1996 K301 replacement engine
 

I've a '96 K301 spec 47504. I thought all K301's had the flat section on crank counter weights. Mine are round. One thick, one thin. Both valves have rotators. Style D Mahle piston. Has balance gears. Fully adjustable Walbro WHG carb A few questions.
1. Any significance to the round counterweights vs flat ?
2.Are valve rotators meant to keep seats cleaner ?
3.How long has Kohler used Mahle pistons ?
4.Has anyone kept the balance gears ?
5.Is the K301 the most out of balance single K engine ?

Chris

Here are my answers:

1. Any significance to the round counterweights vs flat ?
I have no idea

2.Are valve rotators meant to keep seats cleaner ?
Valve rotators are meant to rotate the valve so that it seats at a different spot each time. Not necessarily for keeping clean, they are for keeping the valve and seat sealing properly. It keeps them from wearing on one side.

3.How long has Kohler used Mahle pistons ?
I have no idea

4.Has anyone kept the balance gears ?
Some people do, some don't. I prefer to.

5.Is the K301 the most out of balance single K engine ?
No, 301 up has balance gears. I'd say it starts with the 301 because the bore finally got big enough that the weight of the motor rotating assembly became large enough it needed more balance help.

ANY odd number cylinder motor is "out of balance". Single cylinder, 3 cylinder, 5 cylinder.......

J-Mech, thanks for the response. I'm leaning toward leaving the balance gears in. It's a low hour engine in great shape. I keep reading horror stories about grenade gears wreaking havoc and destroying blocks. I just wonder if the balance gears get blamed far more than other causes. I'd bet Kohler didn't put them in just for the hell of it. Chris

Flat vs. round, see this:

http://************************.com/index.htm.

Leave balance gears in? Never.

your link doesn't work.......

Try to google: Welcome to Brian Miller's Garden Tractor Pulling Tips & Tricks!

Then scroll to :

Balancing the crankshaft and connecting rod assembly.

Occ won't let me type the URL, sorry.

jcsmith. Is this going to be a pulling engine? Or a "working" engine? Maybe I should have asked this first......

does your crank have a 3/8 24 grade 8 bolt holding the flywheel on or a big nut?

J-Mech, this is a work engine

dvogtvpe, it has a 3/8-24 grade 8 bolt

cubfixer, I'll check it out. I like his site

Thanks for the replies fellas, Chris

the cranks in the magnum singles identified by the 3/8 bolt from what I've heard from pretty reliable source's are supposed to be forged vs the cast cranks of the K series. that design also has a rounded counter weight. so bottom line . its a better crank.

Valve rotators are designed to prevent burnt valves.

The Mahle pistons have been around since the mid to late 80's.

Balance gears are good for scrap in my opinion. I've seen one to many fall off I guess.

most out of balance single would be a K361 OHV followed by the K341. I think as the strokes got longer and the bore's bigger the shakes got worse. I never thought the 12's and 14's were that bad. J-Mech is right. odd number engines don't cancel themselves out

Millers site is alright. there's some useful info there for the novice, most of the info there We and allot of others were doing 20 - 30 years ago so there's better ways by todays standards . user's beware, don't take it as gospel.