cruzenmike
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2017
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- 859
As the title suggests, when I changed the oil on my Toro Titan at the end of this past summer, what came out of the engine was extremely dark. I completely understand that oil can and will darken over time, especially under certain operating conditions, but, I am inclined to believe that what I was experiencing is not necessarily normal, and here's why:
I purchased the mower new in the summer of 2024 with 0.0 hours on it. The engine was filled with oil from the dealer that shipped it to me. I checked the oil when the mower arrived (freighted to me) and used the mower for the remainder of the summer. Believe it or not, I only put about 5-6 hours on it as my lawn only takes about 35 minutes to cut and I have two other mowers that are used intermittently alongside this one. I do not recall whether or not the oil at that first (5 hour) interval was extremely dark or uncharacteristic of a first oil change, but it was not anything that concerned me at the time. Since the season was coming to an end around that first oil change, I went ahead and did a full tune-up and put the mower away for the winter. I used a genuine Kohler Tune-up Kit which included 10w-40 oil, Kohler Pro oil filter, spark plugs, fuel filter and air cleaner, which by the way, none of the replacement parts seemed like they needed to be replaced, but I did it anyway. I also make it a habit of flushing the engine oil at each change. (run, empty, fill, run, empty, filter change and fill).
Fast forward to 2025 and I began using the mower at the start of the summer and when Fall came it only had about 17 hours on it. I always believed in changing the oil at the end of the season so that the machine never sat with dirty oil in it all winter. So I go to do the oil change and what comes out, after only 12 or so hours of use since the last oil change, is the blackest oil that I have ever seen. I never started the mower in temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the only gasoline that I use is 90 octane ethanol free and I only choke the engine the minimum that is required to get it going. I have never witnessed the engine smoking, not even when starting on choke, but yet the oil is so contaminated after only 12 hours of use.
Why I am concerned is for these reasons: I have owned many lawn mowers over the years, and I have not seen oil this dirty EVER, and I have gone twice as many hours in a year's time before oil changes on other machines. My Honda push mower probably clocked nearly as many hours as the Toro with golden yellow oil at the end of the season. My Exmark with nearly 500 hours on it would go 25 hours in-between oil changes and come out golden yellow at the end of every season. Hell, even my 1998 Craftsman GT with nearly 1300 hours on it, doesn't have oil that looks this dirty, even with all of the cold starts, and even further (time) in-between oil changes.
The only thing that I will note, is that there is something peculiar about this engine when I am starting and stopping it. It seems as if it does not want to start so easily. I will have it fully choked when cold (like I said, above 50 degrees, but "cold starts" nonetheless) and it will crank for about 4-5 seconds before firing up and then once I get it going I ease the choke down until it runs smooth. I have heard of some engines "liking" to be choked, but this does not seem to be the case as once it is running, it seems as if it wants off the choke right away. The other thing, which is possibly more concerning, is that when I shut the engine down, it comes to a very abrupt stop. I have never had a mower engine behave like this before. All of my other riders and zero turns would just smoothly wind down over the course of a few seconds when the ignition was turned off. I have owned mowers with Kawasaki (FR651V, FR691V and FX651V), Briggs (ELS24 and Magnum I/C) and even other Kohlers (KT725 and Command Pro CV22S) and I have never had it where the shut off seemed almost violent. It reminds me of when someone shuts off an old diesel pickup truck and the whole truck shakes as it ka-klunks to a halt.
My question for you guys (and gals if present), is, could there be something wrong with the engine that would BOTH cause the starting/stopping issues as well as causing premature dirtying of the engine oil? The machine is in warranty and I do plan to take it in first thing this next Spring, but I would like to have some sort of idea as to what I should be telling the Technician other than the "oil is dirty and it shuts off abruptly." Not that I want to tell the Technician how to do his or her job, but if there is a known failure that causes these symptoms I could at least elude to what might be wrong; point them in the right direction. Maybe it's just a valve adjustment issue, or compression not what it should be, maybe leaking seals/rings? Just looking for some ideas. Thank you.
I purchased the mower new in the summer of 2024 with 0.0 hours on it. The engine was filled with oil from the dealer that shipped it to me. I checked the oil when the mower arrived (freighted to me) and used the mower for the remainder of the summer. Believe it or not, I only put about 5-6 hours on it as my lawn only takes about 35 minutes to cut and I have two other mowers that are used intermittently alongside this one. I do not recall whether or not the oil at that first (5 hour) interval was extremely dark or uncharacteristic of a first oil change, but it was not anything that concerned me at the time. Since the season was coming to an end around that first oil change, I went ahead and did a full tune-up and put the mower away for the winter. I used a genuine Kohler Tune-up Kit which included 10w-40 oil, Kohler Pro oil filter, spark plugs, fuel filter and air cleaner, which by the way, none of the replacement parts seemed like they needed to be replaced, but I did it anyway. I also make it a habit of flushing the engine oil at each change. (run, empty, fill, run, empty, filter change and fill).
Fast forward to 2025 and I began using the mower at the start of the summer and when Fall came it only had about 17 hours on it. I always believed in changing the oil at the end of the season so that the machine never sat with dirty oil in it all winter. So I go to do the oil change and what comes out, after only 12 or so hours of use since the last oil change, is the blackest oil that I have ever seen. I never started the mower in temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the only gasoline that I use is 90 octane ethanol free and I only choke the engine the minimum that is required to get it going. I have never witnessed the engine smoking, not even when starting on choke, but yet the oil is so contaminated after only 12 hours of use.
Why I am concerned is for these reasons: I have owned many lawn mowers over the years, and I have not seen oil this dirty EVER, and I have gone twice as many hours in a year's time before oil changes on other machines. My Honda push mower probably clocked nearly as many hours as the Toro with golden yellow oil at the end of the season. My Exmark with nearly 500 hours on it would go 25 hours in-between oil changes and come out golden yellow at the end of every season. Hell, even my 1998 Craftsman GT with nearly 1300 hours on it, doesn't have oil that looks this dirty, even with all of the cold starts, and even further (time) in-between oil changes.
The only thing that I will note, is that there is something peculiar about this engine when I am starting and stopping it. It seems as if it does not want to start so easily. I will have it fully choked when cold (like I said, above 50 degrees, but "cold starts" nonetheless) and it will crank for about 4-5 seconds before firing up and then once I get it going I ease the choke down until it runs smooth. I have heard of some engines "liking" to be choked, but this does not seem to be the case as once it is running, it seems as if it wants off the choke right away. The other thing, which is possibly more concerning, is that when I shut the engine down, it comes to a very abrupt stop. I have never had a mower engine behave like this before. All of my other riders and zero turns would just smoothly wind down over the course of a few seconds when the ignition was turned off. I have owned mowers with Kawasaki (FR651V, FR691V and FX651V), Briggs (ELS24 and Magnum I/C) and even other Kohlers (KT725 and Command Pro CV22S) and I have never had it where the shut off seemed almost violent. It reminds me of when someone shuts off an old diesel pickup truck and the whole truck shakes as it ka-klunks to a halt.
My question for you guys (and gals if present), is, could there be something wrong with the engine that would BOTH cause the starting/stopping issues as well as causing premature dirtying of the engine oil? The machine is in warranty and I do plan to take it in first thing this next Spring, but I would like to have some sort of idea as to what I should be telling the Technician other than the "oil is dirty and it shuts off abruptly." Not that I want to tell the Technician how to do his or her job, but if there is a known failure that causes these symptoms I could at least elude to what might be wrong; point them in the right direction. Maybe it's just a valve adjustment issue, or compression not what it should be, maybe leaking seals/rings? Just looking for some ideas. Thank you.
