Archive through June 07, 2010

[rlbarnes]

Hey Dave thanks for the info. I checked the points gap and it was right on the money, .020. I looked over the air intake and it is sealed up tight so no un-metered air is getting pass the carb. I am running an H10C spark plug gapped at .035". The oil level is correct, running a 15w40, should be sae30w. I suppose it is time to order another head gasket and pull the head off, check for flatness. Unless yall have any other ideas thats the coa for now.

Would it be possible to have the cam timing off one tooth and still start easily? I may be second guessing myself now. I aligned the mark on the crank with the dot on the cam upon assembly. Just reaching for any ideas now.
Thanks.
-Roberts

 

[mgonitzke]

Robert-

Is the ignition timing correct? Improper timing also causes overheating.

 

[rwilke]

Josh O.,
If it's leaking anywhere around the head, that's a clear sign that the head gasket is shot.

Pull the head, carefully scrape/wire brush the carbon off everything, check the cylinder head and top of block for flatness, run a tap into the head bolt holes to clean and straighten them and wire brush the bolt threads. If all is well, dribble a dab of motor oil on the bolt threads and replace the cylinder head with a new head gasket, properly torquing the head bolts in the proper sequence in 10 ft# increments up to 30ft#s. Run the engine for 5 minutes, let it cool down, then re-torque the head bolts. Change the motor oil and clean the breather assembly. Once done with that, are you still blowing white smoke?
Ryan Wilke

 

[lkillian]

Hey guys, so back again with a issue, my 123 hyrdrostatic is smoking pretty good out of this port on the carb side, I believe its the valve vent.

I took it apart and have these two metal pieces. One is a paper thin piece that looks similar to a cross, and the other is bent on both ends.

The guy that had it before said he never tinckered with it, so are the rings going, and why isn't the smoke coming out of the exhaust.

Plus after about 3hrs of use with new oil, its down about 1/4 from the full line, after being up at the full line.
So its burning oil. So why's it pouring out out of this cover?

Thanks again, and its a 123 with the 12 horse.

Luke

 

[wmiller]

Kraig, GSS-1404,service manual (for my 126/147)section 3 "equipment" Page 3-6 spindle reassembly. Step 8. "Secure the pulley to the spindle with flat washer,star lock washer and spindle end bolt. Torque the end bolt to 38-45 ft lbs". Step 9. "Install the friction washer,blade and blade nut. Torque the blade nut to 55-60 ft lbs". This all is for a 48 inch deck.

 

[rlbarnes]

Perhaps the timing was advanced too far, I never checked it with a timing light. I fear it is too late now, while mowing my yard today to see if it was going to overheat again it died and does not want to start. Thought I may have overheated and broke the rod but I didn't hear any noises. I still have plenty of compression and I can see the valves moving but I am fed up with it for now. Will be in the for sale section or ebay shortly...I'm done.

 

[aschumacher]

Robert B., give our guys first dibs on ur tractor. Put it in the 'For Sale' section. If it doesnt sell there THEN you put it on e-pay.

 

[rwilke]

Luke K.,
Yes, if your engine is tired and worn, it will suffer from blow-by. This is a condition that allows combustion pressures to push past the piston rings and/or past the valves and into the crankcase - pushing pressures into the crankcase and then venting out the breather you describe.

Some folks will suggest you try some sort of "snake oil" to reduce the blow-by condition. However, - and this isn't probably what you want to hear, but - I think you'd be better served by looking into rebuilding your tired 12HP Kohler engine.
Ryan Wilke

P.S.
Luke,
Depending on your situation, you may be able to do some hunting and locate another Cub with a 12HP Kohler that is in better condition than a rebuild would cost you in time and $$.

 

[gsmyth]

Matt,
Thanks. I went back this AM and undid all the connectors and started over. I got it done, all in and fully seated. Know what else....

I grasped five things today. 1. A forty year old tractor may be built like a brick outhouse and better than many other outhouses, but it still is an outhouse. It does the job, but it ain’t particularly user friendly. Mine was built in the 1970’s by Americans, steeped in tradition who had no idea that new and other ways of building things were going to make the way they did things obsolete. 2. The engineering to do the work is superb but they used slide rule and hand drafting and there were no desktop computers to provide CAD. The ease of maintaining the item and complete documentation for self maintenance they couldn’t have cared less about. A simple bolt hole moved a ½ inch or being capable of reaching an item from the top rather than from the bottom where it was hidden by covers would never have occurred to them. Using the old assembly line items were placed in sequence, if access was later down the line made more difficult then that is the way it was. In addition, photos and detailed specifications on illustrations was just not the norm. 3. You can’t expect things to just fit on a forty years old Cub Cadet. Sometimes you need another person, a hammer, pry bar, and metal clamps to get things lined up. There is some heavy steel in there and babying it just won’t get the job done. 4. You need access to a whole variety of tools if you are going to do the work on your own. You had better be equipped or you might as well let it rust out in the field. Things are tight and I was trying to save a few bucks. With all of your help I am. But to do it I bet I used an easy $1000 dollars worth of tools what with floor jacks, jack stands, clamps, screwdrivers, sockets, several styles of wrenches, impact tools, air compressor, taps, chemicals, sheers and drill press, lights, etc. Working on a Cub Cadet is not for the "all my tools in a plastic suitcase" person 5. I’m not afraid of anything on the front of my 1450. If something goes wrong I’m willing to go after it. Electrical and carburetion may still be new to me but after this I know what I will have to go through and I’m willing to go for it.

 

[fcurrier]

Robert: Maybe you'll feel different in the morning? Where there's compression, there's hope! I searched your first post -"proud owner of a 1650". Not many posts since then, but it looks like the overheating has been a problem from the gitgo. How are you at reading/following directions and wrenching? In a discussion with Don T. last week I told him I'd got bummed out enough to think of taking the credit card to Sears. Bottom line on a lawn tractor to mow with - $900. I just got new spindles and blades for neighbor's Murray. $220.
Good luck, whatever decision you make!