Kohler Courage 20HP Single Cylinder (SV470-610) Oil Leaking

Keith378 said:

SteelStik seems to be holding, haven't gave it a hot test yet.......

Click to expand...

In the early days I tried JB weld mostly it held up but did weep a little if you drill 1/4" in front of the crack to stop it propogating.
I had a customer come in complaining that the mower would stop after 2-3 hours mowing and this was because the crack opened up far enough for the fuel pump to stop working.
The welding shop wanted the bare cases & for $50 did MIG weld which I then had to dress flat , the reassemble the engine & refit it to the frame which came out at around $ 800 so that was off the cards.
Next trick was Devcon.
It is magic and works very well but you really have to clean the crack then hit the cases with stainless steel wire wool or it wont take, and again drill the crack tip.
This comes out at around $ 400 including the new studs .
Had some time to play with the oxy so now can weld the crack and that comes out at $ 300 .
Time will tell how good they were

SteelStik worked!

SteelStik worked for an extended session of mowing and I have no reason to believe it won't hold for the future. The only problem was that the crack (see post #9 for image) extended from the top of the block/crankcase as shown, around the corner and to the next bend and I obviously didn't get that sealed up tight as it's still leaking a little oil down the side of the block and onto the frame - very little compared to what was getting blown out and around the compartment before. I'll take another shot at sealing that up as well at my next convenience.

I had the opportunity to take another swing at sealing this crack up once and for all this afternoon. I elected to get a flashlight (to see underneath in the sunlight) and magnifying glass to get as close a look at it as I could. I had failed to seal the final 1/8-1/4 inch of the crack at the very bottom so I used another bit of SteelStik to seal up what was left of the crack that I could see and used the excess to hit any area above that I couldn't really get a good look at. Let it cure for the suggested 60 minutes or more and gave it a hot 20+ minute test and no leaks. I now probably have the cleanest 20hp 730+ hour Kohler Courage engine in Middle Tennessee (he typed tongue-in-cheek).

SteelStik gets my vote of confidence for repairs like this. :thumbsup: