Question for you Kohler guys - oil cooler

[deeter16317]

Ok, I've been going through this GrassHopper...decided to pull the oil cooler and clean it. When I pulled the cooler off, a blocking plate fell out revealing the air hole for the cooler...am I missing something, or was the block plate inadvertently left in place?

With it in place, there was no airflow through the cooler...seems odd to me.

So, for you guys with the oil cooler, did you find an open hole into the flywheel or a blocking plate??

 

[deeter16317]

To make sure I'm clear (since I typed that on my BlackBerry last night in a fog), this is the small engine mounted oil cooler that sits just in front of the filter.

The manual states to pull it every so often to clean the fins...which I did as part of my PM. When I pulled one of the two bolts holding the cooler on the engine, a plate that had been sandwiched between the blower/flywheel housing and cooler fell out, revealing a 3x3 inch opening to the blower. I assume this opening is meant to be open to pass air across the cooler?

 

[JTK]

The OEM oil cooler kit for the Kohler Command should have come with two pieces of tin-work to divert some air from the cylinder head shrouding, to across the cooler. I'll PM you a link to a thread with examples of how to DIY.

Joel

 

[deeter16317]

Nope, not even close to the sheet metal pieces I have...the cooler and adapter are correct, but there was only a simple/basic piece of sheet metal (flat with a 90* bent on one side), and it effectively blocked the airflow from the hole.

The engine shroud actually has a hole were the cooler is mounted, this plate completely blocked that hole and sealed it...it wasn't a baffle/deflector/director. Further, the hole in the shroud appears to be a factory cut/molded deal, not cut afterwords...so I assume its a factory install.

If you can't tell, I removed the plate. I figure the cooler will have enough restriction itself that it won't "starve" the engine of airflow. I'll bet they bought the cooler, and didn't install/remove all the pieces?? In hind sight, they probably didn't have installed it aftermarket, its supposedly a factory (GrassHopper) installed piece...

I'll take some pictures tonight...

 

[Deltona_Dave]

Deeter, depending on if your Grasshopper is exposed to water (rain or washing), you could always wire in a 120mm 12v fan to the oil cooler, like I did to my mower. Granted, I have a POS B&S intek, but the Kohler cooler fit. As long as it stays somewhat dry, it will help cool the oil.

Dave

 

[deeter16317]

Here are pictures:

As a side note, I have LOADS of airflow through the cooler!