Kohler 23hp stuttering

[fmints]

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.

Thanks Roy,, It's been a journey so far with the "HM",, 3 motors, two T-20's, 3 sets of tires/rims,, lots of welding, putting parts on, taking parts off,,,, but the beefy part of the fun is almost over. Its coming to the time where all I will do is fuel up and Mud Out!

[coosaridgerider]

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.

[fmints]

Well to make a long story short, a new ignition coil, new flywheel timing key, and engine oil cooler, solve the mystery of the "stuttering Kohler". All that is left is a new starter and another axle. This should make the "HM" healthy again and put me back into the mud!! If the parts come in as planned, he'll be ready for whatever by friday!

[fmints]

Fred glad to hear you got the hustler straightened out.I bet it is a Hoss with that 23hp motor.We need to get together for a ride soon.Roy.

Sure thing Roy,,,, the only thing is,,,,, this darn thing is back to stuttering again. I ran it for about 20-30 minutes yesterday at Cbass' house, testing its swimming capabilities. Cory was in the in the middle of the pond, when i noticed the stuttering. He had enough power to come back ashore. We let it cool for about 10 minutes or so while we discussed the possibles and impossibles with the stuttering, cranked it up and it was good for while, well,,,,,, until it got hot again.

The motor was previously used industrially, and has three quarter size holes in the fan shroud, or engine cover, that had wires coming out that was used to manage the unit. Air that is meant to cool the beast escapes here. I also haven't wrapped the headers yet, so filling in the holes and wrapping the headers are next on my list. I hope in do so, that i can lower the temp back there to maintain full power. I'm tinker with it a bit on sunday afternoon and see what it get.

Oh and Roy,,,, Yes it is a Hoss when He's cold,,, lots of power Boss, Lots of power!!!!!

[coosaridgerider]

Fred glad to hear you got the hustler straightened out.I bet it is a Hoss with that 23hp motor.We need to get together for a ride soon.Roy.

[fmints]

That's absolutely right, Fred. I have a Yamaha BIG WHEEL 200 that I'm working on restoring, along with my Super Swamp Fox, and green Attex Superchief......plus maintaining all the other machines. The fun never ends! The Swamp Fox is moving ahead slowly, but progress is being made a little at a time. The latest update is MaxIVMark and I used the electrolysis process to remove the rust from the inside of the fuel tank last weekend.

Wow,,, talking about "High-Tech"! So how did it go? how long did it take remove the rust. I have read and heard from the "Ol Man" about that process, transferring the rust from one metal to the other, but I have never tried it. I wounder if some will do their whole chassis one day. Well good luck on your projects. Im looking forward to seeing the SSF in pic or vid, they seem like they are more than capable of being one of the ultimate mud beast we all love to enjoy. If it comes out anyway close to your Hustler, I'm sure it will perform to its expectations!!!

I welded the tips on the exhaust yesterday and took the Hustlemaniac out for a test ride. Brother,,,,,,,,,,, if I told you that I've never been so amazed at the Hustlers performance, you probably wouldn't believe me. The combination of the new Mudbug tires, rebuilt T-20, Red spring, and all the bugs worked out of the rebuilt 23hp Kohler,,, I was blown away. Even though it isn't fast (approx 25 mph), it slowly powers over everything. 75 + degree hills or grades are my only weak spot, stalling out after about 10-15 feet of travel going up (fuel in the carb, uneven float). I went over one and a half foot logs, a few mud holes, steep up and down grades,,, and He just powered straight through.

I got the Maniac back into my Hustler and He's alive!!!!

[jpswift1]

That's a safe way to go that ensures proper back pressure, but nothing beats the look, and the sound of a custom exhaust, and not to mention the space and weight that you save. 5-10 pounds isn't that much, but hey!!! Now everyone knows the symptoms of not having enough bp and all that I went thru to correct the over-looked but simple fix. How's the Swamp Fox coming along these days? I know you keep at least 3-4 projects going at the same time.

That's absolutely right, Fred. I have a Yamaha BIG WHEEL 200 that I'm working on restoring, along with my Super Swamp Fox, and green Attex Superchief......plus maintaining all the other machines. The fun never ends! The Swamp Fox is moving ahead slowly, but progress is being made a little at a time. The latest update is MaxIVMark and I used the electrolysis process to remove the rust from the inside of the fuel tank last weekend.

[fmints]

Glad to hear everything worked out for you, Fred. It seemed like quite the issue, but now we know. I was thinking about making my own free flowing exhaust set up for the Kohler 23HP Command that's going in my Swamp Fox, but I'll certainly be steering away from that and just going with a factory muffler on it to prevent any problems.

That's a safe way to go that ensures proper back pressure, but nothing beats the look, and the sound of a custom exhaust, and not to mention the space and weight that you save. 5-10 pounds isn't that much, but hey!!! Now everyone knows the symptoms of not having enough bp and all that I went thru to correct the over-looked but simple fix. How's the Swamp Fox coming along these days? I know you keep at least 3-4 projects going at the same time.

[jpswift1]

Glad to hear everything worked out for you, Fred. It seemed like quite the issue, but now we know. I was thinking about making my own free flowing exhaust set up for the Kohler 23HP Command that's going in my Swamp Fox, but I'll certainly be steering away from that and just going with a factory muffler on it to prevent any problems.

[fmints]

Ok, so since my last post, i have went through numerous things trying to correct the stuttering issue with my engine. i have replaced the head gaskets, intake and exhaust gaskets, spark plugs with correct gapping and lapped the valves for an air, liquid, and light tight seal. These things made the 23hp Kohler run better but still the stuttering issue remained. it wasnt until Cbass and I put our heads together when Cory suggested that i didn't have any back pressure on the my exhaust. i bought two mufflers meant for 9-12hp lawm mower engine last thursday and yesterday welded everything in place... the problem was solved. Smooth acceleration thru the rpms and not stuttering,, quick hand fulls of throttle throughout the powerband raising the rpm's,,, and still no stuttering, with and without load. The last exhaust that i built, flowed too well, causing the engine to take on too much fuel and flooding, hence the severve stuttering and backfiring.

I have some exhaust tips that should come in today from WWW.BMIKART.COM, and some header wrap on the whole exhaust should wrap up the project. later i will fabricate an exhaust duct to help channel the heat out of the tub. I also have a 12 inch fan, but I fear that it would draw too much juice and drain my battery in the long run. I wish i had purchased the 7inch fan instead. Bigger is not alway better.

So in this case problem solved.

[fmints]

How did that work out for you? Does that axle fit?

YEAH BUDDY, the axle fits, i slapped it in yesterday. THANKS A MILLION "HIGH" for supplying me the axle. Your a swell, honest dude!!

Also, the stuttering problem,,,,,,,, after fumbling with the carb all day yesterday, along with flipping the tires this way and that way, running back and forth to O'riellys for axle bolts,,,,, I finally found the problem. I went back into the carb and throughly cleaned the carb again,,, which was useless because it was just cleaned like a month ago. I noticed when putting the carb back on the intake that the choke lever, controlling the opening and closing of the choke, was opening when i increased throttle,,,,,,,,, flooding the heck out of the 23hp, and robbing it of power, sputtering and stuttering. So i just rigged up. Took off the choke cable and rod, and tied some wire to the choke lever to the engine to keep the choke in an open position,,,,,,,,,,, Wicked throttle response now, and 3 times more power than before. It still stutters when going up really steep hills, but that's to be expected i guess with the fuel level and float in the carb (even with the electric fuel pump on,,,,,,, i'll figure it out).

[highrollinmopars]

How did that work out for you? Does that axle fit?

[fmints]

If it has points they could be worn, pitted, or not gapped properly.
If the exhaust is too restricted it will cause the valves to float at higher rpm.
Did you change the exhaust recently?
I found a mouse nest in my lawn tractor exhaust one spring....ran like crap till the grass caught on fire and blew out the muffler.

I think that this could be the problem, because it only happenes at higher rpm's, or when i put the hammer on the throttle, which is all the time! Well, come saturday morning, i'll be drawing up yet another exhaust, checking air flow, and testing my coil. Thanks guys for the advice, i'll keep you posted!

[jpswift1]

The Kohler Commands and Briggs Vanguards don't use a points/condensers, but messing with engines that have points/condensers, I know just what you mean.

[Bazooo guy]

If it has points they could be worn, pitted, or not gapped properly.
If the exhaust is too restricted it will cause the valves to float at higher rpm.
Did you change the exhaust recently?
I found a mouse nest in my lawn tractor exhaust one spring....ran like crap till the grass caught on fire and blew out the muffler.