When Do You Kohler Guys Change Oil?

CADplans said:

I wore out a K321 in under 1000 hours due to 20 hour oil changes,,, :hide:

I now change the Kohler K and M engine oil at 10-12 hours,,, even then it looks dirty. :swow:

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Were you using Straight 30 weight or a multi-vis oil? that's crazy that you fried the engine after 1000 hours. I'm at 1800 hours (overhauled at 1600 hrs), and that's all I use is SAE 30

When talking about their new no oil change engines B&S said..

How does Just Check & Add Work?

There are two major reasons consumers usually need to change their oil:

• Debris has gotten into the oil, causing it to get dirty, and dirty oil causes wear on the engine
  
• And through regular running of the engine, the oil heats up, causing it to breakdown and create sludge.

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The first point is another way of saying small engines need better air filters.

In my Magnum and k's I'd run a whole season before changing. Always used Shell Rotella T30 wt with a splash of Lucas, still run this oil-coctail- in all my equipment. Both of those tractors had many hours on them with the 310 well over 2000. Ran strong up until I sold it.
I'd guess btween 25-50 hours before changing, But I always went by color on dipstick. I did religously clean the pre-filter (air) and re-oil weekly.
The 310 was our weekly mowing machine for the 3 past years and NEVER missed a beat. WOT 3580rpm for 2 hours at a time. Those Magnums are EXCELLENT engines!

MU

Rotella is the champagne of oils, wish I could get it locally.

Whatever the engine or the oil, you should be pulling the dipstick after every use (or before) looking for color/other mischief, especially if the machine has a History. Air-cooled engines especially. Getting dark/sparkly/otherwise funky, get it outta there.

Every engine is different, and each one makes its own rules, no matter the brand, or the hours. Read it, not some piece of paper. :fing32:

munderhill said:

In my Magnum and k's I'd run a whole season before changing. Always used Shell Rotella T30 wt with a splash of Lucas, still run this oil-coctail- in all my equipment. Both of those tractors had many hours on them with the 310 well over 2000. Ran strong up until I sold it.
I'd guess btween 25-50 hours before changing, But I always went by color on dipstick. I did religously clean the pre-filter (air) and re-oil weekly.The 310 was our weekly mowing machine for the 3 past years and NEVER missed a beat. WOT 3580rpm for 2 hours at a time. Those Magnums are EXCELLENT engines!

MU

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MU
I do the exact same thing on my Scotts that is my weekly mower/bagger. Plenty dusty here sometimes---so it really helps to have a clean air filter/pre-filter. Takes about 10 min's sitting out in the sun for the little foam pre-cleaner to dry out enough to re-oil it.
:fing32:
glenn

Three times a year. Beginning of the grass cutting season, mid-way through the summer (both with SAE 30w), then end of fall switch to 10w-30 for the winter and snow season. I do the same with teh pre-filter. Keep them clean and oiled. I just rebuilt a 42 y/o Kohler K241 and it had .0015 max wear on the bore, and .0005 on the crank journal. Oil changes and clean running account for a lot.