Latest on My Kohler CV730-0020

 
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SMITTY
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Post by SMITTY » Fri. Feb. 28, 2014 11:34 pm

Figured I'd start a new thread, since I found I do NOT need a new engine after starting the other thread: Need a New V-Twin Mower Engine- Briggs 44Q777-3137 Any Good?

I'll be posting pics of the repair process here in the future. You can get the jist of the story from the aforementioned thread.

Did a leakdown test the other day on the cylinder that's guzzling oil. Had 40% leakage, all coming out of the valve cover/crankcase. Did a wet/dry compression test to rule out the rings - the wet test wasn't much higher than the dry, so between that and Kohler's CV730 reputation, it's pretty much a slam dunk head gasket job. No point in even removing the valve cover to watch - I'll do that when the parts come in.

Ordered up a 24-841-04S kit, and it should be in next week at some point. Less than $50 .... vs. $700 for the cheapo Briggs engine ... or $1,700 for the cheapest replacement Kohler. :fear: :eek2: :wtf: I've bought and owned cars for YEARS that cost 3x less than that damn Kohler engine!!

Anyway, I'm a happy camper because I saved a SHITLOAD of money! :D

Stay tuned for the teardown. Should be some interesting comparisons between the #1 & #2 cylinders. My call is, #1 is going to be blacker than *censored*, with coked up oil all over the piston crown, and the head and valves. #2 should be somewhat normal. Can tell just by the condition of the spark plugs.

Big thanks again to Rob for smacking me verbally up side the head to wake my ass up before I wasted a big stack o' cash! :cheers:

Oh ... and I didn't have to pull the tractor out after all. I brought the heat to where the tractor was instead of the other way around.

Attachments

Heat, barn, back section.jpg
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Post by whistlenut » Sat. Mar. 01, 2014 12:03 am

If you think Kohler chewed a hunk of flesh out of your backside......try Honda engine parts OR generator components. Honda does send 3 oz of Anal-eze, however.....at least it isn't a dry f.... adventure. Good score on the Kohler parts and now you KNOW what is inside that well built product. Could have had something to do with the air filter before you owned it....

Just looked at the temp outside....now down to -11.....expect to see a couple Eskimo's mushin' by early tomorrow!!!

 
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Post by Wanna Bee » Sat. Mar. 01, 2014 7:31 am

whistlenut wrote:If you think Kohler chewed a hunk of flesh out of your backside......try Honda engine parts OR generator components. Honda does send 3 oz of Anal-eze, however.....at least it isn't a dry f.... adventure. Good score on the Kohler parts and now you KNOW what is inside that well built product. Could have had something to do with the air filter before you owned it....

Just looked at the temp outside....now down to -11.....expect to see a couple Eskimo's mushin' by early tomorrow!!!
I never had any complaints about Honda genny parts. Always thought they were extremely reasonable. Besides the reliability, the fuel savings you get with a Honda more than make up for the added costs.

I have a Honda EB5000x generator with well over 15,000 hours on it. (Oil changed every 40 running hours) it spent its entire life on a construction site running 40+/- hours a week. it still fires up on the first pull every time, even without the choke regardless of temperature.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Mar. 01, 2014 10:32 am

I am glad you got it figured out. This is a good example of troubleshooting first, ordering parts second. Post some pictures of the teardown and repair.

 
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Post by SMITTY » Sat. Mar. 01, 2014 11:38 am

Will do.

All the Honda's I've worked on lately have had PLASTIC camshafts and timing belts - not confidence-inspiring components, that's for sure ... :shock: Can't get away from the cheap-out mode these days. I will be starting a thread momentarily on the demise of Made in USA engines on all snowblowers beginning this year. :(

Doug - just FYI ... I bought this unit brand new in '05 with ZERO hours. Nobody has ever operated it or worked on it but me. That air filter was well maintained, with the pre-filter oiled with Bel-Ray off road foam filter oil -- a super-tacky oil that stops ALL dirt. The problem I'm having is due to either poor workmanship at the factory, or poor engineering. Do a Google search for " CV730 burning oil" - hours of reading on the subject I've found! :shock:

The engine is capable of 2k hours before self destructing, once the head gaskets are replaced. At my current usage, that works out to 100 years of ownership!! 8-)

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Sat. Mar. 01, 2014 9:39 pm

Kohler is not the only one to suffer blown head gaskets from shut-down backfiring . Backfiring can do far worse damage than just a head gasket.I preached to my customers for years to idle down b4 shut down & argued with one cust. until he showed me his owners manual's instructions, so I then called a kohler tech line & asked them the why behind full throttle shut down,first hand experience ... it works.

 
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Post by SMITTY » Wed. Mar. 05, 2014 2:28 pm

So this is where I'm at right now as I suck down some lunch ....

Just gotta Scotchbrite up the mating surfaces, then clean the valves & piston. Also had to cut a bolt head off to get the muffler out. :mad: Now I've got to extract what's left, and tap the holes bigger for new bolts. I'd have been done one side by now, at least, if not for that. Always something .... :roll:

Attachments

John Deere G110 head gasket job (3).JPG

The patient

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (5).JPG

Guess which one goes to the #1 cylinder - the one with the blown head gasket? ;)

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (2).JPG

Not much friggin room in here .. :(

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (4).JPG
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John Deere G110 head gasket job (6).JPG

Carb & plastic intake

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (7).JPG

Surrounded by *censored*!!

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (8).JPG
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Damn bolt ...

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (10).JPG

Finally in! What a mess ...

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (11).JPG

Gasket is TOAST

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Post by SMITTY » Wed. Mar. 05, 2014 2:30 pm

Ran out of room - one more pic of the blown gasket ...

Attachments

John Deere G110 head gasket job.JPG
.JPG | 95.5KB | John Deere G110 head gasket job.JPG

 
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Post by SMITTY » Wed. Mar. 05, 2014 10:10 pm

Finished cylinder #1 today. Tomorrow ... or whenever it warms back up again, I'll tackle cylinder #2.

Valves were a mess. Removed them, wire wheeled them, wire wheeled the crap out of the ports with the Dremel, cleaned the gasket surfaces, blew off the crap, and assembled.

Spent more time fiddle-f'ing around with that busted muffler bolt, and cleaning sticky oily carbon off the combustion chamber, valves, ports, and piston. #2 shouldn't be as bad as this one, so it should go a bit more smoothly.

Check out the last pic - casting flaws. Not what I'd expect to see on an engine that costs $2 GRAND ... :roll:

Attachments

John Deere G110 head gasket job (13).JPG

Crusty intake valve

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (15).JPG

REALLY crusty exhaust valve

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (16).JPG

Getting clean ...

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (14).JPG

Much better! Clean intake

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (17).JPG

Clean exhaust

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (18).JPG

One down ...

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John Deere G110 head gasket job (12).JPG

Valve cover mating surface - casting flaws. Yes, that is a HOLE ...

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Post by 2001Sierra » Wed. Mar. 05, 2014 10:16 pm

I know a guy at work same problem, I will find out the engine model # tomorrow. Blow buy at gasket on the top of the head on one side. They did complete tear down, and reassembly.

 
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Post by windyhill4.2 » Wed. Mar. 05, 2014 10:26 pm

2001Sierra ,tell your co-worker that the proper shut down is to turn key off at full throttle,blown head gaskets from backfire will cease.See Smitty's need engine thread for more detail on that procedure & why it works.

 
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Post by SMITTY » Wed. Mar. 05, 2014 10:39 pm

With all due respect Windy, I find it very hard to believe this was caused by just a backfire. Nearly every lawn tractor of every brand backfires if you slam the throttle shut, yet this Kohler is the only engine I've ever run into this problem on at such low hours.

I noticed the head nuts weren't as tight as I expected. Looks like the factory got a batch of improperly torqued heads, AND faulty gaskets. Not a good combo. The replacement gaskets are reinforced all around with a thin metal strip that was not present on the factory set - they will never put forth that kind of effort unless there was a problem. A quick search of the net reveals that nearly every single one of these engines had head gaskets that failed. The general consensus is improper torque and/or faulty gaskets. Check out the pics of the new and old together ....
2001Sierra wrote:I know a guy at work same problem, I will find out the engine model # tomorrow. Blow buy at gasket on the top of the head on one side. They did complete tear down, and reassembly.
I'd bet it's the same one. If I held my finger over the breather hole in the valve cover while doing the leakdown test, it would build significant pressure - when I removed my finger, you'd hear and feel a quick HUFF. 40% leakdown. Crazy!

 
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Post by scalabro » Thu. Mar. 06, 2014 7:35 am

Smitty...did you re-lap those seats?

 
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Post by SMITTY » Thu. Mar. 06, 2014 10:30 am

No - didn't see the need on a 180 hour engine. It always ran good - just smoked like a '14 Silverado. :lol:

 
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Mar. 06, 2014 11:10 am

Could be worse...at least these parts are easy to handle and the rest of the engine is sound.

My brother has a 844 cubic inch Allis diesel torn down in the shop. O-rings around one sleeve deteriorated and allowed anti-freeze and oil to mix. Ruined the bearings, and once they got into it they found a cracked head also. Not sure how much the engine weighs, but the wrist pins are 2.25" in diameter. :shock:


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