A casting flaw in a oil galley on random 7000 series Kohler motors causes incorrect crankcase pressure at fuel pump which causes running issues after warm up. Just talked to tech at Hustler and he confirmed. If Kohler knew about this how come there was no service bulletin issued?? If your going to buy a mower with a Kohler I would make sure someone checks it out first. The problem is under the fuel pump side valve cover.
Kohler casting flaw causes motor to stall, run rough.
- Thread starter Dpmulvan
- Start date
mechanic mark
Lawn Pro
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2013
- Threads
- 175
- Messages
- 7,412
I would also contact Kohler Engine Mfg. & see what they have to say about situation & ask them what corrective action they're going to take.
I plan on calling them however I'm sure they don't care. I'm also certain no one is going to pay for my cost of having the mower delivered and returned to the shop. So far has cost me $80 in delivery fees and the shop told me it would be another $80 to return it. After all isn't it the American Way these days to take someone's money and then blow them off. I'm disgusted with the whole deal nobody cares about anything but themselves and the almighty dollar.
Ric
Lawn Pro
- Joined
- May 7, 2010
- Threads
- 142
- Messages
- 5,765
I would guess that that's not true. If you call Kohler and explain the situation they will most likely call your dealer and tell them to do what ever it takes to resolve the issue and they will absorb all the cost involved. They are too big a company, they can't afford not to fix the problem and end up getting or having a bad reputation over a problem like your having. Also the same for Hustler/Excel, it wouldn't make sense not to resolve the problem for either company.
bertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
- Threads
- 64
- Messages
- 24,705
And I am going to agree with Ric again.
The dealer stands between you and the kohler district rep and the rep stands bewteen the dealer and Kohler.
At this time of year the dealer wants to shift as many mowers as possible and the last thing the dealer wants is to do warranttee repairs which are borderline profitable.
Then all the Kohlers in his shop will need to be checked , again slowing down the cash flow so it looks like he is deliberately ignoring you. Bad service.
In defence of the indefencable dealers do have a lot of fixed costs and a very short selling season to carry them through for the year.
Kohler also will not reimberse him for transport costs so he has to wear that thus it becomes a loss making situation that has been very badly handled.
Kohler have a quite long & complicated warranttee claim form and if it is just a case of a 1/2 hour labour & no parts some dealers would not bother.
Kohler compile the dealer waranttee forms and after enough evidence is accumulated will decide weather it needs to issue a dealer service notice or even recall so it can take some time.
Also and not to their credit , Kohler can decide not to issue the dealer notice till after the selling season is over for fear of loss of sales as honest dealers wold tell customers there might be a problem with this motor and steer customers towards a different engine.
The dealer who sold most mowers locally was a small shop where the owner saw himself as providing a service.
So in these situations he popped on a dust coat, jumped into his truck and would drive out pick up the cutomers mower, take it back to his shop and when the mechanics were gone, push it in and do any repairs needed himself after hours so it did not affect his trading. Got a funny feeling he was the only certified mechanic in his workshop.
He was killed in a vehicle collision and his accountnt bought the business.
The accountant saw himself as a business owner, remote and alouf from the actual shop.
Thus every decision was made on a minimum cost - maximum profit basis and the business went belly up in 3 years.
The dealer stands between you and the kohler district rep and the rep stands bewteen the dealer and Kohler.
At this time of year the dealer wants to shift as many mowers as possible and the last thing the dealer wants is to do warranttee repairs which are borderline profitable.
Then all the Kohlers in his shop will need to be checked , again slowing down the cash flow so it looks like he is deliberately ignoring you. Bad service.
In defence of the indefencable dealers do have a lot of fixed costs and a very short selling season to carry them through for the year.
Kohler also will not reimberse him for transport costs so he has to wear that thus it becomes a loss making situation that has been very badly handled.
Kohler have a quite long & complicated warranttee claim form and if it is just a case of a 1/2 hour labour & no parts some dealers would not bother.
Kohler compile the dealer waranttee forms and after enough evidence is accumulated will decide weather it needs to issue a dealer service notice or even recall so it can take some time.
Also and not to their credit , Kohler can decide not to issue the dealer notice till after the selling season is over for fear of loss of sales as honest dealers wold tell customers there might be a problem with this motor and steer customers towards a different engine.
The dealer who sold most mowers locally was a small shop where the owner saw himself as providing a service.
So in these situations he popped on a dust coat, jumped into his truck and would drive out pick up the cutomers mower, take it back to his shop and when the mechanics were gone, push it in and do any repairs needed himself after hours so it did not affect his trading. Got a funny feeling he was the only certified mechanic in his workshop.
He was killed in a vehicle collision and his accountnt bought the business.
The accountant saw himself as a business owner, remote and alouf from the actual shop.
Thus every decision was made on a minimum cost - maximum profit basis and the business went belly up in 3 years.
I would also agree with Ric, you should give Kohler a call. Just my opinion, but how does a Hustler tech know about a casting flaw and no one else? If he was a good tech and rep, he would be all over Kohler and help you solve your problem, if he is correct. Your dealer should be doing the same thing, if he is an authorized service dealer. In my dealings with my Kohler distributor, they are willing to work with me and my customer, if I give them a good reason to do so. To me something smells fishy somewhere along this chain, from the customer to Kohler. I am going to follow this thread, not to reply, but to see what happens.
Ric
Lawn Pro
- Joined
- May 7, 2010
- Threads
- 142
- Messages
- 5,765
I'd keep trying to call, there open from 8:00am to 5:00pm daily at 800-544-2444 I'm sure they will respond. By the way your dealer is treating you I'd say they were a pretty crappy dealer and I'd also let Hustler and Kohler both know how your being treated.
The hustler tech new exactly what I was talking about. Something smells fishy to you??? Yeh it smells fishy to me too. If you want to confirm call him his name is jack 844-867-6697 option #1 and ask for Jack. I'm still trying to talk to a human at Kohler. Any of you dealers have a good number for Kohler? The 1800-544-2444 number is a joke. Someone also stated above that they will take care of transportation, this is not true if you read the warranty transportation is one of the several exclusions in the warranty.
Yeh I'm not happy at all but I'm not gonna say who it is till I get my mower back. I don't think I should have to pay mileage to and from their shop twice at a dollar a mile. I'm not a happy man right now. Not to mention they didn't want anything to do with me once they sold me the mower and got my money. It got a little heated on the phone and I plan on letting hustler and Kohler know how I've been treated.