on the muffler. Muffler warms up, oil burns off. You can either replace the gasket, get the updated valve cover kit or use RTV or Right Stuff to seal the cover to the engine.
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tomplum
15 years ago
Once the priest leaves from doing the exorcism ...

Tell us more about the smoke. Does it seem to be black, excessive fuel emissions from the exhaust? Or more of an oily bluish /white smoke. It seems to be present on just cold starts or what other times. What is the model and spec #? What type of equipment is this engine on? Is the fuel tank located above the carb- IE like an under hood tank?

One has to think what logically is changing. One could shut off the fuel line after parking the tractor and if it never smoked on start up again think that the carb was allowing fuel thru on occasion. Fuel could possibly run into the engine and into the muffler and not noticably contaminate the oil if things are just right in some situations. Can a head gasket leak intermittently- yes, as least the symptoms can be intermittent at first. Does it make sense that the engine can run for 2 hours w/o smoking- no. See sentence #1!

You may want to visit Kohler.com and look up a service manual.

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