Help Diagnosing Issue

[Tiger Small Engine]

The thing to remember is the Courage single cylinder was the dog. The unfortunately same named Courage twin was a very good engine and was in many ways simply a Command twin with solid lifters.

The Kohler Courage single is definitely worse and has more problems hands down than the twin Courage. That said, I would never say the Kohler Courage twin was a very good engine. In fact, you are the only person I have ever heard that has said that. I am a Kohler guy and fan also, just not the Kohler Courage, single or twin.

 

[bertsmobile1]

The courage range is the engines that the mower companies want to pay for
The command is what the owners actually want
I am a fan of the Courage singles , such an easy engine to work on and the only one that you can change the oil filter without having to clean up a horrid mess or make up all sorts of weird shields to prevent oil ending up allover the belts.
1/3 the time to split the engine which you can leave in the mower thus a big time saver and only 2 spanners to strip the engine as compared to the 9 you need to strip a B & S engine .
When they started to develope the Kohler Krack, Husqvarna simply dumped them down here by the thousands so near 1/4 of the engines I service are courage singles in Husqvarna tractors .
I love them , just a shame that they changed over to the cast crank mid production which played havock with the balance .

 

[MrLarkins]

well, now I'm really distraught. I went to use the red inline spark plug testers just now, and the crank wouldn't turn. oil was gone! but there is no leak on the mower or the ground! on top of that, the air filter box is FULL of fuel and the air filter is soaked. I took it apart and disconnected the crank case breather hose (see pic), added some oil turned then turned the crank with my hand 1 revolution (it was almost impossible, but once it broke free, it was easy). I managed to start the engine, but fuel started GUSHING out the breather hose! I don't think that's normal. Should I give up and scrap this thing?

 

[MrLarkins]

I ran it for about 15 mins in my driveway. Fuel is no longer gushing out breather tube, but it is dribbling out still. red light spark plug testers show flickering red lights on both sides of the motor.

UPDATE: I mowed for about 15min, without the air filter (it is soaked with fuel). It did like it has been, fine for a bit, but then starts its thing. This time, after I parked it, I pulled the dipstick out and there was a lot of smoke in the fill tube.

 

[bertsmobile1]

That screams blown head gasket
And the blown head gasket could have been caused by a hydro lock
And the hydro lock is caused by the float valve not cutting the fuel supply off .

In use this manifests itself by the engine running normally when you first start then over time begins to run rich ( black smoke & missing ) till eventually it floods the engine & it dies .

 

[MrLarkins]

uh, I was afraid of that. I really don't want to tear this motor apart. So, take it to the shop or buy a new mower? or, run this until it completely dies, then scrap it?

 

[VegetiveSteam]

Pull the tube that goes from the rocker cover to the fuel pump. Is there any evidence of fuel in that tube?

 

[bertsmobile1]

Head gaskets are about 1/2 to 1 hour each side
carb cleaning actually can take longer but replacing the float valve is a 15 minute job .

 

[MrLarkins]

Pull the tube that goes from the rocker cover to the fuel pump. Is there any evidence of fuel in that tube?

It's dry.

 

[VegetiveSteam]

It's dry.

Okay good. When it goes to die, will giving it a bit of choke help at all?