What's up with Kohler (Rant warning)

[SousaKerry 501]

Ok so I've been having issues with my C-125 with the series II kt-17 under the hood, Just dies randomly and wond start back up for 10 minutes or so... Some of you may have seen this at Charlotte recently.

I tore apart the carb finally to rebuild it, had it sitting in the parts washer at work all week. Call up the local Dealer (Brady Equipment, Mason, Mi) get a hold of the parts guy who is also the owner give him my spec number looking for a carb kit. He gets on the computer and no luck, Kohler shows no parts for the engine anymore.

He then tells me that Kohler is washing their hands of the older engines and although still supplies parts will not give out part numbers??!!!?!?!?! :banghead: :banghead:

Apparently since the EPA is coming down hard on the manufactures of these evil polluting engines Kohler has decided that it will not support them any longer.

WTF Kohler so we are just all supposed to scrap our favorite engines and buy a fancy new one for $3-6K so some dang idiot in Washington can make a job for himself by pleasing some damn tree hugging hippie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

F U EPA

ok rant over

btw anybody know the part number for a Kohler KT-17 Series II carb kit?? This is the walbro carb with the plastic float not the brass.

[MarkPalmer 81]

Kohler isn't all too interested in wanting to support the K and Magnum series engines any longer. This was evidenced with a new pair of factory Kohler valves I got the other day. They were labeled, "Made in Brazil," and the kicker... the stem measurements were both .010 under the spec size. What the heck good are those valves going to do me when their new stem dimensions are even smaller than the old original valves I took out? From here on out we need to measure new parts carefully, re-use any old engine parts until they are down to their last useable molecule, or rely on what Chinese aftermarket parts we can get that will fill the bill of being, "good enough." I think Kohler just wants these old engines to die off ASAP, and they figure poor factory parts for them will help the death come sooner.

Much of this modern corporate America philosopy comes from the out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new management style. As the old timers retire from Kohler, their offices are filled with fresh Harvard MBA kids who have never even seen a K series engine, none the less care what one is. They just see that supproting them doesn't look good for the, "bottom line," so they say at their meetings, "what in the heck are we supporting this old crap for?" Then just like that, the support ends as all their buddies at the table raise their hands to drop it.

My book shows these Kohler part numbers for the Walbro carb:

Carb kit: 2575711S

Float: 2575709S

Avaliable on E-Bay for low prices.

-Mark-

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 137]

They'd prefer you bought a new tractor with their "new" engine every few years. The EPA excuse sounds a bit lame.

[Fordiesel69 259]

I am just as bummed. But we all know the used parts market will still be there for a bit.

[SousaKerry 501]

They'd prefer you bought a new tractor with their "new" engine every few years. The EPA excuse sounds a bit lame.

I would normally say that too but my parts guy spent 45 minutes on the phone with me searching through several sources.

[MarkPalmer 81]

They'd prefer you bought a new tractor with their "new" engine every few years. The EPA excuse sounds a bit lame.

Yeah, with their new piece of garbage Courage engine that barely lasts a few years.

-Mark-

[CasualObserver 3,408]

I think to be fair you have to consider both sides of it. On one hand you have the consumers (us) who want availability of parts... We are part of the era that still understands that things weren't always made to throw away and buy new every couple years. Unfortunately with anything you want to last, it's going to require maintenance.... and inevitably, parts. We want it cheaper, we want it better and we want it now. Because of this, more and more consumers are settling for the Stens and Primeline aftermarket parts to maintain their good old Kohlers, knowing darn well they aren't as good as the quality of the OEM parts, but they can be had for considerably cheaper, and they are readily available at nearly any auto parts store in the nation.

On the other hand.... This of course takes money out of Kohler's pocket, since they don't sell as many parts for the obsolete equipment. It is a diminishing return for them to continue to supply parts which cost more and more to produce, stock and service while more and more of their customers are turning to aftermarket. There are only so many dollars in the market, and in order for businesses in the modern era to continue to survive, they have to be innovative and fight for their share. This means that support for obsolete products becomes a thing of the past. Dollars are needed for research and development of the next big thing. Blame it all you want on the 'new Harvard grad' making those calls.... but it's bigger than that. It's the global economy.

[specialwheelhorse 174]

Sousakerry2 : Try tulsaenginewarehouse I just checked and #2575711 s they have listed for about 15 bucks

Now shipping will be about $9 but they will ship a bunch of other stuff for the same shipping. They have a lot and

I've always been happy with anything I've gotten there. And I have got what I've needed to rework 15 or 20 engines

there.

JIM IN TEXAS

[JackC 617]

Try this. Over time I try to set up my own parts department for things like carb kits and valves especially now with the crap gas we have.

http://www.wfmfiles.com/download/Kohler_Carb_Service_Kits.pdf

[Don1977 604]

The big corporations don't want to hear about customers complaints they all have authorize dealers to handle that. The dealer is caught in the middle just tiring to make a living and keep his business going. You would have to camp out in the dealers parking lot to never see a Company Representative. That's been my experience when I had a problem with a new engine. We could get the same customer service from the Chinese, most of it's been built over there anyway. The policy seems to be if it breaks you get to keep both pieces.

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 137]

They'd prefer you bought a new tractor with their "new" engine every few years. The EPA excuse sounds a bit lame.

I would normally say that too but my parts guy spent 45 minutes on the phone with me searching through several sources.

I don't doubt they the parts are becoming unavailable I just think it's more of Kohler's doing than the EPA. I looked around briefly for some press releases on it but couldn't find any. Usually when the EPA does that sort of stuff there's a press release from the company or companies impacted. But I've been wrong before :-)

[520HC 207]

Well I think your Dealer is full of it. I have been a Kohler Dealer for 20 years, and no company backs their products better than Kohler.Parts are still available for the K-Series going way back to the 1960's. Check around, you can find them.

[TT-(Moderator) 1,131]

Now your dealer can call you with questions. :hilarious:

[SousaKerry 501]

Thanks guys the big beef was that his computer system wasn't yielding any results and neither were.any of the websites that I usually use such as jacksmallengines and rcpw