Kohler horizontal opposed twin Magnum 18

[Rus A]

Today I pulled the flywheel end pulley, (these mowers take power off both ends of the crankshaft) the screen and flywheel off so I could clean under it. Holy cow so much dried on grease and crud. Not sure the alternator even works on this engine but it is filthy. I see the screws to dismount it and I want to clean the engine thouroughly but do I dare use engine degreaser? Maybe something milder? Diesel fuel? or Dawn dish liquid? Looking for advice based on experience. I dont want to ruin anything. When I pull off the alternator It looks like there isn't much that my power washer would damage under there. Definately will not power wash those wires and such with 3200 PSI.

 

[Rus A]

Powerwashed the engine with the coil off. cleaned inside surface of flywheel. waiting for new exhaust manifold and intake manifold gaskets. Had to remove 2 broken bolts that hold the exhaust manifold on. Removed the heads again and ruined gaskets by taking them off. Heated the engine block where the bolts go in and using vice grips I got them out without drilling them out. I used a small cutting torch set that burns Mapp gas and oxygen. Handy for this delicate work. Back burner with this project until after the holiday downtime waitin for parts. Maybe pull the engine on my other mower project with the dead Tecumseh 14 HP in it.

 

[Rus A]

I cleaned and reinstalled one cylinder head and a new sparkplug. Hooked plug wire up and jumper cable to starter. Squirted a little gas but engine refused to fire at all. I put the other head back on, new plug & wire hooked up. With compression on both ends it spins a little faster with the starter. Small squirt of gas into each intake hole and each cylinder will now fire. More promising now. Intake manifold will go on next then clean the carb and put it on. I still want to pull the flywheel while this engine is on the bench. Maybe then it will run longer before it needs attention next time.

New intake gaskets, new Carb, installed Temporary gas tank hooked up. Engine runs very nicely. Powerwashed cowling parts and hopefully get it ready to reinstall in mower soon. I found a used snowblower attachment the right width for this mower if I put narrower tires on it. Excited with the thought of it being useful more than one season. And hydrostatic drive means unless the snow is higher than the top of the snowblower it should be able to handle whatever comes. I need to find some 4.80 x 4 x 8, 5 bolt boat trailer wheels to make it narrow enough. Right now it has big fat tires on it.

 

[Rus A]

New intake gaskets, new Carb, installed Temporary gas tank hooked up. Engine runs very nicely. Powerwashed cowling parts and hopefully get it ready to reinstall in mower soon. I found a used snowblower attachment the right width for this mower if I put narrower tires on it. Excited with the thought of it being useful more than one season. And hydrostatic drive means unless the snow is higher than the top of the snowblower it should be able to handle whatever comes. I need to find some 4.80 x 4 x 8, 5 bolt boat trailer wheels to make it narrow enough. Right now it has big fat tires on it.

Well I got the engine back into the machine. Some of the wiring I can figure out but the previous owner took them apart without labeling them. Color schematics in the manual dont match up either. Anyway because the engine creates its own electric for ignition I just took the hot wire that goes to the switch and crossed it to the start wire on the solenoid. As soon as the gas got to the Carb it fired right up. I got to drive it around some. Started looking things over closer and discovered very low oil in the hydraulic drive system. Added to that and drove it around a while to see if there was anything else needing attention. Im thinkin there is a dry bearing in the mower deck somewhere as it seems to turn quite hard. Maybe address that in the spring. Got new narrow wheels, tires and Chains for the conversion into a winter time snowblower. Very pleased with my results so far. Not bad for $100 for the whole machine and just about $30 for parts to get it running.

 

[Rus A]

Well I got the engine back into the machine. Some of the wiring I can figure out but the previous owner took them apart without labeling them. Color schematics in the manual dont match up either. Anyway because the engine creates its own electric for ignition I just took the hot wire that goes to the switch and crossed it to the start wire on the solenoid. As soon as the gas got to the Carb it fired right up. I got to drive it around some. Started looking things over closer and discovered very low oil in the hydraulic drive system. Added to that and drove it around a while to see if there was anything else needing attention. Im thinkin there is a dry bearing in the mower deck somewhere as it seems to turn quite hard. Maybe address that in the spring. Got new narrow wheels, tires and Chains for the conversion into a winter time snowblower. Very pleased with my results so far. Not bad for $100 for the whole machine and just about $30 for parts to get it running.

Oh yeah the new wheels, tires and chains brought that up another 65 bucks. I need to buy a piece of steel and a double pulley to adapt the snowblower but it will still be a cheaper way to go.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Always good to see some quality old equipment being put back into service , congratulations