Kohler K series oil

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nomochevys

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I may inherit a old cub 106 with a K series engine. It wont run right now. Been sitting for years. The owner replaced the 10 hp with a 12 hp Kohler K series single piston engine back years and years ago. So it has seen a lot of time.

Can you run 10w30 or 5w30 or is it only strait 30w oil? Im a bit confused about this. The engine I believe is solid but needs the carb cleaned or rebuild. The old cub is like a tank the way it was built. Its a 1969 model year. Owner said its a sorry lawn mower but a heck of a good tractor.
 
Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
I would not run multigrade in a tractor unless you absolutely have to due to winter use.


Well, my plan was to get a snow blower or blade for it and use it as a back up mower. So it could see all kinds of temps. It would also be my tow tractor since its built to tow about anything. I believe the manual specs strait 30w oil though. So to be safe, I could run just plain old pennzoil 30 weight right?

I noticed a huge difference in my vanguard when I switched from straight 30w to 5w30 with cold starting. I mean it wizzes right up in cold weather now. I really really like these vanguards.
 
I ran 15w40 in my Kohler K's. Back in the day, some OEM's such as my Case recommended 20w40 for heavy duty usage where Kohler K's were installed, but yes, SAE30 will be the standard for all flat-head Kohlers.

Joel
 
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Originally Posted By: JTK
I ran 15w40 in my Kohler K's. Back in the day, some OEM's such as my Case recommended 20w40 for heavy duty usage where Kohler K's were installed, but yes, SAE30 will be the standard for all flat-head Kohlers.

Joel


I have some Case branded 30w oil that I use in my push mower. I have no idea who made it for them. I dont have much left since I bought a gallon at a yard sale. Maybe an oil change or two at the most. The owner of the mower said he changed it about once a year at most and used what ever 30w oil he had laying around.

I know these are pretty darn good engines and I would like to try to take care of it.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
I ran 15w40 in my Kohler K's. Back in the day, some OEM's such as my Case recommended 20w40 for heavy duty usage where Kohler K's were installed, but yes, SAE30 will be the standard for all flat-head Kohlers.

Joel



I run 15w40 in my K-series...I have two of them, a 10hp and 14hp. They do really well on 15w40. I'll probably change to 5w40 this winter.
 
I hear that. It's funny tho. If you go on to any lawn/garden/outdoor power equipment boards, most of the 'experts' there absolutely freak out at the mention of using anything BUT SAE30 in a Kohler-K. They burn less on 40wts and I have a sneaking suspicion, 5w or 15w40 will help them to last longer than a SAE30 would. K's run hotter than heck when you're working them hard. I dunno if it's because of the iron block not shedding the heat as efficiently as aluminum, but either way, they're build to last forever.

Joel
 
I run Straight 30w Kohler oil in summer and Mobil 1 10w30 when it starts getting below 20 degrees. I use this combo in all my OPE except Onans, they get Amsoil 10w30/30 year round. I changed the oil in both my 1974 Case 224 and my 1979 WheelHorse c-120 a couple weeks ago and used straight 30w Kohler. It is still in the low 60's here in Maine during the day and starting to get down into the high 30's at night...You simply cant go wrong with a straight 30w oil. Avoid the new SM rating, stick with sf/sl as it has zinc and moly were the sm has very little or none. The Kohler oil is a very stout 30w; hths 3.6, tbn 14, flash 496 F, Noak 3.8 and loaded with moly and zinc...your local Napa may carry it as well as most small engine shops/dealers. Briggs is also excellent oil. Amsoil 10w30/30 is also outstanding. I swear my K-series run better and are quieter using the Kohler oil...runs about 4 bucks a quart
 
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I've never heard a complaint in regards to the bottled Kohler engine oil and it's always spec'd out like a quality HDEO. If you don't mind spending $4-5/qt for it you can't go wrong. At least that's what it will cost you in my area and the only place you'll find it is an OPE dealer.
 
I'm sure a top end synthetic oil will do nothing but good for a Kohler-K, but I just can't see the value in it for this particular application. There's no filter, K's tend to run on the rich side so you have fuel dilution to deal with and the oil turns black in them fairly quickly. A 50hr change interval is pushing it big time for an average K.
 
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I have one running 5w30 and seems to have no problem with it. Then again it gets maybe 10 hours use a use a year. So I put in it what ever I have on hand at the time.
 
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Just an update...Trying something new this year after reading the story on the homepage. Rather than using Mobil 1 10w30, I am using Mobil 1 0w40 in my Case 224 and my WheelHorse C-120, both Kohler K series as well as my Simplicity 16GTH with a 16 HP Vanguard. In the Kohlers all seems well save the ever elusive "Kohler Knock" in the K series. Boy do they spin over easy! My only concern is with the WheelHorse. The cooling is such that a tremendous amount of air flows unrestricted over the head and the engine never warms up. The Case has a much less effective shrouding setup that deflects air in such a way as to be restrictive, probably why a smoky Case is so common while almost never seen in a WheelHorse Kohler. Anyway, the case warms up moderately. There is no visible smoke from either machine. The ow40 is ACEA A3 rated so it should be a stout oil. I was going to use the Exmark 10w30/30 but couldnt locate any nearby. The Vanguard seems unaffected and spins over like it was 90 degrees and fires up almost instantly.
 
Interesting! I never noticed any major differences in shrouding between a K-series used by different OEMs. I just assumed the differences were in the flywheel end, shaft and engine mounts.

Joel
 
I figured I'd bring this back to the top...I mentioned about running 5w40 this winter (and maybe year round) in both my k-series...thoughts??
 
sae 30 is recommended, i had a 129 cub for yrs, only ran sae30, as i do in all my kawasakis, if i put multi vis in a k series, id definately keep an eye on the oil level
 
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