Kohler Pro 18HP oil

[jkp62]

Picked up a Craftsman LTX1000 a neighbor was throwing out. It has a Kohler Pro 18 HP , single cylinder engine . I believe it is from 2002 or 2003 . I have no idea how many hours on it . It had a very loud knocking on cold start up , but did not seem like rod knock . I presume ( as it has hydraulic lifters ) it was lifter noise .The cooling shroud was packed with mouse home building material. Removed debris , added some ATF to old oil ( to help clean the internal a bit ) ran it for a while , changed oil and filter, added 10w30 synthetic , plus some Lucas oil additive . The knocking is much less , and disappears as it starts running . I have about 15 hours on this oil, want to change . Looking for opinions : go 5w30 ( to get oil pumping faster, reduce lifter knock ) or should I consider that it was designed for 10w30 , and the tolerances ( plus years of wear ) might not be happy with the lighter weight ? Thanks

 

[Rivets]

My recommendation is to stay with a good brand of 10W-30.

 

[Scrubcadet10]

I would use Kohler (brand) 10W30. i've run that in several commands with ticking lifters that shut them up....
As i recall, one of which the owner was running havoline oil, the other was either castrol or quaker state.. i can't remember.

 

[jkp62]

Thanks for the responses- will stick with 10W30 synthetic