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I am trying to find the oil sensor.

The mower is the older underpowered scag 48" rider with the 18 hp kohler Magnum vertical shaft.
I have the manual but the images are so poor that I can't make anything out. Oddly no mention is made of the oil sensor. On the manual for the horizontal shaft version of this motor the picture showing the oil sensor is clear and the thing is labeled. But no on my model

My oil sensor keeps shutting my machine off.
I want to remove the wire and either ground it or whatever to take it out of the equation. I could replace it but the mower is on it's last season.

It reports falsely shutting my engine down or not allowing it to start for no good reason.

Does any one know where the oil sensor is? I have a suspicion it's around toward the front where I can't see it.
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Looking at the manual its just above the oil filter.

That would be true if it were a horizontal shaft engine.
There is no oil filter on the engine. The filter is outboard fed by hoses mounted on an angle bracket.
The manual does not show where the sensor is on the vertical shaft engine. The picture quality of my PDF is hideous. It's all black

Post the model numbers so we can see the engine you have. Some of these engines did not have an oil sensor.

I do know the difference between horizontal/vertical shaft engine, If its by the filter, its by the filter..! and if you can't see one it has'nt got one....not all have them....simple.

Rivets said:

Post the model numbers so we can see the engine you have. Some of these engines did not have an oil sensor.

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MV18

Hey~!!!

I found a better PDF with clear images
http://www.kohlerengines.com/onlinecatalog/pdf/52_590_03.pdf
Shows the sensor next to where the filter would be if they had not mounted it outboard.
It's over in front of the dip stick.

Now it's all a matter of growing that extra joint in my arm to reach around and grab it.

Yes that is a much better PDF file, thanks for posted it up.:thumbsup:

The oil drain on this configuration is hinky too. Becauyse they put a steel plate under the engine you can't get to the drain.
So they added a plumbing steel elbow to the works dropping that through a hole in the steel plate.
Makes it real easy to access the drain.
However there is a dark side. The ell works itself loose and leaks oil around the threads.

Remove and clean it. When you reassemble put some Teflon tape on and tighten. Should solve the problem.

Kudos to the mfg who put an "oil sensor" on any AC tractor, or water-cooled for that matter. You have not said if it is oil pressure or oil temp ( perhaps you don't know) . If you're trying to end its days, defeating an engine shutoff feature due to low oil pressure or high oil temp will do it for you.

motoman said:

Kudos to the mfg who put an "oil sensor" on any AC tractor, or water-cooled for that matter. You have not said if it is oil pressure or oil temp ( perhaps you don't know) . If you're trying to end its days, defeating an engine shutoff feature due to low oil pressure or high oil temp will do it for you.

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Scag uses different configs with different machines. The Turf Tiger has an oil pressure sensor and the Tiger cat just has a simple "low oil level" sensor which is nothing more than a float type of switch that sits submerged in the oil in the bottom of the crank case

Oil pressure / oil temp?

http://www.scag.com/OpManuals/SSZ/95SSZOPMAN/95SSZOPMANcomplete.pdf

Hell it's a the factory sensor it kills the spark if I use too good a grade oil too little or too much. Damn thing just stops dead. I'm assuming that it is the typical single wire sensor that shorts to ground when it wants to kill the engine.

Kohler only uses a single wire sensor in these motors.
Kohler Oil Pressure Switch

"Remove and clean it. When you reassemble put some Teflon tape on and tighten. Should solve the problem. "

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA I can't find it.
I have run my had all around the engine down low where it ought to be. I can't find a wire nor a sensor.
I rather suspect that Scag ordered these engines with little changes from the factory standard that the manual shows. For instance the oil filter is out board. The Oil Drain is on the opposite side of the engine from the manual's location.
I have this image in my head of some Scag engineer deciding that they didn't want some careless hired hand yanking the wire and ruining the motor for the owner because absent the sensor none of them would check the oil, sooooooo they hid it.

If you recognize the mower and know where the sensor is please tell me
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af143/zydaco/Show and Tell/P8210080.jpg
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af143/zydaco/Show and Tell/P8210081.jpg
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af143/zydaco/Show and Tell/P8210082.jpg
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af143/zydaco/Show and Tell/P8210083.jpg
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af143/zydaco/Show and Tell/P8210086.jpg

SOLVED

I thought it was the oil sensor. But there ain't one. All that time and energy I spent pissing around for a nonexistent sensor.
It was the ignition module - the magneto

Apparently the bloody things fail in degrees and in response to heat from the engine upon which the thing is directly mounted.

So it runs like a top when it was cool and when it got hot it was no fun at the party.

$117 later the mower shop (L & L Clinton NJ) I found it at is a rip off; marks things up wildly, I could have gotten it for half that on the web, had I not needed to cut the lawn RIGHT AWAY, and waited for the postman. Well I solved the problem and won't be buying anything from him again.
And now the mower runs like a top and is out front of my house for sale.

Forget the sting of the rip-next time you'll know. Plus remind yourself of all the things you solved yourself.

motoman said:

Forget the sting of the rip-next time you'll know. Plus remind yourself of all the things you solved yourself.

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Ain't that the truth