Noisy engine

[dmccue]

My Sears garden tractor with a twin cylinder 19.5 hp Kohler engine. is about 8 years old. Recently, I have noticed that the engine operates much more noisily than before. The noise is similar to the sound of clicking valves in a car engine.

Is this just from age or is it the result of some problem. The engine has an automotive type oil filter. In the past I have always used a Kohler oil filter, but the last time I change oil, I went cheap and used an exact size replacement Wal-Mart automotive oil filter. Could this have somehow caused the problem with the noisy engine? I have since, changed the oil again, but this time reverting back to a Kohler filter. The noisy engine persists.

I am using 10W40 oil. Should I use a heavier oil? Could this be the problem? I don't recall that 10W40 oil was a problem in the past.

Is there a way to quiet the engine or has some damage already occurred?

 

[Schultz]

Your lifters may need adjustment. I'm not familiar with Kohler but the Onan I have is suppose to be adjusted every 400-600hrs.

I wouldn't be afraid of the using an automotive filter because of the increased filter area and they're available in with finer filtration like Pure One. I've been using the Pure One Purilator & Motor Craft filters, which are about twice as long as the Onan filter for 500hrs now. I've found the oil stays cleaner a little over twice as long as a stock filter because of the finer filtration and increased filtration area. I recently tested the compression on the 800+hr engine and it's at 135psi which is above new specs, so I feel the automitive filters have done there job.

 

[Egon]

Does the bypass on the automotive open at the same pressure as the original one?

Egon

 

[Schultz]

Never tested the two different types for cracking pressure, so I'm not sure. It does have the backflow valve as the OEM does.

I've never worried about the bypass or plugging since the engine has far fewer moving parts to generate particulate than a Ford 3.0 or 3.8L, I change the oil on a regular basis, and the filter I use likely has 2-3 times the filtration area.

Oh another point, it cost $3 vs $10 for an Onan filter.