KawasakiTrax Community
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mswyka on May 18, 2017, 01:12:58 PM
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Good afternoon. Yes, it is true, in addition to the Kawasaki's I have another snowmobile. In my case it is a Simplicity tractor with a snowblower. I apologize in advance for posting to this site, but past experience has shown that quite a bit of information is embodied in the members of this forum.
My challenge is that the tractor has a twin cylinder Lombardini air cooled diesel engine. It is time for an engine overhaul. I am fine with gas engines, but this is a little different and am wondering if anyone here has rebuilt one of these engines.
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I have yet to do a diesel engine but they can't be that much different than most 4 cycle engines. It will be interesting reading about this adventure as I have a 3 cylinder diesel in my IH 500 E crawler that needs a little TLC.
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never had a diesel anything.....I can learn from your adventure
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I think that it is great that an engine can go 30+ years before needing attention. We seem to only get about 10 years between re-builds on the gas engines. But I have yet to find anyone, dealer included, who has actually rebuilt one of these engines. Kohler represents that parts are available. And it has been suggested that it may be possible to swap in a brand new Lombardini engine. I just don't want to be the first ever to do either. The rest of the tractor is too good to scrap.
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Mark
I have never rebuilt a diesel that small. I have done a couple 6 cylinder 150hp tractor engines. It is not rocket science! I'm sure you are up to the challenge.
What symptoms are you seeing that makes you think it is time for a rebuild?
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Lloyd, thank you for the encouragement. I now have a parts diagram and a parts source, so the engine may be coming apart very soon.
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Lloyd, thank you for the encouragement. I now have a parts diagram and a parts source, so the engine may be coming apart very soon.
And yes, I am assuming need for a rebuild as a result of excessive smoking and unacceptable oil consumption.
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My other, other snowmobile is a Duetz Allis 912. We use it to plow snow. We rebuilt this particular tractor in early 2015 in preparation for taking the 7790 out of service for this rebuild. But, a couple of weeks ago while my nephew was mowing the lawn the tractor started to behave badly. It has excessive crank-case pressure and blows out of the breather cover and the dip stick and will not run properly or allow mowing. I have performed a leak down test and have very good results. I have also pulled the head to look at the cylinder and all looks good there too. Pressure is getting into the crankcase from the cylinder somehow, but I am not sure how and therefore don't know how to fix it. During the rebuild we sleeved the cylinder to standard bore and replaced the valves. Since the rebuild it has been used for mowing for two seasons and for snow plowing for one season.
I realize that this is not a Kawasaki but I am sure that someone here knows a lot about Kohler K301 engines.
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I forgot to add that after calling multiple service outlets the diesel is going to my motorhead friend's shop. He has extensive diesel experience and was the only one I found who had actually rebuilt a small Lombardini.
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Sounds like there is hope!! :)
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Sounds like there is hope!! :)
Yes, there is always hope.
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I have fiddled with several Kohler K series over the years.
My first thought is to remove, clean, and check the entire breather assembly....make sure the little drain hole on the inside plate is clear. And make sure all of the breather components are in good shape.
Also possible a broken piston ring is allowing lots of compression pressure to blow down into crankcase.
Here is a good forum post. http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/25963-kohler-k241-crankcase-breather/
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The engine is blowing out of both the breather and the dip stick tube. My last theory was that I was getting blow by on the valve guides into the breather assembly and then into the crankcase. I pulled the breather cover off and ran the engine and there was nothing coming down the valve guides everything was coming out of the crank case. I pulled the engine and pulled the piston. Piston, rings and bore measure within specification with no evidence of blow by. Not sure where to turn next.
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Update. Diesel is still in the shop. Gas engines are back to running. After an intensive investigation and much fiddling, I am concluding that we got a load of bad fuel that caused the gas engines to run excessively lean and overheat.
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Update, Diesel Engine has been disassembled and visually inspected.
After 35 years the engine looks very, very good on the inside. Pistons worn and one piston rod bearing visible worn. Other than that it looks like a great engine. Now to find all the parts that we need.
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Update: Engine is still in the shop. The reports that I am hearing are that the repair parts are not available. I am finding this difficult to believe. But the fact is that the engine is still apart.
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Took a different route to obtain parts. Parts are now on order. Lord willing, she will be ready to blow snow this winter. Keeping my fingers crossed.
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Parts arrived, machine shop said we needed new valves, so had an additional wait for the valves. Keeping our fingers crossed that we have everything that we need to wrap this one up.
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Good luck!!
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Good news! I got my wish and the tractor has come home in time for Christmas. It is comforting once again to hear that gentle diesel purr. Well, maybe it isn't quite gentle. But it is good to hear none the less. :-)
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I am happy to report that the diesel is working better than ever. Starts easily and is great to have it back in service to clear the driveway. I am thinking I should have done this 5 years ago.
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Sounds like it all worked out!