K161 acting weird
 

The k161 on my Original is acting kinda weird. It'll run and then all the sudden the rpm's will run up and then it'll shut off. Then the motor will act locked up. I grab it with a pair of pliers and get the motor to turn. Then it'll start up again. What is going on?

The Governor arm may not be tight on the cross shaft.

But what would make the motor act like it is locked up and I got to grab it with pump pliers and spin it to free it. It has good oil in it no water

Never seen it happen to a Kohler, but I guess it could be getting hot enough to seize the engine.

In any event, it's not a good thing, I think I'd be finding out what the problem is before you ruin something.

Your S/G could just wore out. If it's going, they can do that when their hot. :bigthink:

Could also be the compression release not working.

I agree the governor could be goofed up.

We really need more info. You didn't really give much to go off of. :Unknown:

There is no ACR on a K161.

According to Kohler there is. Maybe not in all, or early ones.....

early ones had spark advance, latter ones had ACR

I'm pretty sure I figured out the problem the starter/generator doesn't have enough to turn the motor over I pulled it apart and would a wire coming off the field to the post that was in bad shape and when I was messing with it it broke

Well I put a different generator on it and still the same problem it'll try to turn over but once it comes to the compression stroke I've got nothing I took the spark plug out and the motor will spin all day long put the plug back in and nothing

when it stops can you turn it both ways right away or does it have to cool down to run again? how much faster does it go when it revs up? to wide open?

I can turn it both ways but it seems tight. Something is making the engine turn over hard I have a brand new battery in it that works fine on my other tractors and to make it work on the original I have to keep the charger on it.

has it run good in the past? or is this something that's just starting ? how much faster does it go when it revs up? to wide open?

Only rev'd up that one time. It ran fine in the past points open and close have spark there have juice coming from the coil to plug got a new voltage regulator re wired it condenser seems fine and it's got a new battery but something is putting a hell of a draw on it and not allowing it to spin

Sooooo....... why did you put a v-reg on it? :Unknown:

What happens when you try and spin it by hand?

Sure sounds like a mechanical problem to me.

Check the gasket at the base of the carb. Check the carb to see if it's loose on the engine.

The voltage regulator was bad so I replaced it but still no change I even took the belt deck off and the driveshaft belt off and no change

you may want to take the head and pan off for inspection, I'm thinking the rod journal but you never know. you didn't take any of the flywheel shroud bolts out recently and get them mixed up? longer ones can hit the flywheel on the lower ones

I agree.


I was thinking loose carb on the sudden RPM increase. I didn't give any ideas on the hard cranking, but I agree with you. (just saying :beerchug:)

Haven't had anything apart at all until now

The only thing left for me to replace is the coil and the push button switch other than that I'm out of ideas it's still acting hard to start

everything is good at the carb. i'm thinking electric because i just stuck a brand new battery i just bought on it and tried to start it and it does the same thing

coil or push button is not going to cause it to turn over hard, if it turn over as hard as you say it does. then you are looking for something that rotates

How many times do we have to say this is a mechanical problem before you stop listing electrical parts?

It's a mechanical problem.

so your saying its probably something in the motor. i'm just out of ideas at this point it acts like a dead battery kinda but even with the charger on it i still got nothing

if i pull the spark plug out the engine will spin put the plug back in and nothing

Because you have compression with the plug in. (resistance) with the plug out, (no resistance) this is what's leading some to think a mechanical problem......

Pull the head and make sure the ACR is working.

Will mine have an acr since it's a first year original

not if its still the original engine. then it would have a spark advance , most know it as a 2 piece cam

So to check all that I guess i'll have to take the engine apart

lets put it this way. if it is internal and you checked all your connections and have good grounds. if the motor gets tight as you have explained I'd have to say take the head off , take the pan off, you can check if it has a ACR or spark advance then and take the rod cap off to verify the journal. you may find the dipper broken off. I can only go by what you tell me. you may want to take it to someone who knows what they are doing but that's up to you. if you want to keep working on it to start it and run it the way it is at worst you can break a rod and punch a hole in the block. the main concern I have is you say it gets tight . on the K series the main failure points are the rod journal and the bore. I don't think I've ever seen a main ball bearing on the crank fail.

Well the dipper is broke off the piston is tight in the bore and the journals are a mess

dipper breaking off pretty much caused the rest of the damage. that's your lube source

Sorry to hear that. At least now you will know what you got when you're done rebuilding it.

That's what I thought the dipper was for. I can get a motor for 150 or get a rebuild kit not sure yet