kohler courage 15 issues

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Hi,

I had some trouble starting my Kohler courage 15 engine.
i figured it was valves or the ACR so pulled valve cover off and adjusted the valves, one was quite loose. after adjusting i didn't have a torque wrench that went low enough for the torx grub screw so i done it by hand and must of overtightened them
after running it for a few minutes the nuts let go it started to run like [censored] so turned it off asap

got some new nuts put them in, tightened to torque.
stills a little hard to start and it has this very light rattle 1 in every 4 strokes and seems to miss every so often.

could i of bent a push rod or some some other damage?

when spinning it over by hand it does get a little tight and makes a weird 'pfffft' noise out the intake then frees up again until the next intake cycle


what should i be looking at? any ideas?
i will take the valve cover off and look at the push rods most probably intake if it is but other than that i have no idea.
i know enough to get me in trouble ^ haven't really worked on any 4 strokes, before played around with a few 2 strokes.
 
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I would have checked the push rods first, being that its hard to spin then getting easier is normal. That's the compression stroke.
 
What each cylinder at TDC compression stroke when you adjusted the valves? I don't know what the specs are, but make sure you have them set at the correct clearance and didn't wing it like many guys do.
 
rocker arm studs under the rockers somehow come loose, check them. just fixed my neighbors riding mower, same problem you described.
 
Sorry I forgot to mention I was spinning it over by hand with the spark plug out so no compression. And it was halfway through the intake stroke when it was getting harder to spin.

Its only 1 cylinder and yes TDC on compression stroke.

My issue im chasing ATM the missing and slight noise I have created.
 
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cleaned the carbon off the head and valves they all looked good so re assembled them and put a bit of wd40 around them and does not appear to seep through so valves are in good condition


I have taken the cover plate off
and appears the tab on the exhaust cam gear has broken off that the ACR rests against

my question is it looks like i can swap the gears around how to they disassemble from the shaft and can i just pull the whole cam out to do it or do i need to do something else first?

also how does the ACR actually work? the spring is there but i cant see it doing anything atm.
is it meant to be in close or out against the broken tab when stationary?

IMG_20160729_174515.jpg
 
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found the more indepth service manual didnt realise i only had a basic one.

swapped cam gears over for the broken piece
need a spring and i should be set. then get some gaskets and put this thing back together and hopefully all is good

next Q

oil... what oil should i use?

i have seen it 10w30 somewhere im pretty sure it was for this engine.

is there any harm running Castrol 4T 10w40?
or anyone have any other recommendations?
 
A protrusion sticks out on cam lobe, holding valve open to release compression. When engine fires, rotating mass throws centrifugal weights out pulling cam lobe protrusion out of the way allowing full valve closure, thus full compression.
Oil is subjective, you can use virtually ANY oil, but the wise bet is most any of the HDEO's, Mobil 1 HM or something along those lines. I'd lean toward 15w40 or 10w30.
 
thanks got parts yesterday and had it all together charged battery and started up great.

when spun over by hand there's a slight click noise on im guessing the intake stroke.

im thinking its the when the cam lobe hits the cam leaver for the pushrod.
when runnign you can only pick it if your really listening. if off and spun by hand you can notice it.
im not taking the cover plate off again just to have a look as i will need new gaskets and freight kills me.
will keep an eye on it but dont think its a big issue
 
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