HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)

328ifun

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
Hey guys, really need some help here :-(. I'm usually pretty mechanically inclined when it comes to larger engines but I'm still learning the smaller ones.

Equipment: Log Splitter
Brand: Dirty Hand Tools 27 Ton
Engine: Kohler
Model: SH-265
Series: SH 3000

I bought the splitter 2 years ago, Brand New and it worked great until I let someone borrow it who preceded to leave it in the rain for several days and now it:

Cranks but will not start.

I replaced the Carb with a brand new unit as the bowl was rusted on the original. I drained all the old fuel before replacing the carb. I bypassed the on/off switch, still nothing. I pulled the plug and grounded it against the exhaust manifold and saw spark when the engine was rotated heavily, however, I could not see spark unless the plug was grounded.

Before I start throwing ignition system components at it (as there fairly expensive) I was hoping someone here could help me.
 

328ifun

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
I read the manual several times...

And Step 1 under ignition says to go back to checking fuel, etc if the plug has spark. Well the plug does have spark when grounded but is not visible when not grounded.
 

Russ2251

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
Grounding of plug is necessary to complete the circuit and therefore produce spark.
No ground = No spark.
This is true in larger engines as well....No difference.
 

dfbroxy

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
Take off valve cover and check for proper operation of valves and adjust them. Put cover back on and try to start. What type of carb did you buy? Chinese Knock-off or genuine oem parts? Sometimes the genuine ones are defective and more often the knock-offs are bad. Is the fuel tank full of trash and water? Is there a fuel filter on the fuel line? If so, replace.
 

(Account Closed)

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
Plus one re grounding. If there's spark grounded, your good there.

You can confirm a fueling issue by squirting a little bit of starting fluid (carb cleaner) into the intake, while cranking over.

It SHOULD fire and run shortly (NOW having fuel). If it doesn't, you have a different issue..


BTW, did you flush the fuel system, lines, fuel pump, etc before installing the new carb? If not, you would have pumped crap (water) back into the carb. I would put a small CLEAN container (I use a tuna fish can) under the float bowl and drain. See what comes out. You can also flush the system with the bowl off (turn gas on and let run till no more water appears).
 

328ifun

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
Plus one re grounding. If there's spark grounded, your good there.

You can confirm a fueling issue by squirting a little bit of starting fluid (carb cleaner) into the intake, while cranking over.

It SHOULD fire and run shortly (NOW having fuel). If it doesn't, you have a different issue..


BTW, did you flush the fuel system, lines, fuel pump, etc before installing the new carb? If not, you would have pumped crap (water) back into the carb. I would put a small CLEAN container (I use a tuna fish can) under the float bowl and drain. See what comes out. You can also flush the system with the bowl off (turn gas on and let run till no more water appears).

Thanks for the reply!!

I tried that: I cleaned the original carb and then sprayed Carb Cleaner directly into and it would not start, nothing... Just backfire

I drained all the fuel out of the system via the fuel line until it all ran out. I then refilled with fresh fuel and examined nothing but clean fuel coming out of the line before reinstalling the new Carb.

I have only been able to get the engine to backfire at this point; it smells heavily of fuel which means it would be running rich and receiving fuel - Spark plug tip is wet when removed as well.

I'm not familiar with how the ignition system works but if its a traditional system like on other engines, the timing will be retarded to the point of no-start and (sometimes backfire) if all components aren't in working order, correct?
 

328ifun

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
Take off valve cover and check for proper operation of valves and adjust them. Put cover back on and try to start. What type of carb did you buy? Chinese Knock-off or genuine oem parts? Sometimes the genuine ones are defective and more often the knock-offs are bad. Is the fuel tank full of trash and water? Is there a fuel filter on the fuel line? If so, replace.

It's a genuine Kohler carb... I've learned to stray away from Chinese garbage, had my fair share of bad experiences, ha
 

328ifun

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
Thanks for the reply!!

I tried that: I cleaned the original carb and then sprayed Carb Cleaner directly into and it would not start, nothing... Just backfire

I drained all the fuel out of the system via the fuel line until it all ran out. I then refilled with fresh fuel and examined nothing but clean fuel coming out of the line before reinstalling the new Carb.

I have only been able to get the engine to backfire at this point; it smells heavily of fuel which means it would be running rich and receiving fuel - Spark plug tip is wet when removed as well.

I'm not familiar with how the ignition system works but if its a traditional system like on other engines, the timing will be retarded to the point of no-start and (sometimes backfire) if all components aren't in working order, correct?

You would think that you could leave a piece of heavier equipment in the rain and not have this happen... I see people that have log splitters sitting outside year around with no problems. I'm just thinking that one of the electrical components may have gotten wet... dont know :-(
 

bertsmobile1

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  • / HELP! Kohler S265 Wood Splitter (help us not freeze to death)
You can't just leave big equipment inside a shed now days & expect them to fire right up next season either.
I spend a lot of time cleaning up engines full of evaporation residue.

The spark is generated by the magnet on the outside of the flywheel passing a coil on the outside of the flywheel.
So the position of the flywheel with respect to the piston is critical and set by a shear key.
Remove the bolt that holds the flywheel on and there is a better than average chance you will see the 2 halves of the key slot do not make a perfect square.
A single backfire can cause the key to shear.

When left outside things get corrosion which for instance can cause a valve to stick open thus when the cam relieves pressure the pushrod can fall off.
So you need to confirm the flywheel key is intact so the spark is happening at the correct time and that the valves are going in & out.

The final thing to check is the exhaust.
Small animals , insects and the like will nest in there over winter cause it is nice & dry.
Insects will build mud nests that block off the exhaust and small critters die then on the first engine stroke get blown back into the outlet & plug it off.

Because small engines only rev to a modest 4000 rpm most of them have a very small amount of retard if any at all.
All engine makers have experimented with various types of solid state spark timing and although most worked fairly well they have just about all abandoned the systems as the power gain & easier starting were not considered worth the extra expense.

We who fix equipment notice the extra power & better starting but Joe Public does not and due to mass ignorance Joe Public will always go for the engine with the bigger capacity, cause bigger has to be better dosen't it?

If your magneto coil has only 1 thin wire then it is a simple system , if it has 2 or 3 then it is an electronically timed engine.

If you really want to leave your splitter outside over winter then you need to do some simple prep to make sure it will start up next seasom.
1) run the engine & fuel tank dry
2) replace the oil with fresh oil
3) plug the exhaust
4) loosen the drain bolt in the carb bowl so condensed water can get out.
5) grease all exposed moving parts
 
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