K321 Smoking
 

Need a few ideas/pointers. I got my 1450 when the PO was tired of adding more oil than gas and had no power. I rebuilt the engine in February 2012 and the hour meter read 150 hours or so I wrote in the log. The rebuild included bore and over size pistons, valves etc. In the year and 1/2 I have now 200 hours on the meter. So I've put 50 hours on the tractor since the rebuild. Today I started the tractor and moved some other equipment to make preparations to install the snow thrower and cab for winter. The engine began smoking excessively as soon as I started it. I used the tractor maybe a month ago for a few hours mowing about two acres and didn't notice any smoking then.
What would you guys do before I should consider pulling the engine and looking at the rings etc? :bigthink:

Steve

The engine can also smoke if the fuel mixture is too rich, so the carb could be something to check. If it's been sitting, it's possible the needle valve may not be sealing from gunk buildup,or maybe something got in there. Ask me how I know.

Have you cleaned/replaced the air filter? Always check the simple stuff first.

Don't tear the engine down just because it smoked one time when it hadn't been ran for a month. Like the other guys said, check some simple stuff first. If it's been sitting, could be fuel (like was mentioned). More than likely it's just from sitting. RUN THAT THING!! 50 hrs in 2 years isn't very many. That motor has barely had time to seat the rings, unless the 50 hrs were HARD hours. If they were just "puttin around" or mowing a few times, they probably just haven't got seated good. Could even be stiff/stuck. Just run it. Snowblower will be a good load. :beerchug:

Actually I did check the air filter and bought a new one today. I'm ashamed to say the filter was in terrible shape. I'll get that replaced this evening and see how it goes.

OK, replaced the air filter as it was very dirty. Also changed the oil, it looked dirty as well. I ran the engine for about 15 min. readjusted the carburetor and engine is still smoking. I'm going to try to do a little mowing this weekend and see how things go. I'm also going to keep an eye on the hour meter. I'm not sure it's working correctly. I can't believe I've only put 50 hours on this during two summers and one full winter of use. I'm using this tractor to mow about 2 acres maybe three times a year (about 8 hours three times a year) not to mention using it for other chores. Also last winter I probably used the snow thrower on the driveway 4 or times a week for about an hour each time. Could be right but seems like it should be more hours.

Is there any merit to not breaking an engine in on synthetic oil? I've heard it don't let the rings seat right. I am wondering if that is true, are you using synthetic oil?

If it ran good before and ran good when it was parked, I'd say you have stuck rings. I wouldn't use synthetic oil to break one in or run it in one of these old kohlers.That's my opinon.

I am not using synthetic oil. Since the rebuild I have only used SAE 30. I would think synthetic oil would be OK if you could get it in a straight weight. Not in a multi viscosity. I believe that the high heat the 10 w 40, 5 W 30 etc break down in the high heat. Just my thoughts.

I'm not even touching the oil debate. But, no. You never break an engine in with synthetic.