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My B27 is burning oil. I’m on oil “change” 4 at 56 hours. Used Kohler’s 300 hour synthetic the last 2 times and that might as well be water.

footballfan33 said:

My B27 is burning oil. I’m on oil “change” 4 at 56 hours. Used Kohler’s 300 hour synthetic the last 2 times and that might as well be water.

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At 56 hours, it should still be under warranty. I would have the dealer look at it. Most oils get pretty thin when hot, in air cooled engines. That Kohler 300 hour synthetic oil is pretty high dollar to be changing that often. It’s a 10W50 synthetic oil. May I suggest using Valvoline VR-1 20W50 conventional oil and not changing so often. Or, a conventional 15W40 Diesel engine oil. Do your oil changes as outlined in the Kohler engine owners manual. Your dealer likely has a oil filter cutter. Have them cut one open and take a look inside.
This is another good choice.

Personally I have switched over to using 15W50 Synthetic with zinc additive here for my customers' oil changes.

StarTech said:

Personally I have switched over to using 15W50 Synthetic with zinc additive here for my customers' oil changes.

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Yep, there’s a good bit of zinc in it. However, the Valvoline VR-1 20W50 and the Motorcraft Super Duty 15W40 are also loaded with it. And, both are much cheaper than the Kohler oil.
You having repair business only makes sense to use something like Mobil 1 15W50. It can be used in engines and hydros. Plus, it’s not as expensive as the Kohler 10W50.

Yes I am using Mobile One is nearly every engine. One main reasons is the Summer temps are right at 100F on days and the engines need a heavier grade of oil as it thins quite bit at these temps.

I was buying Kawasaki oil but the shipping has gotten out of sight lately for it. Last year it was cheaper of the two but that has changed. And of course I buy it in the 5 qt jugs which lower the price too.

I go through about a case a month of this. Last year used over 25 gallons of it.

footballfan33 said:

My B27 is burning oil. I’m on oil “change” 4 at 56 hours. Used Kohler’s 300 hour synthetic the last 2 times and that might as well be water.

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Does the engine smoke? Especially when idling? Have you removed a spark plug and looked at it? Oily?

I’m going to get asked over the coals for this, but here goes. According to the owners manual and service manual for Kohler‘s EFI engines you should be using a 10W-30 oil, not 10W-50. Second I don’t understand 4 oil changes in 56 hrs, if your burning oil. One change after breaking and a second at 50 hrs would make sense to me and if oil level drops a top off. How much oil are you burning, over what time period? In this case 2+2= ??? to me.

Every 100 hours or annually. 10W30

Check for oil leak on the crankshaft output.
10W50 Kohler oil is an option.

If it's burning that much oil and not leaking oil you undoubtedly have one of the better mosquito foggers made . Maybe not cheep to operate but a good one .

Hammermechanicman said:

Does the engine smoke? Especially when idling? Have you removed a spark plug and looked at it? Oily?

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When the engine was bogging down a bunch through thick grass, smoke was coming from somewhere near the plug when I was done. The engine was so hot that I could not explore properly. Since that mow, I have not seen this smoking, nor have a mowed grass that high or thick.

MParr said:

Check for oil leak on the crankshaft output.
10W50 Kohler oil is an option.

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It only occurs when I make the engine work so hard that it almost stops due to high grass.

Rivets said:

I’m going to get asked over the coals for this, but here goes. According to the owners manual and service manual for Kohler‘s EFI engines you should be using a 10W-30 oil, not 10W-50. Second I don’t understand 4 oil changes in 56 hrs, if your burning oil. One change after breaking and a second at 50 hrs would make sense to me and if oil level drops a top off. How much oil are you burning, over what time period? In this case 2+2= ??? to me

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Rivets said:

I’m going to get asked over the coals for this, but here goes. According to the owners manual and service manual for Kohler‘s EFI engines you should be using a 10W-30 oil, not 10W-50. Second I don’t understand 4 oil changes in 56 hrs, if your burning oil. One change after breaking and a second at 50 hrs would make sense to me and if oil level drops a top off. How much oil are you burning, over what time period? In this case 2+2= ??? to me.

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Rivets said:

I’m going to get asked over the coals for this, but here goes. According to the owners manual and service manual for Kohler‘s EFI engines you should be using a 10W-30 oil, not 10W-50. Second I don’t understand 4 oil changes in 56 hrs, if your burning oil. One change after breaking and a second at 50 hrs would make sense to me and if oil level drops a top off. How much oil are you burning, over what time period? In this case 2+2= ??? to me.

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The first oil change occurred when the filter cracked and basically leaked everything out after mowing very thick country gras which was about 10 inches high (mulching deck). The second change happened around 15 hours later when the engine burnt all the new oil within 10 hours. I downloaded a manual which now seems to have disappeared, or I got the wrong one when I searched for b27i manual.
my assumption is that I got the wrong manual stating my Koehler engine used this oil. I’m a novice, and when novices read things sometimes we don’t pay attention to details we don’t understand. I think your 2+2=5 may be the best advice I can receive.

footballfan33 said:

The first oil change occurred when the filter cracked and basically leaked everything out after mowing very thick country gras which was about 10 inches high (mulching deck). The second change happened around 15 hours later when the engine burnt all the new oil within 10 hours.

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Cracked the oil filter. Something definately wrong or abused

Hammermechanicman said:

Cracked the oil filter. Something definately wrong or abused

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Yep! Probably the wrong piece of equipment for the job. The mulching deck is 100% wrong for the job. A mulching deck cannot process that grass. Side discharge only and make the first cut at the highest deck setting.
Cracked oil filter? Loss of oil? Not good.

Using that mower to do that job , especially with a mulching blade , would be similar to a Yugo pulling a 20' car hauler trailer loaded with a 1 ton dually .

SeniorCitizen said:

Using that mower to do that job , especially with a mulching blade , would be similar to a Yugo pulling a 20' car hauler trailer loaded with a 1 ton dually .

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I knew there was some reason we had trouble on grades.

SeniorCitizen said:

Using that mower to do that job , especially with a mulching blade , would be similar to a Yugo pulling a 20' car hauler trailer loaded with a 1 ton dually .

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When I can keep it short (no rain keeping me from mowing) it works great. But the yard is unusable with grass clippings from a side discharge when it wasn’t already short to begin with.
I use my side discharge on the perimeter as much as possible.

How much is the oil level dropping between changes? You'll need to know how much the oil level it dropping, in however many hours, if you get the dealer involved for a potential warranty issue. Are you checking the oil w/ the engine level after the oil has time to drain back into the crankcase, if it has been run recently? Over filling will cause oil to be carried into the combustion chamber and cause burning and consumption. It could also pressurize the seals and cause leaks. If you don't see oil anywhere on the machine, put newspaper or cardboard beneath the engine area after running and let it stay overnight to look for the leakage of oil. Regardless of the brand of oil you use, follow the manufacturer's recommendation (see MParr's post w/ Kohler's recommendations).

MParr said:

Yep! Probably the wrong piece of equipment for the job. The mulching deck is 100% wrong for the job. A mulching deck cannot process that grass. Side discharge only and make the first cut at the highest deck setting.
Cracked oil filter? Loss of oil? Not good.

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Good call to cut twice; once at highest setting and again at normal setting. This should allow occasional use of mulching deck w/o over taxing the engine. Also, run the engine at higher RPM, especially when cutting high grass or uphill, etc., which causes a high load on the engine. Make sure the engine cooling system is clear and moving as much air as possible.

footballfan33 said:

The first oil change occurred when the filter cracked and basically leaked everything out after mowing very thick country gras which was about 10 inches high (mulching deck). The second change happened around 15 hours later when the engine burnt all the new oil within 10 hours. I downloaded a manual which now seems to have disappeared, or I got the wrong one when I searched for b27i manual.
my assumption is that I got the wrong manual stating my Koehler engine used this oil. I’m a novice, and when novices read things sometimes we don’t pay attention to details we don’t understand. I think your 2+2=5 may be the best advice I can receive.

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If the engine ran w/o oil for any length of time, it might be damaged, which could cause oil consumption. Since this happened so soon after being new, it might be hard to determine if there was a defect or if it happened after the oil was lost during operation. If you have the ruptured filter, and it is the original filter, keep it to show the dealer to claim warranty. If it isn't the original filter, there might be recourse by notifying the filter manufacturer and filing a claim. I suspect either type of claim will require the ruptured filter as proof.

What happened after the 2nd oil change, when the engine lost the oil?