Well it was bound to happen sooner or later...
One of our laborers decided that it would be a good idea to allow a riding mower, specifically a ten thousand dollar exmark E-Series, to leak oil all over a customer's driveway. Instead of not using the mower, this individual continued to use it until the oil was all but gone. This in turn damaged the engine to the point where it did not lock up, but when I finally got it into my shop, you can hear something catch in the rotating assembly...
...in short, this engine needs to be rebuilt.
So here it is, the beginning on February, and this rider is rearing its ugly head. I have a choice, either take the engine apart and rebuild it, or fix the oil leak knowing that sooner or later it will blow up and probably do so in the middle of suburbia.
Or, I could replace the engine. It seems we have two Kawasaki engines, one of which is rated at 31 horsepower, on the shelf. Brand new. Zero hours on them. The problem is that the damaged engine is a Kohler.
The positives:
Both engines make enough horsepower to drive the belts and move the chassis (Kohler is a Command Pro 25, making 25 horsepower. The Kawasaki is a FX850V making 31 horsepower.)
Both engines bolt right on to the chassis via threaded holes in the oil pan, the bolt pattern is the same.
Both engines have the same size shaft, and the under pulleys for the PTO and clutch will fit.
The negatives:
The back half of the wiring harness is different. (The part that wires into the engine itself.)
Some hardware will have to be sourced.
Exmark never installed this Kawasaki engine on an E-Series rider.
Day one: Disassembly.
I removed the engine shroud that covers the wiring harness going to the engine and its various parts and labeled them so that rewiring and splicing would be easier than just taking it apart and trying to guess where the wires go. There are two wires to consider that live under the shroud, those being a carburetor reference wire and an ignition module wire (for the purposes of shutting the engine off.) There are also wires, not connected to the engine directly, for the starter and chassis ground. I labeled these as well. One wire had a terminal on it that went to nothing, so that was appropriately labeled.
I then disconnected the harness at a six pin connector in the back, and set it aside.
I drained the oil out of the old engine (apparently not all of it, though) and removed the electric clutch (which promptly fell apart, necessitating repair) and the hydro drive pulley, along with placing the belts to the side. At this point notes were made regarding reassembly, parts were set aside, and the old engine was removed from the chassis.
Day two: Check the fitment.
I made a cardboard template of the bolt pattern for the engine, and found that the Kawasaki engine will bolt right on to the chassis. After recruiting help to get the engine off of the shelf, and moving said engine to my workbench, I discovered that the muffler off of the old engine will not fit on to the new engine. Not a big deal, as we can order one or modify one to fit. At this point I decided to make absolutely sure that the pulleys and clutch will fit, they do. The portion of the crankshaft that sticks out of the engine is also the same length. All positive things.
Day three: engine installation.
Bolting up an engine to a chassis when someone stores about three tons of SHIT on your lift table is a royal pain in the ass, but I did it. The fun part, however, is trying to install the pulleys while getting phone call after phone call about absolutely NOTHING. Now that the pulleys and belt for the hydro drive is installed, it's time to source a muffler.
Enter what is probably the absolute worst lawnmower shop in the history of lawnmower shops who inform me that this particular engine was never installed in this particular chassis. Thanks guys, get me a muffler like I asked for and we will be ok...
Day Four: (one week later because this lawnmower shop SUCKS!) Muffler install and final assembly.
As much as installing an engine on to a chassis is a pain in the ass on the floor, installing a muffler on to an engine that is already on the chassis is possible, but also a pain in the ass. Mostly because of the gaskets that need to be installed. After fighting with this for about 30 minutes, on goes the muffler, the wiring is sorted out and installed, and final assembly commences. All engine mounting bolts are secured with Loctite blue in a convenient gel formulation.
The blade drive belt (which is run by an electric clutch) would have been installed, except for someone using the mower as a pick a part deal and snatching an idler pulley while I wasn't looking. Once that pulley was installed, the belt went on, the engine was started, the functions were checked, and the test run commences...
Except for one bracket for the muffler this is ready to go to battle with the grass.
Installation notes (if anyone cares):
-Should you need to order parts for the chassis, they remain stock.
-Should you need to order parts for the engine, use the model and serial number off of the engine.(all small engines have a model and a serial number on a decal somewhere on the block)
-The stock muffler (important-for the NEW engine) will fit and clear the stock guard plates that surround the engine and protect it from the operator, err, impacts....
-With any new engine, regardless of what it is installed on, disable the ignition system and use the starter to spin that motor for about twenty seconds. This will send the oil from the oil pan to the moving parts and lubricate them. This is sometimes called "dry firing" and it can save your engine from premature wear.
-You may have to shorten the fuel line (like I did) so that you don't have two feet of fuel line left over, hanging off the engine, that the fuel has to fight to get through.
-In my case, the choke cable had to be replaced because the stocker was too short. I used a stock throttle cable.
-You have to know a bit about wiring, like how to read a wiring diagram, to make the electrical system work.
-Consult a professional if in doubt.
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