Dead PT-425

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> Pic attached.</font>

AHHHG! You ripped it's heart out!

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> with most occurring within the first 200 hours. Mine had 110 hours when it went.

Supposedly, all these problems have been taken care of in the current production models. </font>

I hope it is an isolated incident, as mine is older than yours. Again, sorry to hear of your troubles. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[SnowRidge]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( "When your PT was alive , how much time did you spend on the PT vs the CUT?" )</font>

The CUT is a Branson 3520. It was delivered in late February of last year. We picked up the PT-425 last June. The CUT has a shade over 50 hours, the PT has 110.

We bought the PT to mow our Xmas tree plantations. The Branson is simply too big to fit between the trees. Almost all of the hours on the PT are from mowing.

SnowRidge

 

[SnowRidge]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Can you share some of the better sites you found? I'd love to read up on it as well. BTW, what kind of oil were you using (just curious)? )</font>

The only ones I can recall specifically were LawnSite and Precise Engine Repair. There were some others, but they escape me.

I did note that one or two of the sites had problems with their search features. They were not consistent. For example, I found one guy talking about replacing a bent pushrod himself rather than waiting for a busy shop to schedule him for warranty work. When I tried to find the post later, it didn't show up.

I was using Havoline 10W30. I may switch to synthetic, though. It looks like a fair number of the mower pros use it in their Kohlers.

SnowRidge

 

[SnowRidge]

I hauled the Kohler to the small engine repair shop yesterday afternoon. The owner said, "About a week."

Now I get to wait. Spring is a lousy time to break any kind of small engine powered equipment in East Tennessee. Some of the shops are backed up three to four weeks. I feel lucky to get the one week estimate.

SnowRidge

 

[BrianP]

HI Snow Sorry to hear about your PT. Ive had it happen on my Zero turn. 25 Hp kohler. It should be a quick fix.
I think because of the time of year its busy at there shop.
They could of make the repair with your motor in the machine, not to bum you out. From what i gather its cause by hydro lock in the lifter. A new style push rod which allows the oil to flow better will fix the problem. I do run mobil 1 fully syntetic oil in all my 5 25 hp kohlers. Have them test it before you leave if you can. Ive seen it bent on start up again if they didnt take the pressure off the lifter. good luck

 

[SnowRidge]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( They could of make the repair with your motor in the machine, not to bum you out )</font>

It's a possibility, but there are other issues. The bad cylinder has no compression and will likely require a head removal at a minimum. Lots of stuff needs to come off anyway, just to get working room. It's not much additional work to pull the engine.

Then there is the issue of getting 1,400 lbs of dead PT up the (steep) ramp into the shop. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

For these and some other reasons, it just seemed simpler to pull the engine and take it in. It also allowed me to take it to a shop that was backed up one week instead of one that was backed up four weeks.

And not to sound like a *********, but I kind of enjoyed pulling it. I also learned quite a bit about how PTs are put together and found some things that I didn't know were going on.

So I'm bummed that the engine has a problem, /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif but I'm not sorry I pulled it out. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( A new style push rod which allows the oil to flow better will fix the problem )</font>

I think mine is new enough that it should already have the new style pushrod and other improvements that Kohler made.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Have them test it before you leave if you can. Ive seen it bent on start up again if they didnt take the pressure off the lifter. )</font>

They've agreed to do that. The shop I took it to has the ability to bench run engines.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I do run mobil 1 fully syntetic oil in all my 5 25 hp kohlers. good luck )</font>

That's good info. I've been thinking of going to Mobil 1. Thanks.for the input.

SnowRidge

.

 

[MossRoad]

I also run Mobil 1 in ours. I switched to that at about 25 hours. It does spin the engine over very well in cold temperatures, and I attribute that to the thinner viscosity when it is cold, however, I have no scientific way of knowing if it has any benefits.

 

[smartguyz]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I also run Mobil 1 in ours. I switched to that at about 25 hours. It does spin the engine over very well in cold temperatures, and I attribute that to the thinner viscosity when it is cold, however, I have no scientific way of knowing if it has any benefits. )</font>

I have also switched to Mobil 1. I switched over at around 10 hours. It does seem to turn over well in the winter, and the tests I've read indicate that it has superior lubricity. Time will tell!

I did have a motorcycle that I ran the living daylights out of, and I ran Mobil 1 in it. It worked really well. I also had a sports coupe that I kept for many years - I put nearly 100K miles on it, and it never broke down, and never gave me any problems. In fact, when I sold it, the shop did a compression test and overall check, and they said it was one of the cleanest engines they had every seen, and that compression was stellar.

We'll see.

Sincerely,

Rob /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Boone]

My next door nieghbor had the same thing happen to his 20hp Kohler, it had about the same time as yours. They took care of him under warranty very well.