Sunstar CH20 Breather Ass'y

[cheken 0]

I was seeing some oil residue on the air filter pan so I decided to inspect the breather ass'y. It came off fine and inspected fine. Not dirty or tarnished in any way. Being the Dutchman that I am, I decided to flip the reed valve and reassemble. My imagination told me this would fit it and be perfect. Not-so-much.

Now oil seeps (pours) out the gasket seal. Is there a torque spec for the 4 bolts holding the cover on? To be sure, there was only a thin metal gasket. Is there supposed to be another gasket? Again, it was in perfect shape so I thought that I could just re-assemble.

How much pressure should be there be on this device? Maybe I have a too much pressure due to head gaskets or ring issues.

Any advice would be helpful.

[BLT 718]

A long time ago I had the same problem and a new valve cured it.

[lugnard 73]

Put a new gasket in. I had the same problem when I changed the head gaskets on my engine. The original looked fine but was hard and brittle. Had a heck of a time removing the old gasket tho...really stuck on!

Harry

[cheken 0]

Good advice Harry. My situation has gotten worse. I over torqued the bolts (to try to stop the leaking) and now have stripped the aluminum block. I have a new gasket on order. Now I will re-tap these one size bigger. I should have known better.

How big of a job was it to replace the head gaskets? Your advice from an earlier string has convinced me that now is the time to do this while I have the engine out.

Please offer me the major steps. PM me if you please.

[lugnard 73]

Yah I was going to remind you to do it, but didn't want to seem to pushy. Not a big job at all, especially if you have the motor pulled. You can download the kolher ch20 manual just about anywhere and that gives you the torque specs and tightening sequence. It's pretty straight forward except that the heads should be checked for warpage. I know mine is not flat but I wanted to get some use out of it and just put the new gasket in.

You do need to let the lifters bleed out when you put the pushrods and rockers in. I think it was tighten them up to spec and wait an hour or so and then crank the engine over by

hand slowly and watch for proper valve collapse. I had no problem with this method but the manual calls for removal and I think using a drill press to bleed them.

The local dealer told me about the need for replacing the head gaskets and he was oh so right! I had just bought it and was just blowing the mouse nests out of the head area...the air hose blew a thin line in the gasket and it started doing the choo-choo thing. Ran fine before that so I knew what had happened. That's why I stress checking for flatness. And it seems the right side is worse for some reason.

Also wouldn't hurt to put a little blue locktite on the intake manifold bolts. I found one missing and it was at the bottom of the blower housing. Put a crack in one of the fins but I was able to get it glued so not a bad idea to keep them in place.

If I think of any more I'll post it. Oh...buy genuine Kohler gaskets! I've had good luck with OPEengines.

Harry

[lugnard 73]

Here is a video on the job. A bit different as its a newer style but still not bad.

Here is a link for the service manual Just click on the area that lists the ch20..about in the center of the page.

https://www.kohler-engine-parts.opeengines.com/kohler-engines-parts/manuals/free-engine-service-manuals/free-kohler-service-manual-downloads