My 'New' 2084... Now What?

[tcahill]

Hey all-

picked up my first Super on Saturday. It's a 2084 with 564 advertised hours on it. I basically saved it from the scrap man as it had been sitting outside for over 2 years unused. I paid market rate for the 54GT deck which was stored inside and is in great condition, and there was a pair of wheel weights to cement the deal. The PO more or less threw in the tractor at that point and said 'have fun with it'. I told him I'd be mowing with it on Sunday and he looked at me like I had 3 heads... After freeing everything up (and I mean everything, except for the motor) and rebuilding the carb, I got it running, but it's one-lunging it. Unless its WOT under load, I get nothing off the right side cylinder (when sitting on the tractor). It also hisses on that side during compression, which is what leads me to believe it could be the head gasket. I do have good spark on the right side, and it doesn't do bad when wide open, but I don't think I'm helping it by running it this way. I see that these CH20s are blowing head gaskets all over the place on other forums and help sites, so I thought I would ask here just what's involved to do the job right. These Kohlers are a little more advanced than I'm used to vs the older Cubs, and I have no experience with an OHV engine. I see the head gaskets kits for sale ad figure I might as well do both sides while it's apart. Can it be done in the tractor, or does the motor have to be moved or removed?

I'm gonna post this on the other Cub forums as well to try and get as much input as possible. The goal is to try and decide to fix it or part it. The tractor is complete but pretty rotted in the usual spots from exposure, but the plastic is good! Still, its a Super!

 

[kmcconaughey]

Tom, WELCOME!

Nice save! Hopefully Jim Diederichs will find your post and respond.

 

[mgonitzke]

I think this came up awhile back...I believe you need to get a kit from Kohler that has new head gasket and studs (they're torque-to-yield like most new cars, can only be used once) correct any warpage of the head and/or block, and reassemble. I think they blow head gaskets because people shut them off at idle and it blows gas in and backfires. If you shut it off above 2/3 (or something like that) throttle, the fuel solenoid shuts off the fuel to main jet, no fuel is drawn into the engine, and it simply spins to a stop.

 

[tcahill]

the fuel solenoid has been, err, modified... that was part of getting it running again. Nothing ground off (yet), but I had to leave the inner o-ring off to get fuel to flow...

 

[jdiederichs]

Wow, Matt nailed it on the shut down; nice that somebody actually adheres to the shut down procedure. Been preaching that for years but most everyone does things the old way(pre fuel solenoid)

Tom, I will be honest,head gaskets are the weak link on the Command twins. The company uses a graphoil material for the gasket and it has no fire ring, no actual sealing other than the parent material. It could be better, I cannot say more.

Get the head gasket kit, as Matt wisely said. It contains the head gasket and bolts. Torque to spec, it is a torque to yied bolt (one use stretch bolt)in the kit. Before you do that, run a staight end over the head, any distortion is going to be a recurring problem. THe max. distortion I would accept is .003" end to end and diagonally.

Lots to digest here so far. So figure the head gasket is the failure issue. The cause may be spark timing. Advanced timing with the current fuel is the death of many engines due to pre detination, backfire among the multitude of problems that kill the head gaskets. The gaskets act as a "fuse" preventing expensive damage.

How to deal with the problem in a nutshell: Call Kohlers "800" number on the engine tag, give them the model and serial number of your engine. They can make you a customer satisfaction adjustment which will either replace the flywheel or give you an offset key to retard the timing so the head gasket failure issue will not reoccur. Your CH20 probably has a 26 degree advance flywheel; you need to run an 18-20 degree max due to today's gasoline.

Ask to speak with people directly, not an intermediatory at the distributor level, they have the power to make this right by shipping you the needed parts. No labor included, swapping flywheels or the key is not a big deal. It will make all the difference in engine longevity and performance.It's your call, they will help.