New mower , smoke on start up ?

Dice, I will continue to post anytime I feel that you give out wrong information or advice. That is my right and it is you right to do them same to my advice. I stand behind what I post, unless I am corrected my members I respect like, Kenny V., ILengine, EngineMan, Reynoldston, all who base their advise on hands on experience. Yes, I have been wrong at times and have said so. My signature tells all members and guests what they can do with that advise, Bye

Rocketman said:

Well, the 22 HP V-Twin Briggs on my Cub ZTR does the same thing, and it has almost 600 hours on it with very little oil usage, so my guess is that it will keep doing it, and will run for a very long time!
What kind of oil do have in it?

Click to expand...

Well, I'm not gonna tell you that your Briggs doesn't do that(both of mine did too, and never used oil either)....sooooo maybe it's a Cub Cadet RZT series ZTR thing...since, as I understand it only Kohlers are known for slightly smoking on startup:0)

Looks like I managed to :





And start a :

The choke is tied in with the throttle lever , push it up past full into choke. Manual says that is how you start it when " cold " .

Sounds like throttle to low for a bit before turning off the switch works best for most engines ?

An occasional puff of smoke when starting is normal ?

What about starting a cold motor at a lower setting ( 1/2 throttle for example ) when temps are 70 - 80 ?

Thanks all for the input so far .
I just want to make sure I break in this motor correctly and don't develop any bad habits .
My mechanical abilities are along the lines of a rock , if I need to I'll break out the hammers :laughing:

1894 said:

The choke is tied in with the throttle lever , push it up past full into choke. Manual says that is how you start it when " cold " .

Sounds like throttle to low for a bit before turning off the switch works best for most engines ?

An occasional puff of smoke when starting is normal ?

What about starting a cold motor at a lower setting ( 1/2 throttle for example ) when temps are 70 - 80 ?

Thanks all for the input so far .
I just want to make sure I break in this motor correctly and don't develop any bad habits .
My mechanical abilities are along the lines of a rock , if I need to I'll break out the hammers :laughing:

Click to expand...

1894,
I sincerely apologize for the sidebar with user Rivets!!! You didn't "start anything".....the blatant criticism towards me(rather than simple advice geared towards your questions) and other posts prior to that "set me off". Again, I apologize. But thank you for taking the time to answer some questions raised and give some more details!!! The "combination choke/throttle lever' is exactly what I actually meant(rather than "automatic choke"). To my untrained mechanic's eyes that made pushing the throttle past full in essence an automatic choke feature. I had heard about this new approach to engine design but am highly suspicious of it. My question, to a user that understands that design concept, would be "when you push it to choke" where is the "throttle setting at"????? That's why I don't like that concept, because my Commercial Kawasaki engine has a Throttle lever and a separate Choke Lever. My instructions(for when the engine is cold) is to push the Throttle lever to approximately 1/3 to 1/4 and the Choke Lever "all the way". Upon startup, I am instructed to move the Choke Lever to completely "Off". The engine still emits a small "puff of smoke", but stops immediately when I push the Choke Lever to off. That's why I'm suspicious of your "Single Lever" design!!! As far as setting the throttle at a lower setting ( 1/2 throttle for example ) when temps are 70 - 80........in my opinion, the ambient temperature would have to be extremely high to be able to start an engine the very first time without using the choke. I say that because my last lawn tractor had a 24hp Briggs Intek that the choke fell apart inside the carberator:0(.....and no matter how hot it was outdoors(even in July/August) I had to spray some starting fluid/carb cleaner into the carb to start it the first time because the choke lever "didn't do anything". And I would never suggest circumventing the manufacturers instructions. Bottom line, my opinion is that the engine manufacturers that go with the combined choke/throttle design are making a move in the wrong direction. Of course, I reserve the right to be wrong:0)
I believe that you are being admirably cautious to prevent any damage to your new mower, but I doubt seriously if the puff of smoke deal is worth worrying about. And yes, I can comfortably recommend that you reduce the throttle to the slowest setting for a minute or two before shutting off the engine unless someone can explain to me whay my B & S and Kawasaki engine manuals both recommended that. Just do the recommended first break-in oil change and follow the recommended maintenance schedule(in my opinion, never go more than 50 hours between oil changes). Personally, I change the oil filter after breakin and then every other start of season. My Kawa states 100 hours between oil changes and 200 between filter changes(I guess because it's a Commercial engine), but I'll most likely cut both of those in half for my personal preference & aforesaid recommendation. You'll do fine and don't feel stupid because you are not a small engine expert(I'm not either:0)

A lot of the shut off recommendations from the manufacturers are based on preventing afterfire. Briggs, and some of the other brands kill the fuel supply to the entire carb when the key is shut off. The Kohler solenoid only shuts off the high speed jet, and not the idle jet, therefore Kohler recommends shutting off the engine at half to full throttle, to prevent fuel from being pulled through the idle jet, through the cylinder which isn't firing the spark plug due to the key shut off, and into the muffler where the hot metal ignited the unburned fuel.

ILENGINE said:

A lot of the shut off recommendations from the manufacturers are based on preventing afterfire. Briggs, and some of the other brands kill the fuel supply to the entire carb when the key is shut off. The Kohler solenoid only shuts off the high speed jet, and not the idle jet, therefore Kohler recommends shutting off the engine at half to full throttle, to prevent fuel from being pulled through the idle jet, through the cylinder which isn't firing the spark plug due to the key shut off, and into the muffler where the hot metal ignited the unburned fuel.

Click to expand...

ILENGINE,
Thanks for that clarification for the OP(and my edification)....I've never owned a Kohler and had no idea why they would recommend that. However, as I stated to the OP....circumventing the mfg. recommendations are generally not a good practice(they have good reason and knowledge behind their instructions). Can you shed some more light on the advantages/disadvantages of the new "single lever" control for choke & throttle settings???? Like maybe my question regarding when the lever is pushed past full throttle for the choke function, what level of air/gas relative to a "plain old throttle setting" is the carb set to????

I think the advantage for the single lever control is ease of use for the customer. Personally I don't like the single lever controls. I just don't like starting an engine at full throttle, especially with low temperatures. It makes it impossible to do a partial choke at lower engine rpm's, during warm up. I see the single control setup more on consumer grade products then professional.

ILENGINE said:

I think the advantage for the single lever control is ease of use for the customer. Personally I don't like the single lever controls. I just don't like starting an engine at full throttle, especially with low temperatures. It makes it impossible to do a partial choke at lower engine rpm's, during warm up. I see the single control setup more on consumer grade products then professional.

Click to expand...

Thanks....that confirmed my suspicion and I too don't see anything good about a full throttle/choked startup!!!! The things engineers do to appease "lazy" customers that just don't have the energy to use a separate choke and throttle lever to start their lawn mower when they begin mowing each time, yet they can multi-task on their smart phones:0)

1894 said:

All new for me so I could use some advice. I've never had a v-twin or pressurized oil mower motor before. My cub rzt-s with a 22 hp kohler sv 715 motor sometimes puffs a bit of smoke when I start it.
4.5 hours on the motor so far . Mower manual says " put throttle to slow before shutting off " Engine manual says " throttle between full and 1/2 before shutting off "
Tried both , they each give the 'once in a while' puff of smoke when starting the engine while cold . I'm not seeing a pattern yet .
Is this just the motor getting broke in ? Something to worry about ? Any leanings toward slow or 3/4 throttle when shutting the motor off ?

Click to expand...

I can tell you from experience that the Kohler engines do smoke a bit during the break in periods, I've been running the Kohler 20 and 22hp on the Cub Cadet Z Force and I'm getting real close to 700 hrs on the 22hp and it has never givin me any problems and it done the same as yours. Just do what the manual tells you to do and run the oil it says to use and you'll be fine. I think you'll find that most makes of motors will smoke a bit during break in periods, both my Kawasaki motors and my Briggs did the same as the kohler. I throttle between full and 1/2 before shutting off on all my engines.