kohler smoking and bogging down

[bjones2004]

I'm having a problem with my 20 horse kohler command. It is not in a lawnmower but I figured this for could give me better help. It is mounted in a van and runs a carpet cleaner. About a week ago I noticed it started bogging down and smoking on a job as I was finishing up. The problem then went away for a week. I just arrived in Louisiana to clean the hotels and it's back. It will run fine for about thirty minutes then after it's warmed up it's starts to smoke(not from the exhaust) a white light blue smoke that smells like oil, then it starts to bog down. If I disengage my cat pump, which takes some load off, it will start running fine again. If I cap off my vacuum it will bog down also until my vac release kicks in. I noticed today I could hear a slight ping when it started bogging down. Almost like a couple bb's a small tin can. I've gone through everything related to the equipment and it all seems fine so now I'm thinking the engine. I've changed the plugs, air filter, and oil. When I go to crank it sometimes it has a hard turn before it fires up. Any thoughts? I can get the model number off in a bit when I get back to it. The engine only has 300 hours. It had been sitting in storage for 5 years before I got it. I've put 250 hours on it with no problem until now.

 

[Fish]

I would suggest pulling both heads and seeing what is underneath. Get the head gasket kit in advance.

 

[bjones2004]

Is this something I should be able to do in a hotel parking lot? I have a good bit of tools on hand.

 

[Fish]

Well, hard to say... Is it a Motel 6?, Best Western, or a Hilton?

 

[bjones2004]

None. It's a holiday inn express. Lol

 

[RoperGuy]

Sounds like you need piston rings man , it's simple to remove the heads and check for cylinder wall damage, turn it over by hand look score marks if that's ok check your valves/cam

 

[Fish]

I would expect it is just a blown head gasket, not too hard of a fix.