Kholer K301 rebuild.

HallCrash · Aug 3, 2009

Kohler K301 rebuild.

Here is my problem, I have a Kohler K301 in a Cub Cadet 1250 that wouldn't crank over one day. I replaced the starter and: same problem; wouldn't crank. I removed the drive shaft and tried to turn the motor by hand. And it wouldn't budge even with the spark plug out, unless I used a breaker bar to get it moving. I assumed the piston rings and/or the crank bearings were the problem. Removing the piston revealed that the rings were the problem. I wanted to order a rebuild kit for this motor so, I honed the cylinder a little to clear some caking around the top, oiled the cylinder and took a measure with a micrometer.

Here is the problem: the service Manual says that the stock bore should be at least 3.374", though my Micrometer says that the bore is 3.370. This caused me to measure the piston, and that was just as off.

My questions are:
1. Am I too meticulous about .004 of an inch?
2. Should I hone it out to 3.384 and order a rebuild kit 010 over?
3. What would you do?

I am replacing the crank bearings as-well, I am unsure if I need to mill the crank until I remove it.

HallCrash · Aug 6, 2009

After much thought, I have come to a conclusion. I will order the 010 over rebuild kit and use the service manual measurements and gap specifications to get the bore within operating range. I was hoping to see if this is really a k301, even though the fan shroud says so, it seems an easy part to damage and change without paying much mind to the information on the shroud. I will update on how it turns out.

ford2go · Aug 15, 2009

Going up 10 thou won't probably hurt anything, but I wonder if you have to do it.

This is just a thought. How sure are you that your mic isn't off by .004? (I'm assuming that you measured the bore and the piston with the same mic. )

It would be interesting to take the piston to a local shop and and have them check it.

Not trying to imply that you don't know what you're doing -- just a little surprised that everything would be undersized.

Good luck with the project.

Ingersoll444 · Aug 15, 2009

ford2go said:
Going up 10 thou won't probably hurt anything, but I wonder if you have to do it.

This is just a thought. How sure are you that your mic isn't off by .004? (I'm assuming that you measured the bore and the piston with the same mic. )

It would be interesting to take the piston to a local shop and and have them check it.

Not trying to imply that you don't know what you're doing -- just a little surprised that everything would be undersized.

Good luck with the project.

I would have to say the same. Was it the same Mic that you used? Probably not a bad idea to go up anyways.. just make sure you got your clearances correct. When you get the new piston, just make sure you mesure it, and the bore with the same mic, and not worry about the number, but the diference.[ie the clearance] Im assuming you are using snap guages, and not a bore guage right?

For the crank, and rods, I would use another mic though... you probably have to anyways becouse of the smaller dia of them.

BTW any machine shop should be able to check that mic. they all should have a set of standerds around somewere.

Kholer K301 rebuild.

HallCrash

HallCrash

ford2go

Ingersoll444

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