Is the Kohler Courage really that bad?

[ChrisBFRPKY]

I would think that most small engine failures come from a lack of oil rather than using synthetic. I realize you must deal with customers as I have before. When an engine comes in with a problem very few will ever admit they ran the engine low on oil. "It was full of oil" was the typical response I heard when investigating engine failures. On one splash type systems that had no other issues I asked, "If it was full of oil why is the rod welded to the crank?" The customer had no answer. From that point he knew that I knew and the facts were right in front of us. Pressure lube systems. If that oil pump is functioning as it should and there are no restrictions or trash clogging a passage to an internal component the only remaining answer is there was no oil or not enough oil getting to the component, not that synthetic oil is to blame. Viscosity is viscosity no matter conventional or synthetic. A pressure lube system also doesn't have the same limitation as a splash lube. Hillsides are rarely a problem for pressure lube engines as oil is pumped rather than splashed into vital engine components.

Now there were exceptions such as a broken rod dipper or a failed oil pump which would explain and further support a customer's claim that engine had oil prior to the failure. But in many cases the evidence pointed to not enough oil in the engine as the deciding factor. Now I'm not talking about physical component failures, only lubrication failures.

This lead me to believe that sometimes customers lie. It was especially funny to see brand new oil had been poured into a blown engine after the fact. To where the new oil had never had the chance to mix with the small amount of black used oil that remained in the case. Hilarious. Yes Jessica, there are customers who lie.

 

[gainestruk]

I agree lack of maintenance and simply checking oil is a major problem.
I own a Jeep Renegade and am on Renegade forum, I don't know how many came on to complain their 2.4 multi air shut down and had to be towed to dealer, the problem is the 0W20 oil burns off in some of the engines, it shuts engine down when it has little pressure, when we ask did you check oil answer is no its a new car and they don't burn oil, it usually happens 6000 to 7000 miles, I check mine a lot, but I got one that uses very little oil.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I would think that most small engine failures come from a lack of oil rather than using synthetic. I realize you must deal with customers as I have before. When an engine comes in with a problem very few will ever admit they ran the engine low on oil. "It was full of oil" was the typical response I heard when investigating engine failures. On one splash type systems that had no other issues I asked, "If it was full of oil why is the rod welded to the crank?" The customer had no answer. From that point he knew that I knew and the facts were right in front of us. Pressure lube systems. If that oil pump is functioning as it should and there are no restrictions or trash clogging a passage to an internal component the only remaining answer is there was no oil or not enough oil getting to the component, not that synthetic oil is to blame. Viscosity is viscosity no matter conventional or synthetic. A pressure lube system also doesn't have the same limitation as a splash lube. Hillsides are rarely a problem for pressure lube engines as oil is pumped rather than splashed into vital engine components.

Now there were exceptions such as a broken rod dipper or a failed oil pump which would explain and further support a customer's claim that engine had oil prior to the failure. But in many cases the evidence pointed to not enough oil in the engine as the deciding factor. Now I'm not talking about physical component failures, only lubrication failures.

This lead me to believe that sometimes customers lie. It was especially funny to see brand new oil had been poured into a blown engine after the fact. To where the new oil had never had the chance to mix with the small amount of black used oil that remained in the case. Hilarious. Yes Jessica, there are customers who lie.

So you and I will just have to disagree.
Viscosity , like a lot of other so called properties is a method of testing & comparing , not a measure of how the oil behaves in service.
It is simply a time measuremant for a fixed quantity of oil at a fixed temperature to pass through a funnel which is way bigger than any passage way the oil sees in an engine apart from the dip stick tube.
Depending upon which particular viscosity index you are using it can also be the pressure required to push a fixed volume of a liquid through a hole of fixed size in a fixed time.
And again the most common index used is just a comparrison to water which is 1 at STP.
In order for the oil pump to get to a specified oil pressure, it has to be pumping the oil faster than the oil is passing through the oil passageways.
The pump can only pump the required minimum 15 psi a pressure fed mower crank if there is something to pump against .
It was a common problem when owners of slipper bearing engines shifted to rolling element engines and went besrek when they took oil pressure readings and found them to be in single digit numbers
They could just not get their heads around the fact that oil pressure in a roller bearing big end is effecitvely 0 .
Admittedly I have no done this on mower engines but on some British motorcycle engines the synthetic oils flowed a significantly higher volume of oil than the standard oils did and at a lower pressure .
This we put down to a significantly better laminar flow which again is measured using a different viscosity index and some near impossible calculations.

I have said my piece, nothing more to add.
Enjoyed your company and your input .
If our dissagreement has caused a few to have some deep thoughts then it has been very productive.
This is what open public forums are all about.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

I checked mine after my buddy's second engine had the issue with his backing off. Everything was fine on mine. I never had any issues with the bolts loosening. This caused me to agree with his assessment that it was probably just worker error on his. I think he did put some loctite on his bolts when he sorted his out but I never had to as mine were tight and remained that way until destruction. The only bolts loose or missing on mine happened during the destruction phase when the back of the block came off. Again, I had nothing but good service from this engine until it grenaded. It did vibrate some but all single cylinders do to some degree. I didn't think mine too excessive especially when compared to clone engines. I had to add star lock washers to the side cover of my son's mini bike as his clone engine vibrated the cover bolts loose and leaked the oil out. Which is the repair I'd recommend for the Courage top bolts. Star washers actually bite into the metal and I would put more faith in them holding bolts in place than the loctite.

Oh, so you're counterbalance destructed, it wasn't the crack in the upper corner of the block?

 

[ChrisBFRPKY]

Oh, so you're counterbalance destructed, it wasn't the crack in the upper corner of the block?

I realize you're looking for a "gotcha" that's why I specifically outlined in my earlier reply that my block was damaged when the balancer blew out the back. Now you're gonna talk about the black oil stains indicate a old leakage so I'll save you the trouble and time and let you know the cub was stored in my garage and I use a leaf blower to blow out the dirt, dust and grass from mowers and the floor after each use. Dirt, grass and dust sticks to oil like a magnet and the entire engine was coated with oil residue aside from what I wiped away to have a look at things.

I'm glad you're having good service from your engine. I was too until it grenaded. I have a feeling you may understand how I feel about it first hand sooner or later.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

Yep, all i do is 24/7 "ha ha, got you"
All your posts imply that you think the entire courage line is junk and inferior and Kohler owes you the world. As i said earlier, Any manufacturer is going to have a problem at SOME point in the life of the company, that;s just what happens, especially when you try to cut costs, you and few other hundred *maybe* thousand people had trouble with an engine where most likely hundreds of thousands were made. Too bad you got a lemon.
... what do you think about gainestruk's courage with 867 hours?

I have a feeling you may understand how I feel about it first hand sooner or later.

If it does blow, it's been a good engine for nearly 11 years, and kept the place looking good.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

 

[slomo]

I realize you're looking for a "gotcha" that's why I specifically outlined in my earlier reply that my block was damaged when the balancer blew out the back. Now you're gonna talk about the black oil stains indicate a old leakage so I'll save you the trouble and time and let you know the cub was stored in my garage and I use a leaf blower to blow out the dirt, dust and grass from mowers and the floor after each use. Dirt, grass and dust sticks to oil like a magnet and the entire engine was coated with oil residue aside from what I wiped away to have a look at things.

I'm glad you're having good service from your engine. I was too until it grenaded. I have a feeling you may understand how I feel about it first hand sooner or later.

Dude, your engine blew. Get over it. Blaming a brand name for life, does nothing productive. You still have a blown engine...... Like a little child throwing a tantrum. Put your juice box down and pull up your diaper.

As for attempting to correct guys like Scrubcadet10, Rivets and Bertsmobile1, forget it. These guys and many others here have a ton of small engine knowledge. They've been around the block several times. You are fighting a losing battle. We are very fortunate these guys are on here. They make this forum what it is.

slomo

 

[ILENGINE]

From a dealer standpoint the number of failed Courage singles due to loose cover bolts or failed counterbalance system is a blip on the radar. Less than 1% failed due to loose cover bolts or counterbalance systems which is below the national average failure rate for warranty claims across all brands. I am more concerned about the Kawasaki that does the same thing but when it blows punches a 6 inch hole in the side of the battery and dumps battery acid all over the frame and deck.

 

[ChrisBFRPKY]

Yep, all i do is 24/7 "ha ha, got you"
All your posts imply that you think the entire courage line is junk and inferior and Kohler owes you the world. As i said earlier, Any manufacturer is going to have a problem at SOME point in the life of the company, that;s just what happens, especially when you try to cut costs, you and few other hundred *maybe* thousand people had trouble with an engine where most likely hundreds of thousands were made. Too bad you got a lemon.
... what do you think about gainestruk's courage with 867 hours?

If it does blow, it's been a good engine for nearly 11 years, and kept the place looking good.

I thought you might be one of those type of guys who searches usernames on google please excuse me if that's not the case.

I think the single cylinders had a few flaws. If Kohler ironed them out over the years while taking care of the unlucky ones that received a lemon, great. If gainestruk has a single cylinder Courage with 867 hours that's also great however as you can see from a few Craigslist searches there are still many lawn tractors with the blown single cylinder versions for sale that like mine did not make it that far. 272 hours isn't much service from an engine IMO.

I don't feel Kohler owes me the World. They do however owe me for a defective engine. I guess if there weren't that many problems with them there wouldn't have been a need to extend warranties, create short block replacement programs or change the name of the entire engine line. But those things were done for a reason and I'm confident that I wasn't the only one to receive a defective Courage single cylinder engine. I have no complaints about the old K series or the Commands, only that pesky little single cylinder Courage. It was definitely Kohler's Pinto and Vega combined.