Kohler Courage 22hp engine knocking.....

kebo

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My parents have a Craftsman mower with a 22hp Kohler Courage motor on it, which is the single piston "economy" version. It's about 3 yrs old, motor probably has no more than 120 hrs on it. After cutting heavy, wet grass all summer long from a very wet year, the engine has developed a knock which is very noticeable right after you shut it off and it's spinning down to a stop. The engine does not smoke or use any oil at this point.

Any thoughts as to what I should do? Go ahead and put it in the shop (I am not mechanic enough to DIY)?? Or run it till it blows something out the side?? A new motor would be about $950 I think. They only paid $1150 for the whole mower. :confused2: If it can be repaired, I'm guessing it might be the connecting rod and its bearing, and probably a new wrist pin? Hopefully the crankshaft is ok. If that is the case, any idea on how much that might cost??? Thanks.
 

Fish

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First, I would tighten your engine mounting bolts, probably all that it is.
 

kebo

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First, I would tighten your engine mounting bolts, probably all that it is.

I will check them this weekend, it would be great if that's all that's wrong with it!! Will let you know what I find. Thanks.
Keith
 

Carscw

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I agree with fish. I just had to snug mine up. And someone else on here had the same noise and just had to snug one bolt up.
 

DaveTN

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Yes Sir...those loose mounting bolts will sound like a Jackass kicking in a tin stall when they're loose. Make you think a rod is about to let go and come bustin through the block! If it were a rod knocking you'd hear it all through the running, not just when you go to shut it down and it powers down. Most of those mounting bolts are 9/16 I think, or close to it. Sounds like an easy fix from what those other mechanics said. Scary tho. :confused2:
 

Matthew1455

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My parents have a Craftsman mower with a 22hp Kohler Courage motor on it, which is the single piston "economy" version. It's about 3 yrs old, motor probably has no more than 120 hrs on it. After cutting heavy, wet grass all summer long from a very wet year, the engine has developed a knock which is very noticeable right after you shut it off and it's spinning down to a stop. The engine does not smoke or use any oil at this point.

Any thoughts as to what I should do? Go ahead and put it in the shop (I am not mechanic enough to DIY)?? Or run it till it blows something out the side?? A new motor would be about $950 I think. They only paid $1150 for the whole mower. :confused2: If it can be repaired, I'm guessing it might be the connecting rod and its bearing, and probably a new wrist pin? Hopefully the crankshaft is ok. If that is the case, any idea on how much that might cost??? Thanks.

I am having the exact same issue on my Craftsman with 22 HP Kohler. What did you find was the issue with yours? Thank you
 

Carscw

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I am having the exact same issue on my Craftsman with 22 HP Kohler. What did you find was the issue with yours? Thank you

Did you check the engine to frame bolts?

Engines don't just knock on shut down.
 

exotion

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Check the pulleys to. Could be loose and making noise on slow down. In fact any bolts, screws, or hinges could be loose and the vibration either makes them silent or the noise of the mower drowns out the sound of it. When you shut the mower sown the vibration slowly slows down causing them to vibrate and a different speed or the noise is allowing you to hear
 

dsanders

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I have a 6 year old Cub with the 20hp Kohler Courage engine and at about 150 hours it developed a knock at lower speeds with no load, I tightened all of the mounting bolts and the noise still persisted until this last weekend....Half way thru my lawn mowing experience the noise got louder I shut it off checked to see that the oil was still full, no lights on, started mowing again, suddenly the noise got even louder. Before I could get it back to the garage it started losing power and oil was being sprayed everywhere. After it cooled down I did an autopsy only to find several bolts were loose on the top plate under the flywheel, the game changer came when i discovered a 4" crack from the area of the loose bolts down the exhaust side of the block and cylinder jug....It seems the most prudent repair was to order a new short block assembly for $400. plus a gasket set. I will let you know it it will live again to mow another day. Seems like a shame that if the top plate bolts coming loose at low hours would lead to this disaster that someone might notify the owners of the affected engines so it could be fixed before it is too late...
 
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