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Hi everyone my name is Greg and I have been a member for about ten minutes and this is my first post. I have a Cub Cadet LTX 1040 with the Kohler motor mentioned in the title. This mower just had it's 2nd birthday and has 46 hours on the meter. I changed the oil for the third time just a couple of weeks ago along with sharpening the blades, new plug and air filter as I do every year. I had a Troy Bilt with a Kohler 16hp motor that I retired when I bought this new Cub Cadet. That was my first Kohler engine and it ran forever. It was purchased in 1999 and the motor is good just the rest of the mower is worn out and that sold me on Kohler so I paid extra over the B&S to get another one. I was mowing this evening, the grass was short and the ground clear and level so I was shocked when it blew and oil pored out of the underside of the engine. My first thought was I ran over a brick or something and I could not kill it quick enough. I pushed the mower forward to check under it and as I knew there was nothing it was just the motor giving up. I picture a broken rod or crankshaft and of course the case must be shot or why would oil just pour out so quickly. Is this scenario unusual or is this a known problem? I did a search on this particular motor and it's problems, but I can't find anything exactly like I experienced. Any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated. After all it only has 46 hours on it, but the warranty was for 2 years and I just passed that a month or two ago. Thanks for listening.

Take it to a good dealer in your area. Probably the one you bought if from unless you don't trust him. I'll bet that unless they find a maintenance issue, Kohler will stand behind their engine, even if it is a month or two out of warranty. Have your sales reciept with you.

Just replaced one on a Kubota last month due to the antivibration counterbalance wieght support rod broke, which allowed the weight to shift, and cracked a big hole in the low back edge of the block.

Rivets said:

Take it to a good dealer in your area. Probably the one you bought if from unless you don't trust him. I'll bet that unless they find a maintenance issue, Kohler will stand behind their engine, even if it is a month or two out of warranty. Have your sales reciept with you.

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Home Depot was the dealer and I went there first thing this morning and they didn't help much, they just kind of shrugged their shoulders and gave me the number to a repair shop and told me I might have to pay the bill. that didn't sound good so I called Kohler direct using the number on the back of the owners manual. I went through several people explaining my situation before I got in touch with Bruce Taylor at Waukesha-Pearce the North American distributor of Kohler in 37 states and he gave me a name and number of a local repair shop and said take it there and have them call him direct when they see the problem. He then told me that it would be taken care of if it was as I described. So now I have hope. Home Depot gave me none. So it seems you are correct Kohler will stand behind their product. I might have a labor bill at the repair shop, but if the motor is furnished by Kohler I figure I did pretty good considering the warranty had expired.

ILENGINE said:

Just replaced one on a Kubota last month due to the antivibration counterbalance wieght support rod broke, which allowed the weight to shift, and cracked a big hole in the low back edge of the block.

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The shop I took it to looked at it while it was still on the trailer and his diagnosis was the cam, but he hasn't got into it yet. there is a hole on the starter side of the case. All the oil didn't come from that hole though it drained out of the bottom also. I would like to see the inside of it when it is disassembled if they do take it apart. He might just give his hunch to Kohler and that will be enough.

Home Depot is not a dealer, you got their canned response and that is why I preach DEALERS not big box retailers. The second guy did what I thought he would do, not get your hopes up, but say let's see what the inside tells us. Put your faith in him and don't push to hard, you want him to be your advocate. A good dealer is going to be on your side until he decides you did something wrong. My gut feeling is this will work out in your favor, if you make the dealer your partner, that's one of the biggest reasons I push buy your your local shop. I hope that you sent in you warranty card, or at the least, still have your sales slip. This also helps your dealer/repair shop.

Yep, I had all the paperwork including the receipt. I don't push when I really don't have a leg to stand on and I felt like I was sol since the warranty was clear to me, but the Kohler guy stepped up for me and that is why the shop owner took my problem. He was impressed that I got through to the main guy and wondered how I did it. After I told my story partially to several people I got passed along until his phone rang. It was the low hours on my meter that was my ace in the hole. I still have my fingers crossed though. I'll report when I hear back from the shop.

My guess is a crack in the block next to the starter. I have seen this a couple times. It appears the factory didn't torque down or locktight the top cover to the rest of the block. Look for broken or loose bolts once the top fan cover is pulled off.

Rokon said:

My guess is a crack in the block next to the starter. I have seen this a couple times. It appears the factory didn't torque down or locktight the top cover to the rest of the block. Look for broken or loose bolts once the top fan cover is pulled off.

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It might have a crack there, I'm not sure, but something unleashed inside to cause the case damage. It sounded and felt like I was running over a load of bricks when everything went wrong and the oil poured out. It is still in the shop and as of last Friday they haven't even looked t it yet.

Just an update. the repair shop left a voice mail concerning the Kohler engine on my mower. Kohler is going to furnish a new engine and one is on order and on it's way to the shop that is handling the repair. That is a relief. I expect there will be labor to pay, but the engine would have been a big expense and I am not sure I would want to invest that much in the mower. Kohler did the right thing and I have nothing bad to say about them or their product. I have had great experiences in the past with Kohler and that is why I chose them again, but with disappointing results. The replacement they are furnishing has to give me longer service than what I got from the original.

I picked up my mower today. They replaced the short block. The crank was broke in the original motor with only 46 hours on the meter. Even though it was a few months out of warranty Kohler took care of everything including labor. I would have paid the labor with no argument since the warranty was expired. I loaded it on the trailer and asked a second time if I owed anything and no was the answer. It was a good day. Kohler is a great company if you ask me.

Yeah, Kohler relegates it to fall under their "goodwill" policy when all of the parameters are met. Yes, they are a good company....

As I said originally, I felt that Kohler would stand behind their engine. I hope that you will use the dealer you dealt with in the future. Sounds like they also stood up for you, and being in the business I know on this type of warranty, they were not paid for all their time.

Rivets said:

As I said originally, I felt that Kohler would stand behind their engine. I hope that you will use the dealer you dealt with in the future. Sounds like they also stood up for you, and being in the business I know on this type of warranty, they were not paid for all their time.

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I know they did their share to make this happen and I will use only them when the need comes around. I have used them in the past for parts because I never need service until now. They run a nice shop. It is well stocked with equipment , parts and good people too.

Fish said:

Yeah, Kohler relegates it to fall under their "goodwill" policy when all of the parameters are met. Yes, they are a good company....

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They certainly created some goodwill with me.

I like to read stories like this. Gives me hope for humanity

exotion said:

I like to read stories like this. Gives me hope for humanity

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Same here.. Plus I agree about "Dealers & not Box Stores"..

exotion said:

I like to read stories like this. Gives me hope for humanity

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I was certainly happy to be able to write the ending to the story as it happened. I was a bit worried that it would not come out in my favor. I mowed yesterday for the first time since I picked it up and it ran like new. Now I will keep my fingers crossed for it's longevity.