Kohler 26HP v-twin problems!!! Help!

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Hey guys, so i have a 26 hp kohler v-twin engine, with 233.5 hours on it. I use motorcraft synthetic blend 10w-30 in it and change it every 50 hours. Is that too long/too short of an OCI? And what would oil would you recommend along with the OCI. I replace the oil filter every spring along with the air filter every 1-1.5 years depending on how dirty she gets. Thanks for you help
 
I should've put questions, not really problems. But it does seem to consume a little oil throughout the season.
 
The consumption problem could be from the 10w30. Try using SAE30 if the outside temperature is above 40 degrees. I don't keep track of the hours but my mower is used for my yard only so I change at the beginning and the middle of the season. Tractors and mowers take such a small amount of oil anyway so changing it to often isn't much of a waste. IMO.
 
Which V-twin, Command or Courage? Command has hydraulic valve lash adjusters and the Courage has manual jamb-nut adjusters.

Either do very well with 15w40. No need for synthetic. If you want a 30wt variant, go with one intended for small air cooled engines.
 
Some oil options I've used in my 1998 14HP Kohler in no particular order:

Amsoil Formula 4-Stroke 10W-30/SAE 30 Small Engine Oil which is intended for air cooled OPE. Pablo is one of the Amsoil sponsors on this board, he can show you how to get a little better pricing if you want to go this route. http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/mo.../?code=ASEQT-EA

Shell Rotella T5 is a well regarded 10w-30 syn-blend HDEO rated SM for gas engines. Only $16/gallon at Walmart.

Mobil 1 HM 10w-30. Viscosity and Zn content are slightly higher than in the other M1 10w-30 blends.

I like your sig line. My wife and I have some retired LEOs in our families.
 
I have Kohler Courage Pro 25 HP.
Use Rotella T5 10w-30 with no consumption
I change Oil & Filter once a year (approx. 50 hrs)
You look OK to me.
 
I have a Kohler 25hp V-Twin on a 2005 John Deere garden tractor. We use it for mowing a few lawns and snow blowing a couple driveways. The machine has almost 600 hours on it and runs great. I use Pennzoil Platinum 10w30 synthetic and change it every season.

If you are consuming oil, I'd try Rotella T6 synthetic 5w40. My grandfather has a Scag commercial mower with an almost identical Kohler V-twin engine rated at 22 hp. His has more hours and burns some oil. I switched over to Rotella 5w40 and the oil consumption stopped. I would try the Rotella 5w40 and see how it does.
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The hydraulic lifters/valvetrain get a little noisy with the thinner oils....the thicker oils quiet them down a little...the noise isnt anything detrimental imho..I use 10w30 conventional in hundreds of kohler commands that are in our rental fleet and customers units with no issues...these engine run 3600 rpm from the turn of the ignition switch on industrial pressure washers..lots of them have thousands of hours on them..
 
Originally Posted By: lawman1909
How many hours in between OC?


Kohler recommends 100 hours. It wouldn't hurt to do it at 50 hours though if you like performing oil changes and maintaining your equipment.
 
Originally Posted By: lawman1909
Okay. Would conventional oil or synthetic help stop the oil loss?


I believe you should try a SAE30 first for 50 hours and see how you like the performance/oil consumption. If it still has high oil consumption, then try a 10W30 synthetic high mileage oil such as Mobil 1 High Mileage.

Shell Rotella and Chevron Delo make a very stout SAE30, and would be a great oil for your application in my opinion.

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I would look closely at your owners manual for the correct oil to use in your Command. It has hydraulic lifters and 10W-30 is the recommended oil. In my experience in my cars, the Motorcraft oil was consumed at a surprising rate compared to the Castrol conventional which required no add oil between oil changes.

Back to the Kohler, I have Kohler motors in my commercial equipment and have been using Amsoil ASE in them with no problem. UOA shows no issues or impending problems after 150 hour OCI, needing to add less than 8 oz of add oil over that period. Also, that oil satisfies the Kawasaki specs for those engines that I have.

No problems with either engine type and I only have to stock one oil.
 
"I use 10w-30 conventional in hundreds of kohler commands that are in our rental fleet and customers units with no issues...these engine run 3600 rpm from the turn of the ignition switch on industrial pressure washers ... lots of them have thousands of hours on them."

Agree 10W-30 should work fine. If you are having some consumption, you could switch to a 10W-30 high-mileage oil (not a bad idea regardless of consumption). If the consumption continues, try a 5W-40 or 15W-40 HDEO.

You could also try a little top-oil in every other or every 3rd tankful of gas. MMO, Lucas UCL or TCW3 2-stroke oil at 100:1 to 200:1.

50 hours OCI sounds about right for the engine oil and filter.

Does the air filter have a foam pre-filter? I'd wash and re-oil this frequently if you see it getting clogged.
 
Sounds like a good candidate for Defy 5W-30 or 10W-30. On the other hand, Motorcraft is a great oil, and a little consumption is normal. Take note that you may not notice the benefits of a high mileage oil upon the first oil change.
 
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