I have a John Deere L130 that every time I start it up it blows enough smoke to run you out of my two car garage, the engine has 50 hours on it, and recently was taken back to the service center for this for the second time. The first time John Deere told the service rep to replace the Head gaskets, which I knew would not fix the problem, now this time they are replacing the engine. The problem I have is that Kohler says that it's because of the angle the engine is mounted on the mower, and not really a problem. Has any of you heard about this issue with the Kohler 23hp engine on the L130? or is this an isolated case, and a new engine would solve the problem?
John Deere L130 Smokes
- Thread starter gatkins94
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DmansPadge
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I wouldn't think that is normal. I'm sure a new engine will fix the problem. If it was due to the angle on the engine, I dought that JD would have sold all of them with that problem. I bet once you get it back with the new engine you won't have to worry about that problem any longer.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Nasty135
Veteran Member
Yeah , My Dad bought one of those Homedepot specials and had the same problem.... Sent it to the dealer two weeks later he gets it back with some song and dance about the problem (i'm forgetting now what was said ,but it wasn't possible).
He gets it back same problem and two weeks later it quits smoking ,maybe it finally broke-in who knows, or it could have been fixed at the shop,maybe they rebuilt it /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
He gets it back same problem and two weeks later it quits smoking ,maybe it finally broke-in who knows, or it could have been fixed at the shop,maybe they rebuilt it /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Nasty135
Veteran Member
No , I beleive it is parked level in the shed , but I see what your thinking.. I beleive that some of his trouble may have been slightly overfilling the crankcase,which could cause the smoking trouble. But if you follow their instructions you may be overfilling the crankcase. The instructions say to check the oil level without screwing the dipstick in ,just dip-it in to the top of the threaded tube, the difference in the oil level between screwing it down to check or just dipping it may be the difference in having too much oil in the cylinders getting past the rings or initial crankcase pressure until warm-up when the rings expand /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif MAYBE ??
That's exactly what it is. The Kohler people have figured out that to eliminate the problem all together you need to use 1.7 quarts of oil instead of 2.0 like the John Deere manual states. I'll be using the 2.0 since if I don't, I'm sure I'll have warrantee problems. Kohler did say that even though this has been a problem, all of the engines don't smoke, which leads me to believe the rings are seating properly on some, but not all.
Well, they've replaced the engine with a brand new Kohler Command 23 and guess what? This one smokes worse than the first one did! I can't be the only one with this problem, and I'm sure i'm not doing anything wrong. I understand engines, I've built a few Small Block chevy's and a big block, so I'm not lost in the garage, but this is something else. We'll see what's next on the list for John Deere to do.
timb
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Is it oil smoke or running rich? We're still learning the idiosyncrasies of the the Kohler Command 16 in our LT160. It seems to be very touchy on choke - it only wants to be choked when it's *completely* cold (first start of the day). Afterward, even after sitting hours, it seems to be much happier starting with just part-throttle, full choke start position smokes it up.
It's definately oil smoke, I take pictures every time I start it up. I would post a couple of pictures if I could figure out how. It's actually simple, unless you always park the mower with the front end up hill, it's going to smoke, I'm just wondering if i'm the only one that thinks that's odd.
Nasty135
Veteran Member
gatkin, I talked to my Dad, He said they told him it was the reed valves?? In a four stroke HA-HA yeah right Ok then well while your at it check the muffler bearings /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Well at this point your best bet is to drive it like you stole it!!
Run the snot out of it ,that will help break it in ... Those motors are supposed to be designed to run at full throttle which helps cool them by way of the flywheel fan.. Just don't overfill it with oil and it should break-in sooner or later.
My Dads quit smoking about 3 weeks or so after getting it back.... Good luck /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Well at this point your best bet is to drive it like you stole it!!
Run the snot out of it ,that will help break it in ... Those motors are supposed to be designed to run at full throttle which helps cool them by way of the flywheel fan.. Just don't overfill it with oil and it should break-in sooner or later.
My Dads quit smoking about 3 weeks or so after getting it back.... Good luck /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif