Kohler Engine bubbling engine oil

495man · Apr 9, 2017

Pulled lawn tractor out of shed for the spring.

17 HP single cylinder Kohler.

Noticed floor slightly oily where it was parked.

Engine oil level ok.

Put fresh gas in it (ran it dry last fall) and it started right up.

It ran for a a minute or so then a large plume of white smoke came out and it died.

I started it up again and same thing. Runs clear then plume of white smoke (very heavy, very large) and quits.

I checked oil again, was in normal spot but foamy, I started it up, check dip stick while running and oil was foaming out.

So what is wrong here?

Dblair · Apr 9, 2017

smell the oil to see if gas has made it into the oil if so the electric shutoff ( if it has one ) is leaking . that happened to me once .

Phil9N3667 · Apr 9, 2017

I've got one of them in a CZ4817 Husqvarna mower and never had this issue. I will say this though,
sounds like your air filter is stopped up and it's sucking oil past the rings, causing the white
smoke. Had a friend's IH 424 tractor air intake pipe from the filter to the intake manifold
collapse and it blew white smoke out the exhaust when it collapsed. Check the air filter housing
for a mouse nest maybe?!

roy prins · Apr 9, 2017

seen a lot of the same thing -- drain the oil --clean the air filter or replace it-- the gas that has filled it is hard to see on the
dipstick so the crankcase is to full -- turn the motor over and it is forced out where ever it can and thus fouling the thing up -- change
the oil filter to if it has one -- good luck My Friend !

donjr · Apr 9, 2017

IF you have gas in the oil, and the oil level is high drain it and put a new filter on it. Then, put A NEW carb on it- usually
around $40. When they mandated ethanol, a bunch of the Kohlers ( and maybe a few more) weren't really set to resist ethanol. The
seats ate out or them in the aluminum carbs and leaked gas into the cylinder, and then into the oil in the crankcase. The easiest
fix is just a new carb.....

d9gdon · Apr 9, 2017

(quoted from post at 19:23:31 04/09/17) Pulled lawn tractor out of shed for the spring.

17 HP single cylinder Kohler.

Noticed floor slightly oily where it was parked.

Engine oil level ok.

Put fresh gas in it (ran it dry last fall) and it started right up.

It ran for a a minute or so then a large plume of white smoke came out and it died.

I started it up again and same thing. Runs clear then plume of white smoke (very heavy, very large) and quits.

I checked oil again, was in normal spot but foamy, I started it up, check dip stick while running and oil was foaming out.

So what is wrong here?

If it's a Kohler Courage engine, it's gonna blow up soon! They were a terrible engine. I just had mine to break the block last fall and I had known about the weak spots in this engine and treated it very gently. I have spent today looking for an engine replacement or a new mower.

Anyway, I am with the other guys to check for gas in the oil. Again if it's a Kohler Courage engine, the valve cover was notorious for leaking oil onto the muffler and smoking badly when the muffler heated up enough.

Good luck with it.

kencombs · Apr 9, 2017

By 'foamy' do you mean it is whitish colored? Or has air bubbles?

If white/milky looking it could just be condensation from sitting.

Air bubbles are usually due to overfilling

Also check the crankcase breather. Maybe do a crankcase vacuum test to be sure it's working and all seals are keeping air out.

Oil coming out the dipstick tube when it's pulled with the engine running is normal however. Lots of splash from the crank hitting the oil!!

Geo-TH,In · Apr 10, 2017

I have a 17 hp kohler on an old craftsman mower.
It's almost bullet proof engine if properly cared
for.

My guess is water causes oil to look white and
foamy.
Gas in oil would mean your have excessive oil in
crankcase.
If your engine doesn't burn oil, you can almost
eliminate blow by which will put water in oil.
Change oil, good chance you have condensation in
oil. Check filter to make sure the vent tube didn't
oil up your filter.

Let us know what you find.

JUNK-MAN · Apr 10, 2017

This could be because of an overfull engine, it would build up a lot of pressure witch could make the rings leak or blow completely allowing oil in the chamber causing it to blow smoke than stop. It would also attribute to the air bubbles. I had one of these engines in a cub cadet and it blew up at under 100 hours. The whole front of the block cracked, so I cleaned it and put 6 layers of jb quick weld on it, runs like new to this day! If it is rings though it may not be worth fixing as they are kind of prone to whole blowing up thing.

495man · Apr 11, 2017

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to tackle this on the weekend.

495man · Apr 11, 2017

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to tackle this on the weekend.

Kohler Engine bubbling engine oil

495man

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Dblair

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Phil9N3667

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roy prins

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donjr

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d9gdon

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kencombs

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Geo-TH,In

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JUNK-MAN

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495man

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495man

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