Walker Engine Help

Lr1997

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Hi folks, I'm in need of a little assistance today. My parents have an old model (97) I think walker with the bagger. Sorry I don't know the model # right off because quite frankly I dislike WALKERS very very much. Anyways, sometime in 2011/2012 it threw a rod and we had a shop install a new 23hp kohler(model CH680-3012) to replace the 20hp Kohler that was on it. Last year(2016) my mom called me and said it was running funny, so I checked and the spark plug closest to the seat was fouled with what appeared to be oil. I cleaned it and reinstalled it and it ran fine but was smoking a little. Well it didn't run long and it fouled it again. I checked compression and did a leak down test on it and found the front cylinder to be little weaker and leaked a lot more than the back cylinder(when testing the leak down was coming from the crankcase). So just for time and money sake, I jerked the motor out and put new headgaskets to see if that was what it was before resorting to things like bad rings(motor only had 200hrs on it). Cylinder walls and valves looked ok, but after that it still smoked so we parked it for the year and I just now have gotten back around to working on it. So after it sat for some odd 8 months or so it wouldn't crank. Pulled it to the shop and jerked the carburetor off and cleaned it and got it running. Now it has like a half skip? I can pull the plug wire off either cylinder but it will stay running on both but has like a half skip on the front cylinder. I thought maybe I didn't get the carb. Clean and one barrel was partially plug so I cleaned the carb. An additional 3 times to no avail. Still smokes and burns oil on the front cylinder so I performed another leak down test(leaking down around 20psi on front cylinder and 2psi on rear cylinder) and a compression test with the throttle wide open and both plugs out( front had 135psi and rear had around 155-160 psi). I am lost on this thing and about ready to throw some has on it and burn it to the ground....lol. Does anyone on here have any thoughts ont where to go next. I don't know what is causing the partial skip and the only thing I can think on the smoking is a broke ring or something but I wouldn't think that would be the case on a motor with 200+- hours. What the heck? Thanks for any help. -Luke
 

ILENGINE

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Definitely have a problem with that front cylinder. Minimum compression should be 160. Unless you have a valve leaking for some reason, then I would start by doing a good inspection of the cylinder walls. Broke ring could do it but most of the time will show up with cylinder wall damage. Possibly stuck ring maybe. Either way will most likely need to be torn down for further evaluation.
 

Lr1997

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That's what I was thinking on the smoking issue and I don't think its a valve issue because when I do the leak down test the leakage is coming from the oil dipstick tube(crank case) and I can't hear any coming from the intake or exhaust which would show a valve problem. However I don't see why the cylinder would be partially skipping on that cylinder. Looks to me that compression would either make one hit or not, not half hit half miss. When the head was off less than 5 he ago the cylinder wall looked ok. Do you think the low compression is causing the partial miss on that front cylinder? Where is the best place to buy parts for these engine like a top end kit. Shouldn't really need but rings for that one cylinder and gaskets seeing as it only has 200 hrs on it but you never know
 

ILENGINE

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the low compression can be causing the hit and miss. When the rings get full of oil the compression goes up and the cylinder fires, the firing of the cylinder burns the oil causing the compression to drop leading to a misfire, and the cycle repeats. From the sound of things you have ruled out valves. As far as top end work, you will need to tear the engine down and get a look at the piston, and may even need to have the cylinder measures. Wouldn't be the first cylinder I have seen get egg shaped or warped. You are probably seeing the crosshatch pattern on the cylinder walls which is good, but are there any glossy areas or areas that look off colored indicating maybe a hot spot those areas can cause a skipping of the rings across the surface, and allowing the oil to bypass the rings.

Misfiring of the spark plug can cause an oil pumping effect into the cylinder also, but that doesn't explain the low compression, so that will need to be addressed before anything else that appears.
 

Lr1997

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Thank you very much! That makes sense when you put it that way. Great explanation. I'll let my parents know and if I tear it down I will be sure to post updates if you guys would like to hear them. Can you tell me where I can get the specifications for that motor? I am also new to buying Kohler parts, where is the best place to go about getting them? Thanks much, Luke
 

ILENGINE

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everything you will need to know about that engine can be found at www.kohlerplus.com log in as a guest and you should be able to get the service manual and look up parts by specification number. I am a kohler dealer so I don't go searching for the best place for parts, Maybe available through ebay, amazon, or partstree
 

Lr1997

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everything you will need to know about that engine can be found at www.kohlerplus.com log in as a guest and you should be able to get the service manual and look up parts by specification number. I am a kohler dealer so I don't go searching for the best place for parts, Maybe available through ebay, amazon, or partstree

Thank you so much!
 
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