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Hello! I am new to the forum and hope someone can help me. I ran a search but did not find anything that seemed relevant.....I have a brand new lawn tractor with a Kohler 5400 (KS540) engine with about 15 minutes on it and it seems (to me anyway) to have an odd noise, in that I can hear a rattling noise when its running that sounds like its coming from under the flywheel and there is a banging or clicking noise from the crankcase when I turn the flywheel back and forth with the engine off. Please see the linked video. Is this normal for this engine? Thank you! Dave

i would remove the spark plug and stick a wooden dowel or other long slender object into the plug hole, and rotate the engine... it will rest against the head of the piston, see if there is any slack or delay from the time you spin the flywheel to the time the piston moves.

Would like to hear it while running. that clicking noise could easily be the slack in the PTO clutch anti rotation pin transmitting through the engine when turned by hand.

brand new lawn tractor with a Kohler 5400 (KS540) engine with about 15 minutes on it

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let the folks who sold it to you deal with it. Get a paper trail going before you start doing anything.

Thank you very much for your help! I pulled the plug and put pressure on the piston with a pencil and it still does it. I have tried reaching out to Kohler, but no response. I bought it at a retailer who has been no help, basically telling me I am on my own in that I need to go through the Mfg MTD who recommends that I take it to an authorized service center over an hour away. It has a belt drive and so no PTO clutch that I am aware of and I took all the belts off to make sure it wasn't a pulley rattling or something. Here is a video of it running, but unfortunately its hard to hear on the video, but I can hear it in person. I can hear it above the combustion noise, especially at low RPM's. Apparently these engines have a new balance shaft system and I wonder if its something with that? I've always had Brigs and they never rattled like this, etc. Thanks!

Start by removing both belts and see if the noise goes away
If no difference then take the blower housing off and rotate the engine again by hand plug out.
I think you will find something loose under the housing
If you take the dip stick tube off and the sound is louder then it is probably inside the engine .
In that case take the 1 hour drive.
I am not a dealer but I always recommend people buying from dealers & not a discount store for just this reason.
And do not expect the dealer to do backflips to help you either
You have effectivly spat in his face and are now expecting him to get you out of the poo.
The other alternative is to take it back & demand a refund
Mower parked in front of the shop doors with a sign & T-shirt warning people not to shop there works wonders to get customer service .
Kohler are reasonable with warranty but it has to go through the system
you => dealer => district rep => kohler service rep => district rep => dealer => you

Thank you. I pulled the belts and dip stick tube as suggested and its definitely coming from the crankcase. I guess I'll have to make the drive and hope for the best. Yeah...I should have bought from a dealer, rather than a retailer, but I don't have one of those super close either. Plus its a Craftsman. I've had Craftsmans for 40 years and never had an issue and went back to what I knew (Brand loyalty, I guess), paid extra to get a Kohler over Brigs because figure its my last mower and thought Kohler's were better, etc. Oh well, live and learn.

If it is a brand new mower you will void working on it yourself. Highly suggest letting the dealer handle the problem.

And actually Kohler engine are better built and they a lot better on warranty repairs. But buying from a big box store is problematic at the best as they must send the equipment out for repairs.

Around here dealers are getting to where they only handle warranty repairs on what they sell and not from other vendors.

Thank you. I don’t intend to work on it myself. I was mostly trying to get advice on if the noise I am hearing is normal with this engine or not. It’s a newer design apparently with a new balance shaft system and so I didn’t know if there is actually a problem or if it’s just a noisy design. Searches online turn up posts that say some Kohlers sound like sewing machines but last forever, etc. I live in a small town and was actually partially trying to support the local hardware store by buying it, etc.

IT actually sounds like something bouncing around
You get those types of noises from aluminium rivets / brass washers bouncing around under the flywheel.
If it is in thee crankcase it could be some thing some one dropped down the dip stick tube ( if it was floor stock ) or a broken decompressor bouncing around inside the crank case .
When Sears owned Craftsman they were generally good value for money
Now B & D own them and they are like just about everything that comes out of the MTD factory.
The cheapest pile of rubbish that can be passed off as a mower

Any testing like belt removals and such will void the warranty. Take no chances, doing something, to this mower if it's brand new. Take it back immediately. Stop taking parts off it. That way walmart can't claim you did something to it. They dog you for 1 day old gas now and say the gas is sour. Not covering any repairs or parts.

Thank you for the replies. Someone dropping something down the oil dip stick hole is a good thought. Doesn’t MTD also build Cub Cadet, Troy Built and some of the John Deere models? Also, the issue is with the Kohler, not the tractor itself, although I suppose they could have did something during install. I don’t think I’ve done anything to void the warranty at this point and don’t plan on removing anything material. I did not get it at Wal-Mart. I live in a small town and got it at the local hardware store, etc.

From the responses here, my question has been answered, in that it’s not normal for this engine. I’ll take it up again with MTD. Thanks everyone! Dave

MTD make the bulk of the cheapest ride ons
JD make their own
Everything MTD makes is assembled from a stock set of parts according to the brand customers specifications
So they will press the exact same deck pressing in 3 or 4 different thickness of metal so some can be cheaper for the cheaper brands
A set of press dies for a deck can easy go $ 250,000 or more so when you start with a new one, you press X thousand deck shells from a thiner softer metal then gradually go to the full thickness metal and again when they wear you start going down in grades again till the quality is totally unacceptable .
One of the local franchises sells a house brand made by MTD and the deck is so thin & soft if you kneel on it you leave a dent & I am only 140 lbs so am not that heavy
After a cuple of years the deck mounts on the deck stretch so the deck hangs low requiring them to be cut off, the deck beaten out then braced before welding the hangers back on .

merlars said:

Thank you. I don’t intend to work on it myself. I was mostly trying to get advice on if the noise I am hearing is normal with this engine or not. It’s a newer design apparently with a new balance shaft system and so I didn’t know if there is actually a problem or if it’s just a noisy design. Searches online turn up posts that say some Kohlers sound like sewing machines but last forever, etc. I live in a small town and was actually partially trying to support the local hardware store by buying it, etc.

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Did you find out anything yet? I purchased a used one recently and have about 18 hrs. on it and have a similar noise to yours.

Unfortunately, no. I ended up getting ahold of Kohler, who gave me three warranty centers to contact (dealers). However, as I was warned here none of them would/could help me, and so I ended up taking it back to the retailer, as was also suggested in this thread. I have since put some money into rebuilding the deck on my 26 year old craftsman and am happy with that. Thanks!

Thanks for the update! I'm hoping it's nothing serious as I have no warranty buying used. When I test drove the tractor it sounded fine. It seems as though it started after longer runs.

I know the OP sent his back to the retailer. This guy in the video seems to have the same sound. Need to turn the volume way up, you can hear it when he comes around to the instrument panel. It's only at the very beginning, had to keep playing it over and over. Maybe it's just the nature of this engine.

Definitely sounds like metal rattling on metal. I can hear it better
on the low idle speed rather than at mid to high range. Don't do
the repairs yourself or even a mechanic who can do it as it will
void your warranty and then you're on your own. Make a paper
trail that you can hold up if need be in small claims court. Do the
authorized service warranty shop. That engine should NOT be
rattling and clanging like that, even on low RPM.

"I hear nothing" (Sgt. Schultz).

Well for me it was the deck belt rattling on the bottom retainer bracket. When the deck belt is not engaged it has a decent amount of slack and does not make this sound when the blades are engaged. Hope this helps someone in the future.