I bought this LT1042 (used) this summer with 130 hrs on the clock. Nice and clean everywhere. I have six acres to care for and the wife started mowing. After about 1 1/2 hrs mowing, I seen it smoking like crazy. Yep, the block cracked and the oil was getting on the muffler. Had her stop mowing so I could check it out. After doing some to late research I learned that the single cylinder Courage was prone to doing this. To cut to the chase, I had to take the cover plate (the cover under the flywheel) off to correct the problem. What I found on Youtube just didn't sit to well with me, so I got a fella that does aluminum Tig welding and had him weld the crack. Now to get this done, I had to completely drain the oil and do a really good job of cleaning the oil from the crack or the weld won't stay. So I used the spray Brake parts cleaner (non-flammable) and did this repeatedly until there was no oil residue coming from the crack. Spray from the inside and outside. It has to be really clean and you have to remove the cam and gear to get it out of the way. Anyway, we have mowed with it and so far the weld did the job. MAke sure to Loctite all your bolts, especially the front four and pull the flywheel cover from time to time to check that he bolts are still tight. Sorry for the long post
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Cracked Kohler Engine Block 2021-05-19 (1).jpgRepaired cracked block_20210624.jpg