Craftsman GT3000 nightmare

shortrees

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I purchased a DT3000, with the 25 hp Kohler air cooled twin, model CV730-0017 in April of 2006. I spent the extra money on the Sears extended warantee. I am posting this because I have had serious trouble with the engine and Sears is absolutely impossible to deal with. The engine on this unit has force feed oil, and the head gaskets have the thin spot that blows all the time. I fought with Sears for three years on this, the length of the warantee. They would send the "technician" out and he would slap on a new gasket each time, no head resurfacing, and no new bolts. It would blow again, and Jack would come back out and slap on a new gasket. Now I do it. I have done it three times, about once a year, and am fed up. I just run the thing with the gasket leak. Sears repair is a nightmare to deal with. You will spend hours on hold, then you will get a non english speaking person, and then the "technician" may or may not deign to show up in the 4 hour window they take out of your life. Sears may be great for hand tools, but they absolutely do not stand by the garden tractors. And yes, I sent a letter to headquarters and I even called them when the stupid yard guru marketing campaign started this spring. The yard guru sounded like a cross between a real estate agent and a banker. Do yourself a favor and buy your tractor from a person, not a corporation. That way, if you have a problem, you can deal with a person. As for Kohler, the techs on the phone are great, and they admit there is a problem, but I am still stuck with the engine.
 

ILENGINE

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Re: Craftsman DT3000 nightmare

The thing that gets me is sears has the exclusive warranty rights to all the parts on the mowers no matter who makes it. A kohler dealer cannot file a warranty claim on the engine if it is on a craftsman.
 

mrford49

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Check to see if your engine or tractor has any recalls for your problem.
 

BKBrown

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Have you tried putting a good high temp silicone on both sides of the gasket when you put it on ? That may be enough to hold the gasket in place ???? :biggrin:
 

MarkBer69

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I purchased a DT3000, with the 25 hp Kohler air cooled twin, model CV730-0017 in April of 2006. I spent the extra money on the Sears extended warantee. I am posting this because I have had serious trouble with the engine and Sears is absolutely impossible to deal with. The engine on this unit has force feed oil, and the head gaskets have the thin spot that blows all the time. I fought with Sears for three years on this, the length of the warantee. They would send the "technician" out and he would slap on a new gasket each time, no head resurfacing, and no new bolts. It would blow again, and Jack would come back out and slap on a new gasket. Now I do it. I have done it three times, about once a year, and am fed up. I just run the thing with the gasket leak. Sears repair is a nightmare to deal with. You will spend hours on hold, then you will get a non english speaking person, and then the "technician" may or may not deign to show up in the 4 hour window they take out of your life. Sears may be great for hand tools, but they absolutely do not stand by the garden tractors. And yes, I sent a letter to headquarters and I even called them when the stupid yard guru marketing campaign started this spring. The yard guru sounded like a cross between a real estate agent and a banker. Do yourself a favor and buy your tractor from a person, not a corporation. That way, if you have a problem, you can deal with a person. As for Kohler, the techs on the phone are great, and they admit there is a problem, but I am still stuck with the engine.


I have a GT5000 with a 25HP Kohler and they put 5 new engines in it and rebilt 1.after bending rods and it would backfire all the time and then leak oil and bend rods.I brang it to a shop called Jacks and they changed the fuel line going from the tank to the filter and i never seen this mower work so good.if i was you,I would start be going to a shop that is not ran by sears or there technician.I had the warantee and all that.I would not even let them fix a flat.ya even when they fixed my tire it still went flat.price for each engine $1878.02 ,to fix it so it runs for good,Fuel line $4
 
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