engine repair cost m18 kohler

[quantico 2]

My new deutz 1918 / 18 hp sunstar w/o power steering is blowing oil out of the engine in a hurry. I have 87 compression on each cylinder. What do you think the repair costs to the engine would be ??? I know the easiest way to tell is to pull the cylinders and heads and see what I actually have.... but the tractor engine has 1050 hours and I am curious if buying a used engine would be more cost effective ??? or just run what I have and put whatever parts in it that are needed... ???? I can push the thing around in the garage ... without removing the pressure from the hydro release... so I am wondering if I should just part it out instead of attempting to fix what needs fixing... It does start up really really easily and seems to run ok .. the manual steering needs work... but the tractor looks like heck, but seems to generally run ok...

[HubbardRA 19]

I may be wrong, but I think the 18 is the Kohler engine that self-destructs. I know Roy got Simplicity and Kohler to replace the engine on his tractor and I think that was an 18. There are others with much more knowledge on this than I have. My recommendation would be to find out what the best replacement engine is and do a swap rather than trying to fix that one.

[quantico 2]

From what I know the sunstar has a pretty good engine in the kohler magnum 18 and 20 hp versions. I know that many of the tractors get 1000 + hours out of the engine. I saw a 20 hp kohler on ebay that ended while I was working that went for about 700 dollars... not bad for a 21 year old used engine with unknown hours. The honda conversion engine is about 1600 dollars plus .... a replacement is 1800 - 2500 dollars. What I don't know is how easy it is to rebuild the engine and how reliable the engine is after all that work... and the cost of doing a high quality rebuild...

[SmilinSam 4,158]

quote:

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Originally posted by HubbardRA
I may be wrong, but I think the 18 is the Kohler engine that self-destructs. I know Roy got Simplicity and Kohler to replace the engine on his tractor and I think that was an 18. There are others with much more knowledge on this than I have. My recommendation would be to find out what the best replacement engine is and do a swap rather than trying to fix that one.

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Thats the TH 18 that self destructs on the newer Soveriegns. The Sunstar types used the M 18 or Magnum flat opposed twin. The only re-occurring problems I have seen with the M 18's is that the plastic governor gear has a tendancy to break, then the engine over revs and flys apart. If I rememer right, Al or someone said it was a heat related issue that causes the gear to go bad, IE when no one cleans the cooling fins out periodically. I have had several M18's in here that died from a bad gov gear and over revving.

[Roy 0]

Sam is correct. It is the Triad THC-18 OHC engine that Kohler and Simplicity had so many problems with. :(

[BruceH 8]

I rebuilt an M18 in a DA 1918. I am by no means a mechanic in any way shape or form. The engine repair manual is pretty straight forward and I had great tech support (used frequently) from Al Eden where I bought my parts. I had the crank turned and was able to use standard sized rings so all the cylinders needed was a honing. New connecting rods and gaskets were the major parts. I think the total cost was $300-$400 for parts and machining the crank.

[andrewk 0]

Depends on your area... A short block, if they are still around will probably run you 1500-2000 bucks, IIRC. A rebuild can cost an arm and a leg in labor, and the parts are fast becoming more expensive as well. My guess is about 900-1300 for a rebuild at a 60 dollar an hour shop, including machine work. Your local shops may be different priced, I think 60 is about the national average. If you do it yourself, I would think you would have a couple hundred in machine work, and about 350 in parts. The last alternative is a repower. IIRC, Al makes a kit to put a CH series Kohler in a Sunstar... I seem to remember doing one, but I could be mistaken. hope this helps- Andy

[quantico 2]

I am on the fence .. still thinking.. .I would like to learn more about the kohler magnum engines as I now have three sunstars.... maybe really 2 and half... Is the honda engine superior in the sunstar ??? or is a good running kohler magnum a better machine ??? The sunstar with the poorly running engine is not worth a grand or two to fix up... however having a rebuilt great engine as a spare for my two good sunstars is highly valuable to me. I tend to be really over the top in perfection when I do projects... so if I start the job with the idea of just honing and replacing rings ... that will be a complete detailed rebuild by the time I get it done. I wish I had the ability to just quickly touch up something / make it good enough and get out... my friends that build hotrods are liek that and they get a lot more done for less money than I do.

[maxtorman1234 0]

We get the northern catalouge here, there is a kt17 series 2 listed for $1999.00 canadian, not sure if it would fit, but we have been very happy with our engine and would definately rebuild it when it needs it. It all depends, it could be better to replace with something newer,

[SteveP 0]

Have you check (or replaced) the breather? Cut my oil consumption to an acceptable level.

[andrewk 0]

In order to figure out if it needs a breather, one must first figure out that the engine has adequate vacuum- Otherwise you are throwing parts at it- Andy

[quantico 2]

Looks like I need to buy a vaccum guage..... what would a good reading be ????