Last year I bought a used New Holland LS45 lawn tractor. Built in the early 00's, no idea how many hours on the unit. I haven't used it much until just recently and I've discovered that it burns a pretty significant amount of oil. I usually have to add about 1/3 quart every time I mow, and that's with using 20w-50.
Engine runs extremely smooth with great power. It smokes a fair bit when first started and pretty much any time you throttle up from idle. I don't notice any smoke while mowing or when the engine is running at half throttle or higher. I changed the plugs when I first got it and one plug was so carbon-fouled up, I have no idea how it even made a spark, so clearly it's burning a good bit of oil.
I did a compression test, and both cylinders tested unusually high-- around 220-230 PSI if I recall. I suspect there's a lot of deposits in the chamber that might cause compression to increase, does that sound logical?
I want to fix this mower up (I have another to use), it's a good machine and looking at it you'd think it's a brand new mower, just needs a few things and I would like to get this oil burning figured out. Is there anything that could cause this amount of oil burning that doesn't require an engine overhaul? Any common problems these Kohler engines have that could cause this?
If this engine requires major work to fix this, is it cost effective to rebuild these or is a new engine the preferred option? I suppose you could put any engine in there that has the same shaft diameter/length or are there other variables I need to consider? Curious what you guys think.
Engine runs extremely smooth with great power. It smokes a fair bit when first started and pretty much any time you throttle up from idle. I don't notice any smoke while mowing or when the engine is running at half throttle or higher. I changed the plugs when I first got it and one plug was so carbon-fouled up, I have no idea how it even made a spark, so clearly it's burning a good bit of oil.
I did a compression test, and both cylinders tested unusually high-- around 220-230 PSI if I recall. I suspect there's a lot of deposits in the chamber that might cause compression to increase, does that sound logical?
I want to fix this mower up (I have another to use), it's a good machine and looking at it you'd think it's a brand new mower, just needs a few things and I would like to get this oil burning figured out. Is there anything that could cause this amount of oil burning that doesn't require an engine overhaul? Any common problems these Kohler engines have that could cause this?
If this engine requires major work to fix this, is it cost effective to rebuild these or is a new engine the preferred option? I suppose you could put any engine in there that has the same shaft diameter/length or are there other variables I need to consider? Curious what you guys think.