Export thread

Well.......What the heck!....This mower only has 10hrs. on it & now it smokes ......A LOT!... every time I start it up. Now I changed the oil at 5hrs. like the manual said, with the Kohler oil & was very careful not to over fill . It only does it on start-ups & then stops after about 20 seconds......BUT......The smoke is very thick & heavy. Is this normal for Kohler engines??? Do they all smoke like this? I have never had a mower do this.

What color is the thick and heavy smoke?

Well....It sort of looks like a blue & white smoke.

Check the oil level and make sure that you are not getting gas leaking into the oil crankcase.

White blue smoke is oil burning, that may be due to gas overfilling crankcase. Smell the oil and see if it reeks of fuel.

Unless you bought it used, I would be calling the dealer.

Well.....today the mower just does not start.....wow....what a surprise. :mur:

I had a similar problem and my choke was sticking.

I'll say it one more time, GET THEE TO THE DEALER!!!

You know.......THIS is what I was sort of thinking too. It seems like my choke is not working. If the choke is all screwed up, would this make it smoke?

YES!!!!!......I truly understand about the dealer......BUT!.....It would be nice to know a little something about the problem itself. Do you think I will totally trust what the dealer says? Now if he was my very ,very best friend....well.....maybe.....maybe not. My point is I would like to have a few ideas first , before going in to the dealer....by the way.....a dealer that I DO NOT!!!!!!!! TRUST!!!!!!.....long story!.....& one that I do not like!
:mur:

If your oil is not overfilled or due to a carburator float needle staying open you probably have some internal engine problems that are going to require surgery. I would do a compression test on the cylinders to see where the engines health is.

If this is the case...that is.....if it is something major!.......I will demand a new engine! This one only has 10hrs. on it.:mur:

Billblake said:

You know.......THIS is what I was sort of thinking too. It seems like my choke is not working. If the choke is all screwed up, would this make it smoke?

Click to expand...

yes this would make it smoke. move the choke lever one way or the other and then see if you can manually move it further on the engine.

Yes, it would, if it is black smoke.

If it is under warranty you can take it to any Kohler service dealer.

OK......I think I know what the problem is...THE CHOKE for sure. The choke was definitely sticking! I manually pushed on the linkage rod & it was not moving......so I pushed a little HARDER .....& then it went....It seemed to flop down close to a half an inch or more. The mower started right up with very little smoke. I'm still going to take it into a dealer to have them look at it. Thanks for all the replies. It has helped greatly. :smile:

Billblake said:

OK......I think I know what the problem is...THE CHOKE for sure. The choke was definitely sticking! I manually pushed on the linkage rod & it was not moving......so I pushed a little HARDER .....& then it went....It seemed to flop down close to a half an inch or more. The mower started right up with very little smoke. I'm still going to take it into a dealer to have them look at it. Thanks for all the replies. It has helped greatly. :smile:

Click to expand...

If mine was close by right now I would take a pic of it and show you what to adjust but I moved it from my garage to one of my sheds and it's too far away in this down pour we're having right now. it is a screw that shoots straight down which holds the linkage on i guess. it was just a little too tight and wasn't letting the choke move freely. you might look at yours and see if you think it's the same to save you a trip to the dealer. my dealer is 45 minutes away so i try not to go if i don't have to. good luck

Man, Thank you so much for the info. If by any chance you get to take a photo or vid of this screw issue .....that would be so nice not for me alone, but anyone else that has this problem. To me this looks like a problem that Kohler really needs to look at. ....I mean.....I thought my engine blew up or something. It appears that's not the case. Thanks again.

Billblake said:

Man, Thank you so much for the info. If by any chance you get to take a photo or vid of this screw issue .....that would be so nice not for me alone, but anyone else that has this problem. To me this looks like a problem that Kohler really needs to look at. ....I mean.....I thought my engine blew up or something. It appears that's not the case. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

i hope this pix shows up. it's actually a nut not a screw. mine is a turf tiger with a briggs engine. this is the nut that secures the manual choke. not sure if urs has this on it or not but this was just a tad too tight causing my choke NOT to move freely.

Did you get your problem resolved, If the choke stick it should run funny all the time . If I am correct these are separate controls like mine. I would take phone Videos of it and take it to the dealer. If they will not fix it Take it to another dealer. If that does not solve the problem get another mower. And envoke the lemon law. Or drain all oil blow it up fill back up take to dealer it should be warranty.