16 Hp Kohler K-341 Rebuild or Junk?

[oliver2-44 9,726]

Last Fall I picked up a non running 79-C-161 for $75 that had a rough life.  The PO said the transaxle had problems but that the engine was good. I knew it needed a complete restore and my thoughs were to keep it as (restored) original, as possible, and it still be a worker.   I went to drain the oil and it barely dripped. poking a wire into the drain hole brought out metal chunks. So I've tour it down and found some interesting problems. The interesting question is what failed first.

Now, all this engine damage has me wondering if I should repower with a new engine.  So what's salvage-able, and what's junk....block?  crankshaft ? flywheel? 

 

Cylinder has 0.005-0.006 ths wear which probable contributed to this piston skirt failure.  There was lots of sludge in the engine to suggest it didn't have frequent oil changes. So the block will need to be bored.

 

At first I though the pile of black metal trash was just from the piston skirt, Then I found some metal gear teeth and a roll pin. The governor gear was completely disintegrated, not even a round hub left on the shaft. 

But where does the 1" long roll pin come from? 

 

In the above picture you can see the  connecting rod dipper is bent but this has the deeper oil pan pictured below. So I can only guess that the dipper hit on some of the metal in the bottom of the oil pan.

 

The governor gear stub shaft doesn't appear visible damaged, Does anyone have the spec's what this governor shaft should measure.

 

 

The balance gears were intact and bearings seemed Ok, but the teeth had some marks where metal trash passed through them. when I removed the balance gears I found this small crack in the block below one of them.  I plan to toss the balance gears. Should I be concerned about this crack growing, or is the block still usable?

 

 

The flywheel appeared tight, and came off with the aid of a puller and a hard rap on a brass punch to the shaft. However the crankshaft taper is chewed up so it appears the flywheel was looks at some point in history.The flywheel tapered bore also has some gaulding, but not near as bad as the crankshaft.

Can this tapered part of the crankshaft be machined? The seal area shows a little wear, but looks like it could be polished out?

 

Amazingly the crankshaft journal measures well within spec, but has some marks, so it would need to be ground 0.010.

 

The PTO end of the crankshaft looked the best,  does this PTO end look like it could just be polished. 

 

The camshaft and it's shaft, and the valves, valve seats, and valve guides all look to be in usable shape with just a valve job.  I was really surprised the valve guides felt as good as they do with all the sludge that was in the bottom of the engine.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

[pacer 3,169]

Boy that thing is WHIPPED!! Sure looks like lack of oil...

 

You got some serious damage, I'm thinking the block cracks are possibly the most serious, difficult to tell just on a picture. I wonder if the crank is any good where it looks like the flywheel spun at one time, again hard to say with a pic... Dang shame...

[953 nut 55,165]

    The cracks in the block at the governor balance gear shaft may never go any further, BUT I wouldn't spend any mony on that block. You can probably find another engine in better shape for less than the cost of  the machine work and not have to worry.    

[rmaynard 15,434]

Without seeing it in person, I would have to agree that it has seen it's best days. A good machine shop that specializes in small engines could render a much more precise verdict though. The other thing that you have to consider is that it is a K341AS, meaning it has a special oil pan. That pan was designed to sit in the anti-vibration cradle of the C-161. It won't fit anything else without a lot of modifications to the receiving tractor.

 

As to the transmission, if it's an 8-speed, it can be fixed.

[oliver2-44 9,726]

Am I correct that my oil pan should bolt to another standard k341 block to make a different engine fit in my C-161 cradle

[953 nut 55,165]

Am I correct that my oil pan should bolt to another standard k341 block to make a different engine fit in my C-161 cradle.

As I understand it any of the 10,12,14 and 16 HP will interchange oil pans, if I'm wrong some one will be prompt in correcting me.

[oldredrider 2,548]

Refer to this link:

Very good explanation of the differences.

[rmaynard 15,434]

Quick answer is no.

[Fordiesel69 263]

If block was not cracked I would say go for it.  

[jeremi3210 717]

Kohler made wide and narrow blocks. That pan will only fit the narrow blocks.