Coil Change

[TheLastColdBeer]

Out mowing a few weeks ago & my Kohler K341 powered Walker just died. Cleaned the carburetor, took apart the fuel pump, cleaned out the fuel tank.....not a fuel issue. Bright blue spark, but it would fire & run until it got a little warm, then fail. Bought a new (NOS) ignition module from an old Kohler dealer locally. Ahh, this'll be a breeze. Sure, just like every mechanical task. Would have been easier just to pull the motor in the first place, but I tried to get the flywheel shroud off in frame, and it wasn't going to happen. Pulled the motor, folded a dollar bill for a shim, and got back in business in time to buzz through about an acre of grass. So much for a leisurely Saturday. 

[loaderXI]

Ahh the old ten minute job...Cheating works plenty but one can never count on it Lord knows I have had plenty five minute jobs turn into four hours and a new tool being invented in the process lol...That machine just wanted you to touch her all over 

[RobMc]

2 hours ago, TheLastColdBeer said:

Out mowing a few weeks ago & my Kohler K341 powered Walker just died. Cleaned the carburetor, took apart the fuel pump, cleaned out the fuel tank.....not a fuel issue. Bright blue spark, but it would fire & run until it got a little warm, then fail. Bought a new (NOS) ignition module from an old Kohler dealer locally. Ahh, this'll be a breeze. Sure, just like every mechanical task. Would have been easier just to pull the motor in the first place, but I tried to get the flywheel shroud off in frame, and it wasn't going to happen. Pulled the motor, folded a dollar bill for a shim, and got back in business in time to buzz through about an acre of grass. So much for a leisurely Saturday. 

Admit it, you enjoyed it? good job, strangely enough the one advance (ha ha) I love over the years is ignition, set and forget. Bet a few remember like me magneto's and distributors with points and condenser issues, electronic ignition is a no brainer. My tridents had 3 sets of points to set, they were a nightmare, but the strangest timing was on a G80 Matchless I rebuilt (no manuals for it). You found top dead centre, then the correct degrees btdc on a timing disc, you then needed to turn the engine 180 degrees to set the magneto, never understood it, but it worked.

[J3st3r]

Magnum 16 narrow base block. I have one of those ignition modules sitting in a filing cabinet in my little shop.

Atleast it is a narrow base block with an aluminum oil sump. lol A wide base block with cast oil sump weighs another 20-25 pounds. Still around 110lbs and a bit awkward to lug around.

They are pretty simple to work on but pretty damn heavy. Atleast you can rebuild them and bore them a couple times once they wear out. Bad thing about an older Kohler engine is that once the rings get worn down the piston tries to cock sideways in the bore. This causes the sharp edge of the rings to literally scrape metal off of the cylinder. Seen alot of old Kohlers with Egg shaped cylinders over the years.

 

I've bored a couple on my uncles old Bridgeport mill with a boring bar but for the cost of having a reputable machine shop bore an engine .010, .020 or .030 over sized, it's not worth my time. Heck it takes a good machine shop only around 20-30 minutes to bore and hone a single cylinder engine. They charge by the number of cylinders and the dept of cut so usually around $75-$80 on the high end to have it done by a pro. I've rebuilt dozens of old Kohlers and worked on hundreds. It's very satisfying the 1sy time you get them cranked up and running like a swiss watch again. 

Edited October 23, 2022 by J3st3r

[tsw 8.5]

just had to change my coil packs on my walk behind took about a hour  

36.00 a piece i use 1 of my business cards .to set the timing works great   . after 11 years it was time for new coils . but runs great .after 40 + years of working on this kind of stuff i won't pay some one 125.00 a hour to do what i can .in half the time

Edited October 23, 2022 by tsw 8.5

[Icequeen]

Did you know that Brussels sprouts look like little cabbage heads?

Cool story bro.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Icequeen

[TBB]

32 minutes ago, Icequeen said:

Did you know that Brussel sprouts look like little cabbage heads?

Cool story bro.

 @Icequeen      BRUSSELS SPROUTS AGAIN!!!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[RobMc]

What you lot got against Brussel Sprouts??, I love them, and Christmas dinner is not complete without them, and they are 'green'. Just think, if you harnessed the wind power of everyone eating them you could replace all coal burning power stations.

[rexbowan]

Good job. Your Kohler loves you too.

[TheLastColdBeer]

On 10/23/2022 at 6:57 AM, RobMc said:

Admit it, you enjoyed it? good job, strangely enough the one advance (ha ha) I love over the years is ignition, set and forget. Bet a few remember like me magneto's and distributors with points and condenser issues, electronic ignition is a no brainer. My tridents had 3 sets of points to set, they were a nightmare, but the strangest timing was on a G80 Matchless I rebuilt (no manuals for it). You found top dead centre, then the correct degrees btdc on a timing disc, you then needed to turn the engine 180 degrees to set the magneto, never understood it, but it worked.

Bought an old Johnson 9.5hp outboard. Cleaned & gapped both set of points, but could only get one plug to spark. After numerous tries, it dawned on me the points fired the plug opposite the way they were mounted, & I was shining the set that worked...d'oh!

[Ghostlupus]

Love  Brussel Sprouts, not only for Christmas.