Kohler 25 hp issues

Thanks for all the replys, you guys got me really thinking on how to proceed with this build. Here is what I'm dealing with
1. Got engine for free
2. Broke for the next few months
3. Got a mill and lathe (I'm a beginner)
4. I have nothing to put the motor in yet.
5. Have plenty of time, I'm retired.
6. i got a powder coating gun and access to an oven the size of a former east block Russian car ( I got to visit east Germany before the wall came down)
7. I was able to download a repair manual from kohler( thanks to whoever suggested that.(john deere makes you buy them)
8. I got anwirefeed welder that I've never used.
I can just inspect and replace what's needed to get it running or I could do a complete tear down or do something wild and do like someone suggested and refurb the parts I got. That would give me experience using mill and lathe.

just some random thoughts

lanham
 
One more thing, the drank was not working out so well so I filled a bucket with coals and will home brew some lye to get the rest of the aluminum didsolved

lanham
 
One other point to consider before deciding to refurbish the existing end cover is that you don't know the dimension for the internals of that cover. In other words, if you had a plan in place to repair that cover, to what dimensions would you make the thrust bearing portion of the cover? That information will not be readily available anywhere, yet those dimensions will be critical. I hate to say it, but your best bet might be to get the used cover off of eBay if you can afford to go that route and if that cover is in decent shape.
 
IMO it almost aint worth the money to do a full re build. Do you own a Mic for the cylinders? You only have a few thou in spec o they need to read correct and not just close.

If I was you, I would order the used case cover and check it asap so it can be returned if no good.

Unless your bored and just want something to work on, it's gonna run about a grand to rebuild that whole engine and you can buy a short block for it for 700 or so. It's 1500 dollar motor new

Price really is determined by what you mean by full rebuild.
 
One point to consider if you do decide to make a thrust washer to take up the excess end play created by the impromptu "Machining" of the inner case. Mill it off even and square and slip it back into position and measure the total amount of distance the shaft will move and make a sintered bronze or oilite bushing that will fill that gap less about .008 to .012 and call it good. Welding that will never work because you will never ever get the metal to give up all the oil that has soaked into it over time resulting in a poor quality weld with an overheated casting. We used to repair them like that all the time on Scag Commercial mowers down here in the south and the repair usually lasts longer than the rest of the engine. We tried baking the casting, soaking, pressure washing and any other of a myriad of ways to clean that surface and we could never get a good clean surface to weld on to create a build up. The bushing is very similar to the thrust bushings that they install at the factory only considerably thicker to make up for the lost material from the" machining" and subsequent milling to square off the damage.

Bob
 
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