What is ok to use on my K-301 aluminum head and gasket to clean off the carbon?
 

Just wanted to get more opinions on this. I've read and heard where some people use a dull putty knife, wire and brass brushes, etc. The manual calls for only wood or plastic scrapers. My plastic putty knife really doesn't do much - gets dull right away.

I have a small wire and brass brush, if that would be ok to use. Or would some sort of solvent - carb cleaner, etc. - do the job?

I would use brake cleaner and a wire brush if you don't have access to a bead blaster.

OK...so wire will not scratch the aluminum?

If you get crazy it might but even if it does it won't affect anything.

Agree. But if you plane it like you're supposed to after cleaning, it will correct any mistakes.

All cleaned. Have to get the 320 grit paper to do any planing. I ran a straight edge across the head and checked for light coming under the sides. It's really pretty good. There are a few areas where I see light showing under the straight edge, and the straight edge has just the slightest bit of rocking back and forth right near the one edge (when placing it across the widest point) so I suppose this indicates some warpage.

How do you know how much planing to do? In Tim's video, he's removing deposits from the head, and then stops around 20 minutes after they are all off. I already have the head clean though, so what means of checking is suggested to see if it is indeed planed down sufficiently? Just use a straight edge again and check for low spots?

That's flat black paint you see in the video and that was done to make it easier to see on camera, in person it will be very obvious where it's been sanded and where I hasn't so go until it all been sanded.

That (sanding) procedure is great! The head looks terrific. Before I sanded, I was able to get a .002 feeler gauge between the head and a metal straight edge at a few places. After sanding though, it (appears at least) to be all level. Can't get a gauge under it anywhere. I know you SHOULDN'T be able to slip something as big as .002 gauge under it, but I don't have anything smaller and it seemed a more accurate way to assess where any high or low spots were as opposed to holding it up to the light and trying to see how much light showed between the straight edge and the head. Still have to re-check the points with a test light and then the head goes back on tomorrow, will torque all the bolts to 25, and then I'll see how the engine sounds.

While you have the head off I strongly recommend you remove and clean the valves and adjust them, this will probably have to be done by your brother since it's a bit involved.

Or at least adjust them. :beerchug:

I'm sure that cleaning / adjusting the valves is a great idea...and undoubtedly should be done...but we're going to take our chances here. IF it still does not run well and winds up going down to my brother's service station, then, yeah, that would be something I'd have him do. To tell you the truth, I looked at those valves and thought that it would be great to do something with those as well as the general cleaning I did, but I have no idea where to begin. Don't bother going into an explanation, cause I just don't have too much more time to devote to this. I'm putting so many other things on hold that need attention. If it was not something "a bit involved"...I'd be tempted to take it on. "A bit involved", for me, probably equates to "a lot of work"!! I must say, though, I think I did a pretty decent job of the head cleaning. Great learning experience.

I will say that, according to a 2013 invoice from a local repair service I used when the tractor also wasn't starting well, they did do valve work along with having the head off - and also replaced a valve and a gasket (presumably the head) - so that's only 4 years ago. We'll see how things go....

Did you get the carbon cleaned out Keith, before or after truing the head?
So now if I understand your post, the head gasket area is all equally "scratched" from the sanding procedure? No areas dull, the whole surface area is clean?:bigthink:

Yes....carbon was all cleaned out prior to doing the sanding. To the best of my ability and judgment, the whole head gasket is now sanded smooth. My brother and I noticed that there was an imprinting of the gasket on the head, which almost gave the appearance of there being two gaskets at first. Following the sanding, there is still some of that pattern visible, but I didn't think it necessary to sand additionally being that the remaining imprinted pattern was no longer raised...you couldn't feel it anymore...sanded smooth...so the fact that you can still see vestiges of it I deem to be negligible. I also cleaned up the gasket and am reusing it. My gasket is metal. The IH dealer said you can't even get those anymore (at least not new). Gasket looks fine to reuse. The only problem I ran into is that I wound up snapping the bolt that holds a small piece of shroud against the head. It's the bolt on the left side of the tractor (near the generator). I tried to get the broken piece out of the hole but couldn't. So the broken piece is in the head. My brother told me about these left hand drill bits that can be used with a reversible drill to extract broken pieces, but I don't have anything like that. We both think it should be ok to just leave it in there. I considered taking a small drill bit and trying to go right into the center of the broken bolt but, with my luck, I might have veered off and somehow wound up damaging the head. Not worth taking the chance. The shroud will still be held on firmly with the bolt on the other side. I don't think the left side will rattle without the missing bolt. Really, I just want to get this DONE and move on to other stuff. My yard will be a good test for the mower - grass has really shot up quick with the rain we've had every day.

You should always use a new gasket. They crush when torqued down and once crushed won't seal properly if reused. All Kohler head gaskets are metal faced the only thing to watch for is if it has a fire ring (a band of metal crimped around the inner edge of the gasket). Cheap gaskets don't have it and I've heard they are quick to blow. Never used one myself. If your old gasket leaks, it could make short work of your nice flattening job on the head.

Oh look! Another voice of reason!

You've been told this several times now.

Guess we'll keep :beatdeadhorse:

You need to get a new head gasket, the old one can't be reused.

I am thrifty and have, in a emergency situation, reused an old head gasket.
and in 50% of those cases, it worked till I could get a new one.
That said,
Since you have resurfaced the head and it is now flat, the old gasket will not conform to it and it will leak.
Also you stated you already re tightened previously, so that just adds to the fact you need a new gasket.
Why you are so stubborn to the advice of helpful people here, I don't understand.
And when you do get a new gasket, and torque it properly, in the correct sequence following the service manual,
Then warm it up through a couple of heat cycles and re torque it again in the proper sequence, that procedure ain't in the book.
But experience has taught us if you don't retorque, it leaks sooner rather than later.
If you don't have a torque wrench, borrow one from a friend or auto parts store.:beerchug:

It's in the manual George. Kohler manual, page 12.16. :beerchug:

Yeah...definitely a new gasket is needed. Given that there was a good amount of oil and gunk in the fins on the one side of the engine, that proves there was a leak. I ordered a gasket and will have it tomorrow. Thanks for mentioning it again. Sorry...I descend from a long line of what I guess you'd call "stubborn Dutchmen" LOL Unfortunately I wasted time wire brushing the old gasket to get it real nice and smooth.:(

Three4rd: Absolutely get a new head gasket. IIRC you mentioned in one of your other threads that you are a musician. If that is correct, think of it this way. If you have a guitar rebuilt or the neck tightened up, would you re-use the old strings that were taken off? Or, would you put new ones on? That is what you are looking at here with a head gasket. You've spent all this time & effort, don't skimp on it over a few dollars for a head gasket.

Have a torque wrench...will re-torque as suggested. What do you recommend? I was planning on 25. My dealer said he used to go right to 40 so as not to have to worry about having to do it again. Sounds a bit high. I do NOT want to snap any head bolts!!!!

I go 25 then go over them again at 30 then run it and retorque to 30 once cool.

Go by the recommended torque in the manual!! I don't remember off the top of my head, and go in steps.
Maybe #15 first sequence, then go to maybe #25 and the 3rd step arrive @ recommended torque.
Then run it till it is good and warm--operating temp-- maybe 10 minutes or
better if you cut some grass.
then stop, turn it off and let it cool, have lunch/dinner and retorque to recommended torque.
Better if you can come back the next day for the final re torque,
but if you can hold your hand on the head, it is cool enough to retorque.
That should take care of the cylinder head gasket leak.
You will observe that the bolts have loosened after it cools down, that is why they need re torquing.:beerchug:

Well, yeah, I'd put on new strings, and your point is well taken, although it's a bit different situation. The new strings go on as a matter of aesthetics moreso than necessity or trying to prevent other mechanical issues from occurring. With a machine, however, we're talking about the chance for further damage to the engine and/or it not running right. No chance of damage to the guitar by putting old strings back on. The worse that can happen in keeping old strings on anytime - not just when a neck is reset, etc. - is that the intonation is no longer true across the fretboard and, of course, the quality of the sound is no longer very good.

Good analogy though...and I don't mean to nitpick though it probably came across that way. It's just that you gave me a chance to talk about something that I finally know aLOT about. LOL I appreciate the thought and totally agree. It'll be interesting to see if the new gasket is metal like my old one.

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The manual DOES state to run the engine and retorque it. I posted that info just below George's post.

ok lets try this again:
start tightening the bolts following the sequence in the book.
the first bolt gets torqued to Approx #15, stop.
Go to bolt #2 torque to apprxo #15, stop.
Go to bolt #3 torque to approx #15, stop.
do you follow the procedure here?
If so, when the last bolt is torqued to approx #15. stop.
Now they are all evenly torqued to approx #15
NOW:
Go back to bolt #1 and torque it to approx #25, stop.
Go to bolt #2 and torque it to approx #25, stop.
Go to bolt #3 and torque it to approx #25, stop.
Go to bolt #4, -- etc, etc. until all are torqued to #25 evenly, stop.
Now:
go back to #1 bolt and torque it to the given torque listed in the service manual,---- is it #30? whatever it is, go to that torque and stop.
Go to #2 bolt and do the same thing,continuing through all the bolts till all are torqued at the final torque.
Then follow the starting/ running/heating procedure I mentioned, and retorque one last time assuring all the bolts are at the correct listed torque in the manual.
You are tightening the bolts in steps, so as to not warp or break the head,
and insure the head gasket is compressed as equally as possible, to prevent leakage.
Most all engines do this procedure.
Clear as mud?:biggrin2:
EDIT:
My old book says #25-#30 so I'd go to #30 on the 3rd step.
And again tighten to #30 after the running/heating cycle.

Make sure the engine is cold before re-torquing.

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Go to page 12.16 of your manual and read the section on INSTALL CYLINDER HEAD AND SPARK PLUG. In the PDF document, it's page 133.

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Wow. Just wow. Are my posts not showing up? Can anybody else read this?

Who is this again? Lol

...You did say that in post #18...

Yeah. #18. Post #18! Here we are at #36 :bash2:

So after reading through this post, I have to ask because I'm confused; is it 18 ft/lbs first torque then 36 ft/lbs second pass? :beer2: :biggrin2: :beerchug:

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To be fair, my comment wasn't directed towards you, I was trying to give J-Mech some sh!t :biggrin2:

It's all a learning process and trust me, from personal experience, nobody gets it first go around. I've ignored my fair share of good advice in life (of course, I always have my own good reasons :biggrin2:) and it usually comes back to bite me in the a$$. The guys are just trying to help but there's a lot of people that come on here, ask for advice, ignore it, then wonder why things fail. I'm not saying this is you in the least, just that there are guys that spend a good chunk of there personal time trying to help and they get frustrated easily. This really is a wonderful site, and one of the very few that over the years I keep coming back to (one of maybe 3 total). Calm down, enjoy the info, and have a nice cold one :beerchug:

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