# Kohler engine overheating or my imagination?!



## TooMuchFS

Hi

I have a ride on mower with a Kohler Courage SV series engine which I have used for several years without a problem.
As always, I checked the oil level before starting and noticed it was about mid way between the F and L marks. About 30 minutea sin to the job I heard a clikcing sound and stopoed the mower to check for a stick or obstruction causing the noise. 

At this point I noticed the temperature of the front wheel near the engine was quite hot, as was the engine block. Not sure if this was normal, I checked the oil level and found that a small amount of smoke came from the filler spout as I lifted the dip stick. Is this normal?

Being a bit concerned I cleaned the dipstick and dipped for oil to find no oil! I read the engine manual which says to wait a while for the oil to resettle before dipping again. This time. the oil level was back to 'halfway'.

So questions are:
a. Is the smoke from the oil port and high operating temperature normal for a Kohler?
b. Is it normal fr the oil level to 'disappear' to that extent during running?

I am reluctant to run the engine again until I can be sure!

Cheers

Peter


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## Argee

Did the oil level come back up after sitting? If the oil is gone I would check for a serious leak. Kohler has a near two quart capacity in the crankcase...if you were burning oil it would have smoked pretty bad in the 30 minutes that you used it. The clicking noise and heat you noticed are indicators of lack of lubicant. Hopefully you caught it in time.


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## TooMuchFS

The oil level did come back when it cooled and sdat for a while. There was no noticable smoking before hand. I will top up the oil today and check air filters/fins and the fan etc. as well to see if there is another issue.
Thanks for help.


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## stickerpicker

If you suspect a heat problem remove the shroud and check for air flow obstruction.


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## TooMuchFS

Thanks to all. A through inspection didn't reval any airflow issues. I topped the oil levels up to be safe and ran the engine without issue for over an hour. The heat that was concerning me appears to be where the exhaust vents (next to the front right wheel). As for the clicking noise - no solution but it isn't alarming - just faintly present. I am thinking maybe there is a small hole in the exhaust.


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## stickerpicker

Being you've used your tractor for several years the ticking sound may be a valve that needs adjustment.


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## shaman4901

*did you solve the problem?*

The Kohler Courage engine seems to have a reliability problem, and what you describe is something that has been addressed in many sites. Did you find leaks around the head gasket? Seems they have a proclivity for warping valves.....a visit to youtube will give you some great videos of problems encountered with these engines. Seems like they need to be run at full throttle and with non ethanol gas. That is what I picked up. in my journey. If it is not too late you may be able to get repaired with out having to scavenge for a used engine somewhere. They want a good penny to replace them if you buy a new replacement. By the way, if you have a hydro trannie, and it happens to be a tuff torq 46, which seems to be a standard for use with Kohler Courages, there is are excellent threads and sites to tell you ow to service it yourself without having to pay an arm and a leg to get another one. That what these forums do, help us get a pool of info together to make knowledgeable choices and decisions. By the way, the service people at tuff torq are great to deal with. Kohler----hmmm.


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## RC Wells

I agree with Shaman4901. The Kohler engines are now duds and the company is unresponsive.

If you can find a mechanic willing to tackle the engine, it will likely need a new piston and rings, and head and gasket on one side, then have the carburetor reworked to allow it to run rich enough to avoid over heating and collapsing a piston from pre-ignition during heavy loads.


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## Country Boy

A tapping noise while the engine is running is most likely a valve that needs adjustment. They are supposed to be readjusted after a certain amount of run time. Your manual may show the interval, or you can look up the service manual at www.kohlerplus.com (click "Enter as Guest"). We've sold a lot of the Courage series engines at work as Ariens uses them quite a bit, and while they do have more issues than the Command series, they have been pretty reliable for us. I've only had two out of over a hundred that had serious issues, and both were covered by warranty well out of the regular warranty period. You shouldn't be dealing with Kohler on warranty issues, you should be dealing with the distributor for your area through your local dealer. I have to send all the info to our Central Distributor and they decide wether or not to cover something outside of the warranty period. We've had a great experience with Kohler engines, though I will admit that they aren't as good as they used to (though the same can be said for all brands in my experience). The Courage series is considered a homeowner engine, whereas the Command series is the Commercial engine. Just like Briggs has the Intek and Vanguard. More and more of the small engines are being built in China and other third world countries, so expect quality to decline across the board as time goes on. People simply don't want to spend the money for quality anymore and the companies have changed to meet that demand for cheap products.


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