kohler enginge loud ticking

[bigsteamer4u]

I have a kohler cv15 it has a loud ticking in valve i took off the cover and found the intake rocker arm was a little loose. do i need to change the rocker or could it be a sticky hydraulic valve lifter? i tried sea foam it didnt help


ty jason

 

[Trav]

Just from reading there seems to be issues with lifters collapsing on these engines.
They mention a specific procedure for fitting and adjusting them so i would probably get a manual for this engine and follow that or take it in.

 

[jstutz]

The vertical shaft engines like you have there have an air cultivation issue. This causes the upper lifter to collapse. There is a kit available that is used to somehow shunt the air away from the lifter it is about 30 dollars. Also, many have said that using the Kohler brand oil has helped with there problem. I dont know much about the issue, this is just stuff that i read. There are some other posts on here that have the part number for that kit. I believe the PN is 24-755-135-S

 

[gd9704]

Try switching oils. Mine would occasionally get loud after a hot shut-down and restart. It always goes away, but is annoying.

I switched brands of 10w30 and it reduced to almost never.

 

[kcfx4]

Originally Posted By: gd9704
Try switching oils. Mine would occasionally get loud after a hot shut-down and restart. It always goes away, but is annoying.

I switched brands of 10w30 and it reduced to almost never.

make sure you are running 10w30, straight weight oil in a command series can cause its valves to make all kinds of sounds

 

[super20dan]

the kohler oil really helps. noise went away completly after switching to kolher oil

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: kcfx4

make sure you are running 10w30, straight weight oil in a command series can cause its valves to make all kinds of sounds


10w30 straight weight?

As we've hashed out over and over (and over) 10w30 is recommended by Kohler for the Command series, but countless owners such as myself have run 40wts such as 5w40 with nothing but great results. 10w30 is NOT the best oil for all Command series engines in all conditions.

Joel

 

[kcfx4]

my poin 10w30, NOT straight weight. run whatever, maybe the "thinner" the better even(makes more sense), my point was..NOT straight in command. and you saying "10w30 is NOT the best blah blah"......correct me if i'm wrong, but I'm yet to see a cv15 on a snow thrower, so YES 10w30 is best, want a 2nd opinion....read the manual, and if you read my post, it does make sense...I said" use 10w30,(thats a comma)straight weight oil makes command's valves make all kinds of noise"

 

[JTK]

kc, I completely respect your knowledge of the industry, but your constant statements of "only use", "must use"... SAE30 or 10w30 in the OPE threads is simply not true. We all know they work , are typically recommended and have worked for decades, but there's viscosity ranges that are better suited for modern day OPE engines that will allow them to live long happy lives. That's kind of what BITOG is all about.

Joel

 

[dave123]

JTK is spot on at the least I would run Rottela 30 or better PCMO 10w30 is not the answer. AMSOIL 10w30/30 small OPE formula would be a good choice to.

 

[kcfx4]

i dont mean to tell ppl what to use...they ask, i answer. and i usually give a txt book answer put into laymens terms. and ive yet to see a gasoline sm engine manual anywhere say anything about 15w40, 5w40 etc....im giving the advice, i would like to get myself... Maybe my grandpa used used transmission fluid in his 2stokes, and worked fine for him....thats still poor advice 2 give to anyone. and im glad you let me know what bitog is all about, cause it must be a sin to give txt book (OEM recommended) advice. and mr. amzoil, where do you have this vast knowledge to recommend one use any straight weight oil rather than 10w30 in a command?

 

[doitmyself]

JTK, there is plenty of evidence on the commercial lawn care sites that people are having great luck with oils other than 30wt. and 10W30. They talk about racking up 1,000's of hours on oils such as 5w40 and even 15W40.

It makes one wonder why Kawasaki and Kohler have not changed, considering all the advancements in oil. Don't they have engineers that test this stuff?? Briggs is the only one to change "recently" with their recommendation for synthetic 5W30.

To me, it seems that 5W40 would be a great mower oil in many cases.

I'm just curious what R&D these companies do and why they refuse to change from the old standbys. Maybe we should ask them.

FYI, Kohler has relaxed a bit regarding their strict recommendation for 10W30, as displayed in this bulletin:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-12/1118523/koh112.jpg

kcfx4....these arguments also occur on the professional lawn care sites regarding oil weights and brands. There's the "by the book" guys vs. the "seat of the pants" guys, each saying their choice is the BEST. At the end, we all end up dying just the same.

 

[kcfx4]

based on doitmyself last post, I stand corrected. maybe their engineers do participate in R&D, and yet stick to their guns. Maybe if it isnt broke, they see no need to fix it and or fall into some of this hype thats out there

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself

kcfx4....these arguments also occur on the professional lawn care sites regarding oil weights and brands. There's the "by the book" guys vs. the "seat of the pants" guys, each saying their choice is the BEST....


Man isn't that the truth! Panties went to full bunch-up when I mentioned I was running 15w40 Rotella-T in my ~30yr/old Kohler-K over on a Case/Ingersoll board I frequent. "What an idiot I am".. "I suppose you know more than Kohler engineers".. I heard it all. I showed them a spec right from Case where Case recommended 20w40 for the K's in their equipment back then. Things loosened up and I see more and more posts of others moving to 15w40. I don't push any specific oil/viscosity range. I just can't stand when someone insists ONE oil/viscosity MUST be used or you'll have issues.

Joel

 

[edhackett]

A lot of the choice of oil given in manuals is social rather than technical. 10w30 and 30 are oil weights that Joe Blow can pick up at any hardware store, grocery store, drug store...

Ed

 

[Bror Jace]

edhackett is correct in this instance ... as he is in most instances.

The 10w30 choice is the 1 weight that will work for most users in most climates/situations. But that doesn't make it the best choice by any stretch of the imagination.

For the southern 1/2 of North America, I wouldn't use it in the summer time. For winter use (e.g. snowblower started in sub-freezing temps) I'd prefer a 5w30 or 0w30 synthetic. For summer use down south, I'd prefer a 15w40 ... especially once the machine has a few years, few hundred hours on it.

Nothing really "wrong" with the recommendations in the manual kcfx4, but if all a participants want is the OEM recommendation, they probably wouldn't be on this forum.