# Kohler



## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

Kohler courage XT7 smart choke no prime, XT173 0084. Takes 4 pulls to start. Is that normal for these smart choke engines? Produces a little white smoke at first start if it has been sitting for a few days. Runs fine otherwise. I bought this mower pretty cheap. Does not look like it was used much. Seller said it would not start. I found the jet on the plastic piece on top of the carb was completely blocked.


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## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

Anyone have a suggestion on this?


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## RKDOC (Jun 20, 2006)

I don't mess too much with these carbs. New ones are inexpensive.


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## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

Well, a new carb did not help. I did a leakdown test and found that air is getting into the crankcase. Piston is at TDC. There is also oil spitting out of the breather hose once and a while when running. Oil is not overfull. There are two holes in the cylinder head that provide oil for the valves. I cut a Qtip in half and put the halves in these holes, to see if the pressure would blow them out. Nothing happened until I blocked the breather hose. After a little pressure built up, one of the Qtips shot out of the hole. So, are the rings bad on this engine? Once it starts, it runs fine with no smoke. I know I mentioned a little white smoke before, but has not done it anymore. Is it possible that the head gasket is bad?


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## John Lolli (Nov 3, 2005)

These kohler engines made in china are complete junk!! That being said, try setting the spark plug gap to .020. I now set all the ready start and auto choke engines that way.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

I have service dozens of them this past year, all hard/no start issues. All of them were fuel / carburetor related. Make sure the auto choke is closing the choke butterfly completely when the engine is cold, otherwise they will be hard to start.


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## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

30yearTech said:


> I have service dozens of them this past year, all hard/no start issues. All of them were fuel / carburetor related. Make sure the auto choke is closing the choke butterfly completely when the engine is cold, otherwise they will be hard to start.


The auto choke is closed when the engine is cold. The choke plate does not appear to be designed so it covers the entire throat when closed. Even after it has been running, it takes several pulls to start. Why would there be air getting into the crankcase during a leakdown test? I will try the plug gap. Chohler CRAP!!!
Thanks for your replies.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

Rentahusband said:


> The auto choke is closed when the engine is cold. The choke plate does not appear to be designed so it covers the entire throat when closed. Even after it has been running, it takes several pulls to start. Why would there be air getting into the crankcase during a leakdown test? I will try the plug gap. Chohler CRAP!!!
> Thanks for your replies.


It's possible the head gasket could be blown or there is an issue with the rings, cylinder or piston. I have not seen anything common with these engines, other then the choke issue I mentioned in my other post.


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## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

The choke plate on the new carb did not block the entire throat like the the plate on the original carb did. I swapped plates and it starts a little better now. 
Thanks for your replies!!
30yr, if the gasket has failed between the push rod area and the cylinder, would that cause air to leak into the crankcase? It ran fine today.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

Yes, but if that is the case, then the engine would build up pressure in the crankcase and start blowing oil out the breather after the engine has run for a few minutes. If it runs fine for and extended time, then I doubt the head gasket has any issues.


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## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

Oil does spit out of the breather tube after it has been running for a few minutes, that is why I started to think it was the head gasket being it is an OHV engine. I had the air filter off, started it and could see oil spitting out the breather tube. I used it for about 25 minutes today with no issues of oil out of the breather tube. I am debating pulling the head off and replacing the gasket or wait to see if it act up again.
Thanks

Well, the head gasket was fine. The cylinder still has the cross hatch marks all around the cylinder. I did notice a little line of oil on the cylinder wall when I moved the piston up and down. I wiped it away a few times and it kept returning when the piston went up and down. Would this be due to the piston ring end gaps not being staggered enough? The gasket was not stuck so I reused it, ran the engine with no issues of oil coming out of the breather tube.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

Rentahusband said:


> The cylinder still has the cross hatch marks all around the cylinder. I did notice a little line of oil on the cylinder wall when I moved the piston up and down. I wiped it away a few times and it kept returning when the piston went up and down. Would this be due to the piston ring end gaps not being staggered enough?


The line of oil you were seeing could be due to the alignment of the rings, but nothing to worry about. Piston rings unless pinned, move around the piston when the engine is running, so the end gap alignment changes and does not stay the same.


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## Rentahusband (Aug 25, 2008)

Thank you all for your input.


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