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I did it!


Mike

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bought new sovereign april 99 and unit has smoked since day one. dealer says this is normal due to nature of new generation kohler 18 ohc. got second and third opinions that both said cylinders were glazed and rings weren't seated per kohler service. am takin it back at end of mowing season if problem persists. hope you have better luck than i am.
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Congradulations Roy! - keep us posted on how the new compares to the old. You didn't break down and get power steering too did you? :)
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To All,

Well I did it! I ordered a new Sovereign today. It
should arrive within a week or so. Will let you know
how I like it compared to my B-1.

Roy
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Hi,
Sorry to hear about your problem. Is the smoke black or blue? If it is blue does any oil appear to be getting in the carb. This could come from a problem with the crankcase breather. This can also cause the air cleaner to become soakes with oil and choke the engine. Any crankcase leak can cause oil to go through the breather and into the carb and cause smoke. I would be interested to have someone hook a manometer to the crankcase and see how much crankcase vacuum the unit has. A bad seal in the dipstick or oil fill cap can do it.
If the smoke is black then you have a rich fuel or choking problem. Black is rich fuel' blue is oil. Black is probably carb or air cleaner related.

Re: the cylinders. Kohler has gone to some very hard silicon cast iron in the new engine cylinders. These new engines are expected to last up to 4 times as long as the old flat head engines. They say sometimes it may take up to 75 hours operation to seat the rings. Also are you running the engine 90% to wide open. Air cooled engines are designed to run at governed speed and will overheat if not run nearly wide open under any load. Part throttle mowing is what causes the valve seats to come out of the blocks, due to overheating. This is seen more in the aluminum blocks than the cast iron engines. We have several of these engines out and they have been flawless. Have even used some in re-powers, my favorite. Sorry you are having trouble, If you get 75 hrs on it and it still does it, see your dealer. If he doesn't fix it e-mail me and I'll tell where to go for help. I assure Kohler doesn't want that engine not being right. Good Luck, Al
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Jeff,

Guilty! Ordered power steering, rear lift kit, 42" deck, and a factory service manual. Forgot to order the tiller drive pulley kit so will have get one.
Question:
My old tiller for the B-1 fits on the hitch pivot post and has a clutch idler pulley. I suspect this will not work with the new Sovereign. What do I need to do to rig up a tiller drive with clutch??

Thanks,
Roy
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