Ch670-011/gt2544
 

hello everyone I'm please to have found this forms.
Recently i was ecstatic to purchase my first garden tractor to mow and do work around my also recently purchased home. i got on the old marketplace and found a sweet gt2544 W/agg tires and brought her home. in all my excitement and also maybe the poring down rain i forgot to check a few pretty important thing like blow by.
the engine code is ch670-011 and has what i thought was pretty excessive crank case pressure. after some more googling and a few phone calls(local small engine repair guys and my local CC dealer) everything point to an internally blown head gasket. so i bought the parts googled even more and changed them. its not my first head gasket job. figured if i can do a Subaru head gasket i can do this.
i got it all back together and it runs perfectly but still has what i would call excessive crank case pressure. how much is to much? at low idle it can keep the dipstick in the air! and is pushing oil out out of the crank seal on the PTO side "front" and running down the case. its manageable and nothing a rag wont clean up after I'm done with it but if its broken it needs to be fixed!
Am i missing something? can someone please point me in the right direction. everything ive read says its a head gasket which these engines are knows for blowing. my next guess is rings or maybe a valve seal. any help or informant would be greatly apricated! ive been reading a lot of posts on here and you guys really know your stuff

also im interested in a 3 point hitch or something alot stronger then the rear tow hitch. i kinda ripped it off today pulling a stump using the tractors momentum to brake it lose. it worked 4 times before and figured it was strong enough but sadly i was mistaken. after cutting around the stump with a saw saw id give them a tug one way then the other and they would come right out...

long story short.
i have a gt2544 with a ch670-011 engine 22hp kohler command. i thought it had a bad head gasket. has all the symptoms of an internally blown head gasket(high crank case pressure)
so i changed the head gaskets and still have high crank case pressure. the dip stick will pretty much float at idle and is pushing oil out of front crank seal(PTO side). its not alot but i plan to have this tractor for awhile and want to prevent any serious engine damage. it dose not seem to be consuming any oil but i also only run it maybe 2 times a week to mow and other yard work. trying to avoid using it till i can figure out a defiant diagnosis. hour meter says it had 339 hrs.
its a great little tractor and i fully intend on keeping it alive for as long as i can. i just need a few question answered. thanks for reading and any information is greatly appreciated.
questions
is this normal?
dose this engine normally have this much crank case pressure? blow by?

anything else that would be good to know about the tractor?

There is a hose the exits into the throat of the carb , I am wondering if this is a poor mans PCV thus relieving crankcase pressure
Check this pipe for any blockage
Oz

You are correct it dose have what one might call a PCV and it was the first thing I checked before taking off the heads. It is clear of any blockages and dose let a little bit of pressure off but it's not enough. If you have ever seen a Diesel with a bad head gasket, that is exactly what it's like. If I unscrew oil fill cap with the engine running it will blow it right off.

You will have to do a compression test , it sounds like leak-down in one of the cylinders
Oz

First off, I'm not familiar with your engine,
but it is generally not a good idea to remove a dip stick with an engine in operation as it usually results in lubricant sprayed out of the hole the dip stick lives in.:bigthink:

You are correct but it is a common way to check for blow by. After the first time I used the tractor I went to use it again and while checking my fluids and just a quick once over noticed the dip stick was not fully seated when I know it was correctly seated at the beginning of the first use. At that point I seen the oil coming from the crank seal. I immediately knew the to were related and closed the dip stick fully started the tractor, idled it down and loosened the oil fill cap and it was shot out of my hand indicating crank case pressure, and alot of it.

I have a compression tester coming in the mail. I wasn't sure if maybe I was missing something and just want to fix the issue rather then throw more parts at it like I prematurely did. I'll come back with the numbers. Thank you

You can also lock the crankshaft at top dead center and pressurize that cylinder with air if you have a way to do so. You will hear the air escaping by the rings.