A Kohler engine question

[Quebecnewf]

I have added about three parts of a quart in the last three days running . Ran it about five to six hours each day. Cold starts this time of year so that might be part of it. I tried the full synthetic in it this summer and it seemed to be a bit worse with that type.now using 10W30.

Runs real fine and seems to still have same power .keep engine clean so not sure what going on.
Finished sawing for this year so will follow up on it come spring sawing I guess

Quebecnewf

[sandsawmill14]

if it were me (and i know its not  ;D ) i would start looking for an engine now to have as a spare for when it does go down but if its not even using a quart of oil per day i wouldnt worry about it. it should still run a long time. if down time is not a big issue i wouldnt even bother with having a spare engine. i dont keep a spare engine but we have 3 mills (2 hyd and 1 manual) so if 1 breaks down i just change mills. but i saw cheap and saw ALOT  ;D . i can make more (i think  ??? ) sawing at .20 bdft and keeping every log i can saw than sawing at .25-.35 a bdf and sawing when i have logs. i am sawing ties and cants when i saw cedar and other of the more pita species i charge more  of course. just what works for me 
i should add once the girls get out of school money wont be near as important. right now its costing me as much as the payment on a wheel loader    ;D

[snowshoveler]

Woops...I forgot a little something about the Kohler Command engines.
If your engine has plastic valve covers...they might be a problem.
There are steel bushings in the holes where the bolts go through the cover to hold them on.
The plastic shrinks away from these bushings and will allow the cover to leak a bit of oil and also loose crankcase vacuum.
You might not see the oil leak either because its usually close to the exhaust manifold and burns off there.
The loss of vacuum is the bad thing and will cause your engine to burn a bit more oil that it would otherwise.
There are kits available to replace the valve covers and they are a bit better quality than the originals.
1 comes with the mechanical fuel pump as well.
So if your Kohler is using a bit of oil and has 2 or 3 thousand hours on it have a look at those covers.
Sorry I did not mention that before hand.
The covers are not what I would call cheap but they are a lot less than a new engine or a re build.
Regards Chris

[Percy]

My 2001 woodmizer edger came with a kohler 25hp.  After 10 years with good maintenance practises, the thing, the thing started to rattle and burn oil. I started using synthetic(high zoot stuff I use in my Buell)and got a few more yers out of it....

[scmilling]

I've  checked through other kohler threads but couldn't find my issue asked before, so here goes.
I have the 27hp efi engine on my lucas mill.  600hrs on the clock ,three years old , services done by the book.
I occasionally get a very heavy starting out of it, as if the timing was slightly advanced or the cylinder was partially full of fluid.  ie a very heavy first compression, once its past this it spins at full speed and generally starts within a couple of spins. No smoke, no excess oil consumption.  Can happen either hot or cold. No warning/management light issues. Plugs look normal. It can sometimes be slow to prime fuel after a week of not using and requires several on/offs of the key to lift the fuel.
Any suggestions?
Shaun

[losttheplot]

Could be your starter or the wiring to it, or the starter button / ignition switch.
Good luck. 

[78NHTFY]

...let's see: 650 hours on my Kohler Command 25; 'been running it for 12 years; if I get 5,000 hours out of it, DANG that means I have to live 'till I'm 157!!! :D  Or more likely, I'll be found slumped over an 18' cant with my boots on and that Kohler just purring away.... ;D... All the best, Rob.

[Kbeitz]

The compression cam could be worn down or maybe just needs a valve adjustment. 

[brombones]

I've  checked through other kohler threads but couldn't find my issue asked before, so here goes.
I have the 27hp efi engine on my lucas mill.  600hrs on the clock ,three years old , services done by the book.
I occasionally get a very heavy starting out of it, as if the timing was slightly advanced or the cylinder was partially full of fluid.  ie a very heavy first compression, once its past this it spins at full speed and generally starts within a couple of spins. No smoke, no excess oil consumption.  Can happen either hot or cold. No warning/management light issues. Plugs look normal. It can sometimes be slow to prime fuel after a week of not using and requires several on/offs of the key to lift the fuel.
Any suggestions?
Shaun

Maybe go through and clean/torque all the battery & starter connections/cables, especially the ground side.  Look for poor crimps on cable lugs, corrosion, etc.  Good base electrical is critical on EFI.
A quick load test on the battery wouldn't hurt either.  Also check for parasitic draw that may be slowly draining the battery.
Once those are eliminated then go through the ignition system wiring.

[scmilling]

Thanks to all who'v responded so far. Its always good to know there's help out there. 
Brombones- I've  not gone over wiring yet, but once shes turning over she spins at full speed and for a good period of time if I haven't  pre primed which sort of suggests all electrics good . Surely a poor performing battery would be sluggish initially then slowing down more as cranking continues. There's none of the fizzing/crackling sounds or smell of high resistance contacts that Iwould expect to get from poor connections
Kbeitz- I haven't looked (ever) under the rocker covers yet, but aren't they hydraulic lifters on this motor and so not adjustable? 
Once fired up no issues at all, and doesn't occur at every start-up.  Intermittent probs are always the toughest to locate.

[brombones]

Surely a poor performing battery would be sluggish initially then slowing down more as cranking continues. 

Generally the first crank on the starter to get past the compression stroke draws the highest amperage off the battery - once it's spinning the crankshaft momentum helps it out, and the amp draw will decrease, often over 50%.  
If the battery is losing some of it's peak CCA, the sluggish first crank followed by easier cranking is a common symptom.  A quick load test would tell you.  A starter with some internal wear will do the same thing, but at 600 hours I wouldn't think a starter is failing.
Intermittent issues sure can be a pain.

[Sawmill Man]

Sounds to me like a faulty automatic compression release. Pull valve covers to see if the exhaust valve barely cracks open on compression. 

[pineywoods]

OK, I'll throw in a weird possibility...A leaky injector...The injector system is a common rail system.. keeps 40+ psi on the injectors all the time. An electrical pulse from the controller opens the injector at the proper moment to squirt fuel into the intake. When the engine is shut down, the electric fuel pump will stop pumping, but there will still be residual pressure in the rubber fuel lines to the injectors. Leaky injector = fuel dumped into the cylinder.

[scmilling]

Hey there. Thanks for the suggestions re the injectors and also the compression ease . Both of these would seem vey possible from how the engine behaves and sounds on the occasions when it really kicks. One of the first things I need to do is test load the battery.
From the symptoms I have I could understand the thing occuring after several days of not being used but would expect to find or smell gas in the oil.
When it does occur there's a real crack sound as if the piston had just hit the valves but the high compression feel occurs prior to this. Don't really want to be opening engine up without being sure what I'm about to find. I'm of the if it ain't broke don't fix it crew. Still struggling with the variability of the occurences.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I get to sit in the bleachers on this thread. 

[Peter Drouin]

I get to sit in the bleachers on this thread.  

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D