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Kohler k341


davefuller

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Do you ever wonder why you try to do it right and something always goes wrong? Had a K341 16 hp bored and sleeved back to standard, bought a new piston, rings , gasket set and new main bearings. Checked the ring end gap and it was too tight, filed the ring ends and put the engine together. Installed the engine in my AC716h. And started it up, ran it about 15 minutes. Checked the charging system, it was not charging even though the stater checked good while building the engine. Only one leg was putting out AC voltage to the regulator and no DC coming from the regulator. Removed the engine from the tractor and started pulling the Flywheel, the crankshaft split when applying pressure with my puller, CRAP!!!Can the broken threads be cut off and the end drilled and tapped to hold the flywheel on???? Second the piston skirt is really scuffed up and the cylinder wall on the front and rear are scuffed through the hone marks. Measured the bore and found it was 3.747" instead of 3.750", that would account for the tight end gap on my rings. I suspect there was not enough clearance between my new piston and the newly sleeved cylinder. My oil was full of aluminum shavings from my piston. I have about .003 clearance between the worn piston and cylinder now. What should I do now ?
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I've heard a lot of horror stories about "sleeving" blocks. A friend of mine who is a machinist has seen a lot of engines where the sleeves separated and broked the rest of the block.
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This engine had a sleeve in it when I acquired it and it was worn about .040, the worst I had ever seen and the sleeve had not cracked. I actually had another K341 sleeved about 4 years ago in my Cub Cadet 1650 and it is performing very well, it really depends on the material and machinist. I have had cylinders up to 10.5 inches in bore sleeved with no problems. If they are bigger than that like a 15 in bore I have the cylinder bored and chromed back to standard. That is the best solution.
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I broke the end off a crank while trying to remove a nut. Ground it flat, then drilled and tapped the crank for 7/16 UNF bolt. I used a wheel lug bolt to hold the flywheel on. It worked great. This fix was suggested by a friend who ran Kohlers at tractor pulls. He said it was a common problem and that was the Kohler recommended fix.
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