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I have a bobcat 225nt about 10 years old-Kohler 18 hp,@2500 hrs ,been a good machine till 20 drops of water trashed the motor.
So here is the story---Used the machine last fri all day making elect,,come Monday ready for the same thing.Hit the starter and motor is making a clanking noise-did not start,never fired a lick. Pulled the plugs and one cylinder had water in it,turned the motor over but the water didn't move(broken rod I thought).
Got the welder out of the truck and into the garage for tear down,strip the sheet metal and got the motor (with rotor attached) out of machine.The rotor has to come off to get into the motor,but how is it attached? The motor and rotor shafts are the same size,no visible fasteners----looking the situation over I finally decide it must be screwed on,and it is(right hand threads).
Finally get into the motor to see what's up----broken piston and bent push rod-----start checking for new motor or parts(did ya know it takes better than $1300 to get new motor) go for the parts and it's @$220(piston,rings,connecting rod,push rod ,gaskets).
Here is what I think happened----had a very little bit of rain over the weekend.Rain got down through the air cleaner and into the cylinder,and froze. When I hit the starter,the bottom of the frozen piston was jerked off and the intake valve hit the piston top and bent the push rod. If you look at the air filter setup any water that gets through goes straight into the carb. One tiny rubber gasket under the filter plate to keep out water---bad design.
If I figured labor it would be cheaper to buy a new machine. So that is how 20 drops of water can ruin your day.
Better check those air filters
So here is the story---Used the machine last fri all day making elect,,come Monday ready for the same thing.Hit the starter and motor is making a clanking noise-did not start,never fired a lick. Pulled the plugs and one cylinder had water in it,turned the motor over but the water didn't move(broken rod I thought).
Got the welder out of the truck and into the garage for tear down,strip the sheet metal and got the motor (with rotor attached) out of machine.The rotor has to come off to get into the motor,but how is it attached? The motor and rotor shafts are the same size,no visible fasteners----looking the situation over I finally decide it must be screwed on,and it is(right hand threads).
Finally get into the motor to see what's up----broken piston and bent push rod-----start checking for new motor or parts(did ya know it takes better than $1300 to get new motor) go for the parts and it's @$220(piston,rings,connecting rod,push rod ,gaskets).
Here is what I think happened----had a very little bit of rain over the weekend.Rain got down through the air cleaner and into the cylinder,and froze. When I hit the starter,the bottom of the frozen piston was jerked off and the intake valve hit the piston top and bent the push rod. If you look at the air filter setup any water that gets through goes straight into the carb. One tiny rubber gasket under the filter plate to keep out water---bad design.
If I figured labor it would be cheaper to buy a new machine. So that is how 20 drops of water can ruin your day.
Better check those air filters