2001 PT425 Kohler CH25 Oil Leak - Pull The Engine

[MossRoad]

Broken and new lovejoy stars
(click to enlarge)

 

[MossRoad]

Color coded zip ties on hoses and pumps. Picture save your bacon!!

(click to enlarge)

 

[Modrob]

You can also see my tram pump bypass hose installed. No valve on mine for moving it around if I lose power. I'm contemplating putting a valve in that loop and just leaving it permanently installed. May come in handy some day, and I won't have to keep track of that hose in my tools/parts storage area.

Hmmmm…I had to have a bypass hose made last year so I could tow it out of the woods, after Terry directed me. (He told me where my valve was but 1. it was hard to get to, and 2. I couldn’t get it to turn. It was a vertical rod about approx 3/8” and had a through hole in it that a small shaft screwdriver could get in it to turn. I don’t think I had enough room to try and get any force on it to turn. After I explained what I had and was looking at he said he didn’t know I had the bypass ports—I didn’t know what they were—and told me to simply hook them up and I’d be good. Sure enough.) I managed to get my phone down there to see what I was looking for.

 

[Modrob]

Broken and new lovejoy stars
(click to enlarge)
View attachment 1690964 View attachment 1690965

Where is this part located??

 

[MossRoad]

Where is this part located??

Between the tramp pump and the engine.

There are three parts to the lovejoy connector:
Two hubs and the spider.
On this particular one, the hubs each have 4 fingers and the spider has 8.

One hub is mounted to the engine shaft, the other is mounted to the pump shaft, and the spider goes between them. They are sandwiched together with the pump mount. Apparently it takes up shock and allows for minor misalignment of the shafts and dampens vibration.

There's another one on the PTO pumps on the shaft on the other end of my engine.

(click to enlarge)

Pump hub.


Engine hub with spider installed as viewed through the pump mount with the pump removed.


That silver thing between seen coming out of the engine through the pump mount, still attached to the pump shaft.

 

[MossRoad]

The hubs are keyed to the shaft and have set screws. So you could adjust depth onto the shaft for adjustment if you had to.

However, this is the hub mounted on the pump. PT has cross drilled it and installed a pin to prevent the hub from going too deep onto the shaft. That's pretty convenient for me, as it got the hub back to the correct depth on the shaft very easily. Otherwise, you'd have to mark the shaft for depth or measure, etc... to ensure it gets back into the correct place.

Knowing now what I did not know then, if I'd have removed the engine with the pumps attached, I'd not have had to take the hub off the pump side to get everything out.

 

[ponytug]

Broken and new lovejoy stars
(click to enlarge)
View attachment 1690964 View attachment 1690965

Hmmm... I am used to the rubber spiders being the same size as the couplers. I doubt that it matters.

That is super nice of PT to cross drill and pin the coupler! That saves a bunch of fiddling around.

I wish that there was an access port to check on the state of the rubber spider. It is a wear item of an unknown lifespan, though the sound of a shattered/missing spider is usually quite noticeable.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Modrob]

Between the tramp pump and the engine.

There are three parts to the lovejoy connector:
Two hubs and the spider.
On this particular one, the hubs each have 4 fingers and the spider has 8.

One hub is mounted to the engine shaft, the other is mounted to the pump shaft, and the spider goes between them. They are sandwiched together with the pump mount. Apparently it takes up shock and allows for minor misalignment of the shafts and dampens vibration.

There's another one on the PTO pumps on the shaft on the other end of my engine.

(click to enlarge)

Pump hub.
View attachment 1690982

Engine hub with spider installed as viewed through the pump mount with the pump removed.
View attachment 1690983

That silver thing between seen coming out of the engine through the pump mount, still attached to the pump shaft.

View attachment 1690984

Wow! Good information and pics. Thanks much for that.

 

[2manyrocks]

Detailed posts like this are great for understanding more about these machines. Thanks Moss Road.

 

[MossRoad]

Picked up a new battery yesterday ($200 ouch!). Had to loosen all 4 engine mounting bolts to slide the engine forward 1/8" to get it to slip in. Strapped it down securely.

Mounted muffler support and muffler.

Mounted hydroback device.

Connected all electrical.

Tried to connect the throttle cable and found it will not move with the lever. Removed it, took it to the vice, and worked it over a good long while. Lubed it up and reinstalled.

Put the ignition switch back in.

Installed the fuel tank and remounted the fuel pump. Connected all fuel lines.

Jacked the machine up and put on blocks with all 4 wheels off the ground.

CHECKED THE EINGINE OIL LEVEL FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME just to make sure I don't dry start it. It's good. I did an oil/filter change while it was on the engine stand, but still paranoid I didn't refill it with oil.

Removed the spark plugs. Hooked up the battery and gave it a bump with the key. It spins. Yay!

Connected the bleed hose to the tram pump and put the other end in the hydraulic tank. Checked the tank level. OK.

Long day. Next thing to do is spin the engine with plugs removed until no more air bubbles from bleed hose. I suspect that may take a while, so I'll use the battery charger/starter to make it easier on the battery. Should spin pretty easy with the plugs out.

The only thing that I could not find in all my bags of parts, nicely labeled and stored, was the nylon nut that holds the post in the heim joint from the hydroback to the lever on top of the variable volume pump. Looks similar to this...


Grrrrr. It's 1/4" fine thread. Went to Home Depot and bought every variance of 1/4" thread nuts I could find, but figured it was 1/4"-28 thread. That's a rare bird, but found one with a star washer attached. Took it home and installed. OK.

Later in the day when moving the engine forward as mentioned above, I was under the machine and saw a shiny nylon nut laying there..... yep! It was the 1/4-28 that was missing. I honestly looked and swept under there multiple times. Oh well. I removed the nut with star washer and replaced with the nylon nut. I feel better now.