Allis Chalmers Kohler KT17 problem

[wildcatman65]

Hello! I've got an Allis Chalmers 917 garden tractor with a Kohler KT17 engine that all of a sudden started drawing oil up into the air filter and saturating it causing smoking and stalling of course. I did a compression check and both cylinders were equal at 90#. I can't see anything else wrong and the manual isn't much help. Could the breather be bad? Is it like a check valve? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[chance123]

Hello! I've got an Allis Chalmers 917 garden tractor with a Kohler KT17 engine that all of a sudden started drawing oil up into the air filter and saturating it causing smoking and stalling of course. I did a compression check and both cylinders were equal at 90#. I can't see anything else wrong and the manual isn't much help. Could the breather be bad? Is it like a check valve? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

I would first check your oil level. Some of the KT17 engines had a reed check valve in the breather/valve chamber, and some did not. You "might" even have "blow by". 90 psi is borderline the minimum compression. If you can rent a manometer, check your crank case vacume, The minimum if I remember correctly is 15 inches

 

[wildcatman65]

Thanks, I'll look into it. It makes sense and the vacuum check is listed in the manual too.