MDI conversion for ASAM CV740???

[Turbodriven]

I'm completely lost here. Hopefully someone here has some deeper knowledge than I can seem to find.

I have a Kohler CV740 (27hp) motor on a 2005 Gravely 260z. No plate on the motor, must have fallen off. I have a black "Smart Spark" box though on the side with the number 24 584 27 on it. And coils with the numbers 24 584 15 on them. These coils have a brown wire and a yellow wire going to each unit. According to the Kohler manual on page 38 (item L) it says that yellow wires indicate that I have an ASAM (analog speed advance module system). I've heard conflicting info on that though. Someone with yellow wires has insisted to me they had a DSAM and didn't replace the flywheel during the conversion with positive results.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that if I do in fact have ASAM, that I need a flywheel replacement with the MDI conversion? Ok, so in a late night haze I ordered the 24 755 307-s conversion combo which includes the MDI modules, harness AND a flywheel. But then I discovered that might be for the 22-23hp Commands? And 24 755 308-s is for the 25hp commands. But nowhere does it list the contents of each package. Are the components the same, except the wire harness maybe?? Or is everything different? None of this information is easy. Shame on Kohler for making it so confusing.

 

[Turbodriven]

I may have answered my own question.
24 755 307-S is a CDI system
24 755 308-S is a MDI system.

I'm not sure how vastly different they'll affect my Kohler? I'm not running any marathons here. Will the CDI system work I wonder?

For what it's worth I got the whole 307 kit for $165 shipped. The cheapest 308 kit I can find is mid $200's. And a flywheel by itself is $250+ which makes no sense.

 

[VegetiveSteam]

The CV740 used a DSAM not an ASAM. You don't need the 308 kit either. While it will have the correct MDI modules needed for the conversion it comes with the same flywheel your already have. What you need is a 25 707 03-S kit. It comes with two MDI modules. No flywheel change is needed.

The CDI system will probably work but the timing is different and it may not have the power you would like it to have.

 

[Turbodriven]

The CV740 used a DSAM not an ASAM. You don't need the 308 kit either. While it will have the correct MDI modules needed for the conversion it comes with the same flywheel your already have. What you need is a 25 707 03-S kit. It comes with two MDI modules. No flywheel change is needed.

The CDI system will probably work but the timing is different and it may not have the power you would like it to have.

Thank you for the info. That is great news. Hopefully I can cancel the 307 order.

What's still confusing is why did Kohler put this in the manual? It certainly leads you to believe you have an ASAM based on the wording (and my harness is yellow/yellow).

 

[VegetiveSteam]

Thank you for the info. That is great news. Hopefully I can cancel the 307 order.

What's still confusing is why did Kohler put this in the manual? It certainly leads you to believe you have an ASAM based on the wording (and my harness is yellow/yellow).

The ASAMs had a yellow and a brown wire going to each ignition module. The DSAM still uses yellow and brown on one side but on the other side one of the wires is pink. I can't remember if it's the yellow one or the brown one that is pink on that side. Over time with the colors fading it's hard to tell if one was ever pink or not sometimes.

 

[Turbodriven]

The ASAMs had a yellow and a brown wire going to each ignition module. The DSAM still uses yellow and brown on one side but on the other side one of the wires is pink. I can't remember if it's the yellow one or the brown one that is pink on that side. Over time with the colors fading it's hard to tell if one was ever pink or not sometimes.

Exactly. Mine has yellow and brown on each coil. No way it could have ever been pink (or red) on cyl2. Also, my flywheel serial number is 24 152 03 (I think 3, last number is hard to read). The 308 kit says it comes with a 24 025 58-S flywheel. Different numbers for sure but I measured the keyway to magnet angles on both mine and the 58-S and they're about 5° off. Could be some error in my measuring too. *shrug.

 

[VegetiveSteam]

The number on the flywheel itself is not a part number so it doesn't mean much to us. Your 24 584 27-S was for sure a DSAM if that helps.

 

[VegetiveSteam]

The DSAMs used yellow and brown wires on one side and pink and brown on the other. Yours if the first one I've ever seen with yellow on both sides after Kohler went to the DSAM somewhere around 2002. Both the ASAM and DSAM systems used the exact same ignition modules.

 

[Turbodriven]

The number on the flywheel itself is not a part number so it doesn't mean much to us. Your 24 584 27-S was for sure a DSAM if that helps.

That's all I really needed, yes. Thank you. Strange about the wire harness colors. And I took a more precise measurement on the flywheels, the 58-S is 56 degrees from keyhole to center of magnets, and mine is 53 degrees. Close enough for me. And since Kohler themselves say the DSAM doesn't need a new flywheel too, I'm gold. Thanks again!

As a side note, in regards to the ASAM/DSAM module, every part manual I've seen (included Kohlers) shows the box on the diagram, but has deleted the part from the reference below. Like, you don't think someone, someday might want to reference it? I mean, mark it "discontinued" yeah but don't delete it entirely. I guess they're so ashamed of it, they've literally erased it out of existence. /rant

 

[VegetiveSteam]

Not ashamed. It was actually a good system once the bugs were worked out of it in the late 90s. And most of the issues were with the ignition modules themselves, not the SAMs. The DSAM systems were quite bullet proof. When better variable time ignition technology came along things got upgraded.

Unfortunately the guy in charge of technical publications, who had been with Kohler for over 40, years retired about 12 years ago. Since then, some folks there don't feel old obsolete parts info is important. The service manuals have also suffered. Even seasoned parts people have trouble with looking up parts. I only know so much about it because I lived through it and all the revisions since it's inception around 1995 and also taught it to new Kohler technicians.