I'd look for a good, used, B&S engine, to replace the Kohler. I did that on a Simplicity Broadmoor, and it is still running well. I had to rig up a fuel pump on mine, as the gas tank is under the seat area. I used one of those nice round, plastic pumps that get their vacuum from the dip-stick tube. Works great! RJ

 

look for another used machine is best way to go and keep oil in it. if u were close to me id sell u a mower but ur not becuase i got a 1996 weedeater (samething has a craftsman lt4000) for sale lol

 

Did you try to turn the motor by hand? If that turns by hand then most likely your solenoid is shot or starter died. Or the battery terminal is loose. That will cause alot of issues especially with anti-back fire carbs. The jet on the bottom will not open without juice to it. I would check the battery terminals and make sure they are tight and shiny. IF not take them off and shine them up and put them back on and tightened the pos first then negative. As for the solenoid you can touch both post accross with a screwdriver and see if it whirls over after you check the battery cables. I would say it sounds like the battery cables came loose. As for oil most likely you didn't seize it up sometimes they have a shut off if oil is to low. I would try these first and get back to us.

 

If its a fairly new tractor,it may have a low oil shutoff on it..my Kohler Magnum 20 HP on a 90's Yard-man has one,if you run too low on oil it'll shut the engine down before any damage gets done (hopefully!)...you might be able to top it back off and get it to restart by jumping it with a car battery,I'd be sure the engine spins ok by hand before attempting that though..if it dont have a low oil shutoff,it could well be seized or suffered major damage inside..or if it was run on a hill with the oil low,that'll starve it for oil too..

 

If it's a fairly new Craftsman, I can pretty much guarantee you DON'T have a low oil shut off.

As mentioned, see if you can turn the engine by hand.
IF you can't, remove the spark plugs and try again.

 

It won't have a low oil shut off but it might be able to be saved..for a while.

Fill it to full mark or a little above on stick with Amsoil, Redine, Castrol Edge, Mobil 1....10w-30 or 10w-40 Fully Sythethic oil...
Will take about 1.5 qts.

Takes spark plugs out. use a straw or squirt bottle and put 2 oz of this oil into each plug hole. Use a flashlight. Try to get in on the walls of cyl.
Also spray some PB Blaster in the hole for about 8 second spray.
The more oil in there the better.

Look underneath engine and get a big pair of channel locks, vice grips, or plain ol pipe wrench.
Turn engine crank pulley the opposide way it normally turns.
If you are looking up at pulley from ground....it normally turns counter clockwise so turn it clockwise.

Just noticed it's ina gt4000 or 5000.
Some of thsoe older ones had a horizontal crank engine so the pulley would not be under mower. But you jsut need to turn the crankshaft.

The rotation if you are facing top of engine where grid is that spins around....it clockwise so make sure you start by turning it backwards..

....only about 2-3 inches...30 degrees approx...
Then turn back other way....work it back and forth only a few inches about 10 times...then go half turn back and forth an few times.

If it frees up, try to crank it with no throttle or choke for about 6-10 seconds.
Then crank it again like this one more time.

If it is free.
Put plugs back in ans start. Turn it off immediately after is starts. The repeat. On the 3-4th restart..let it run and hope it has no knocking noises.

Most low oil ones will snap a connecting rod before they seize up...at least thats is the luck in my area.
I have a Command 18hp sitting here with one rod chucked from low oil.

It is runs ok with no terrible knocking..it may run a decent long time.

It may smoke and use a some oil.

If it lives after this. Only leave this oil in there for like 30 minutes to an hour run time.
Change it again with either full sythentic again 10w-40 Mobie 1 High Mileage at Walmart would be perfect..or Valvoline Racing straight 30 or 40 weight (not syn, but great high zinc oil)

Change filter with this oil change. Any 3614 filter will work (although I won't use Fram)

I have saved many engines...mostly single cyl..like this.

Good luck

 

It won't have a low oil shut off but it might be able to be saved..for a while.

Fill it to full mark or a little above on stick with Amsoil, Redine, Castrol Edge, Mobil 1....10w-30 or 10w-40 Fully Sythethic oil...
Will take about 1.5 qts.

Takes spark plugs out. use a straw or squirt bottle and put 2 oz of this oil into each plug hole. Use a flashlight. Try to get in on the walls of cyl.
Also spray some PB Blaster in the hole for about 8 second spray.
The more oil in there the better.

Look underneath engine and get a big pair of channel locks, vice grips, or plain ol pipe wrench.
Turn engine crank pulley the opposide way it normally turns.
If you are looking up at pulley from ground....it normally turns counter clockwise so turn it clockwise.

Just noticed it's ina gt4000 or 5000.
Some of thsoe older ones had a horizontal crank engine so the pulley would not be under mower. But you jsut need to turn the crankshaft.

The rotation if you are facing top of engine where grid is that spins around....it clockwise so make sure you start by turning it backwards..

....only about 2-3 inches...30 degrees approx...
Then turn back other way....work it back and forth only a few inches about 10 times...then go half turn back and forth an few times.

If it frees up, try to crank it with no throttle or choke for about 6-10 seconds.
Then crank it again like this one more time.

If it is free.
Put plugs back in ans start. Turn it off immediately after is starts. The repeat. On the 3-4th restart..let it run and hope it has no knocking noises.

Most low oil ones will snap a connecting rod before they seize up...at least thats is the luck in my area.
I have a Command 18hp sitting here with one rod chucked from low oil.

It is runs ok with no terrible knocking..it may run a decent long time.

It may smoke and use a some oil.

If it lives after this. Only leave this oil in there for like 30 minutes to an hour run time.
Change it again with either full sythentic again 10w-40 Mobie 1 High Mileage at Walmart would be perfect..or Valvoline Racing straight 30 or 40 weight (not syn, but great high zinc oil)

Change filter with this oil change. Any 3614 filter will work (although I won't use Fram)

I have saved many engines...mostly single cyl..like this.

Good luck

I have also dose this a few time and it does work about 70% of the time,

 

Yeah, good luck,

Walt Conner

 

Thanks for all the input, guys!!!

I think I'm gonna talk to my local repair guy and see if they can try this fix (I'm afraid it may be too much for me by myself) unless I can get a friend to help me. If it doesn't work, I guess I'll try to replace the engine with a rebuilt or cheaper newer one...

I'll keep you guys posted!

 

try disconnect battery and see if it "resets"

should still crank even if motor if it is blown to bits so sounds like electrical issue.

 

drain the oil in a pan and look at it...

You can buy a whole new craftsman, for less than a new Kohler.

You might keep in mind on whatever you do, when checking the dipstick, if the oil is dirty~~change it. If the oil is to the low mark~~change it. If the oil has been run 20 hours~~change it.

I rarely ever ADD oil to a small engine, I just change it. When you examine the oil in the drain pan, you can see what kind of aluminum pieces are in the drain (this includes blown up engines). On those larger engines with an oil filter, don't replace the oil filter every time you change oil. The key to a small engine & oil is never let it get low, never let it get dirty (brown), always use a grade oil recommended by the manuf., never go past 20 hrs. If you maintain your oil like that, you never need to buy an oil filter, and you will know at all times, by the frequency of oil changes as to the condition of your engine.

wwxx

 

Whoa there fellow Massachusetts resident! Slow down.
How do you know that the motor is seized? All you've written is that you get a loud click and nothing moves. To me, that in itself doesn't mean that the motor is stuck.
Your 'new' battery could be lacking the amps to turn over the motor. Brand new batteries some times come not fully charges or with a bad cell. Bad battery, bad connections, bad grounds someplace. You need heavy a heavy current source to turn the motor over. The machine may not be charging, either.
The low oil is only an indicator. Actual model numbers would help to limit guess work.
If you remove the spark plugs and can move the main shaft by hand, it's probably not seized. If you can't move the shaft, probably seized. A non-moving engine will have no compression. The engine has to rotate to have compression.
A 'chick' or a 'guy', we both can forget to check the oil. Been there, forgot to do that, too.
Could also be the drive belt wrapped back upon itself underneath the motor, so nothing moves eventually. Too hot to be looking at it this week (95 - 105 degrees Friday). Cooler this weekend in the shade (80 - 85). Need to do abit more checking before condemming the engine, in my opinion.