Boring a Kohler cylinder

[ENGINENUT2]

Toolbert, You can find a lot of Kohler specs and tolerances at: http://www.yetmans.mb.ca/kohler/-----notice the M series engines specs are nearly all the same as the k series.The M stands for magnum and I think has some subtile upgrades that improved reliablity.Many aftermarket catalogs list parts the same for both.As to the gov-usually it doesn't need repair before the 2 nd rebuild unless someone overrode it severely.Adjustment is simple and just like most other flyweight gov on 1 lungers--the manual covers it well.The balancer weights must be timed at the time of crankshaft installation and there are reference marks jus difficult to see---just a little extra care.But not to worry, most of them had no balancer weights.I've seen them on 12 hp (k301) on cub cadet and Gravely shows them in the book but I never heard of a 10 hp with balancer.If you look at the shorter stroke on 10 hp (12/14/16) is the same, probably it wasn't needed for smoothness improvement.My 12 hp k 301 on Gravely was worn beyond the .040 available (.030) from Kohler so I opened it up .125 to std. k 321 size and man the difference is evident even though it lacks the larger ports and valves of the K 321--21 cu in added never hurts a thing.

 

[ENGINENUT2]

I need to proof read better.I made it sound like 10/12/14/16 shared the same stroke.Not so--the 10 is shorter.Sorry.

 

[ENGINENUT2]

Oops, another mistake.The bore change gave me 2 cu in increase not 21.Must have been wishful thinking.

 

[crossthread]

Yes enginenut, I bet adding 21 cubic inches to that little engine would be quite impressive. Seriously though, I can't thank you guys enough for your help. It is a K241 by the way. I must admit that besides the things I mentioned that I have tried, I have not looked inside this engine at all. I just want to know what sort of bucket of worms I am getting into before I start ripping things apart. The information I have gotten here is priceless. I do not have the equipment to perform a blow down test but I do have half a dozed different types of compression gages. I have asked my son to do a compression test when it is working normally and then another one when it starts to act up. This may give me an idea if a valve is stuck or something. With my warped way of thinking about mechanical things, I am actually looking forward to seeing the oily side of this engine. I just don't want to get totally stressed out by not having a clue about what is involved. For all I knew someone with experience may have said "don't touch it or you will end up with a total basket case". I have seen quite a few rebuild kits available for this engine that include gaskets, piston, rings etc. for about $140.00. Somebody must be fixing them. It is not the family car and I have until next spring to figure it all out. Thanks again for all your help guys.

 

[JST]

I have a K series manual somewhere around because I have K series here (K181, I think).

I'll double check if it covers that 241.

If it does, and you need any info out of it, I can dup and send it.....

BTW, I got an 0.005 over piston w/rod a while back for this one.... the shop guy sure was mad they sold it to me, I think he wanted me to put it in for service.....

In any case, it was just slightly worn, and the oversize piston did the job without any boring. Those things are built tough.

 

[crossthread]

J Tiers. Thanks for the offer. I hope this is the case here as I really don't want to bore it if I don't have to. Thanks again.

 

[JST]

Yep, K241 is covered, let me know.

You could PM me your address and what kind of info you need. I figure you want the basic settings etc tables certainly, plus troubleshooting, and ????

 

[david routhier]

crossthread,
If you go to http://www.kohlerplus.com/login.asp , login as guest and drill down to your engine, they have a PDF of the service manual.

 

[sedstar]

I watched my neighbor "bore out" his uncle's lawn tractor engine...used a three finger honing thing...in small increases each time till he hit the size he wanted for the new rings.

been a couple years...the thing is still in continuous summer lawn service...big lawn, too.