2001 PT425 Kohler CH25 Oil Leak - Pull The Engine

[Modrob]

I was curious to see more of the detail of how these are put together. Lots of information in those pictures.

I had to clean a similar mess off my Terramite recently. Used a plastic paint scaper to scoop off the mix of caked, oily dirt without scratching the paint, and then wiped it down with paper towels that I burned.

I’m late to the party! Glad to see the pics too, and the explanations…helps me understand a little more about mine.

 

[Modrob]

I think that Superclean degreaser is amazing at getting oil off. Of course it has lye in it, so eye and skin protection is a must.

Amazon.com

https://www.superclean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016-SuperClean-Degreaser-SDS-v2.0.pdf

I like POR15 metal prep for bare metal preparation.

All the best,

Peter

I’ve been going through that stuff by the gallons lately…I’ve found it best so far. And a new HF ultrasonic cleaner helps too.

 

[MossRoad]

Welp, it showed up inside of a corrugated cardboard box in a waterproof bag. The plastic box has a cracked hinge. Oh well. Doesn't bother me. All of the fittings are there. Will get on it again as time permits. Spent the weekend working on canna lilies, flower pots, greenhouse, etc. winterizing. Spent Sunday with my wife and some of her family.

View attachment 833081 View attachment 833082 View attachment 833083

Would have been handy to have the PT425 to dig out the lilies in 5 minutes VS 2 hours with the shovel.

2nd set of caps and plugs arrived yesterday. The plastic box wasn't even cracked!

Back to work on it over the weekend. I hope... since our kids moved back to Indiana and are now within 2 hours VS 6 and 12hrs respectively, they sure do show up a lot more!

We love it!

 

[MossRoad]

Finally had the ability to start putting the engine back in after replacing the cracked oil cooler gasket.

I decided to split the plastic fan shroud vertically so that if I have to get to the lovejoy on that side of the engine again. I fabricated a tab in the bottom halves of the shell to keep them aligned, put the bolts back in up the sides, and pop riveted a strap across the top of the split to keep it from vibrating.

Installed various other shielding and such.

Installed the shroud, the variable volume pump on the front, and the two PTO pumps on the rear, removed the muffler and I was good to start.

Got it aligned and started lowering. Stopped about 6" from the bottom and started hooking up hoses. That appeared to be easier than trying to do that if the engine was all the way in. Got them all hooked up and set the engine down. Had to pull the right rear tire to reconnect the one hose I had to pull from that wheel motor. It helped that I put color coded zip ties on the hoses and took a lot of pictures before disassembly

The cheap harbor freight service wrenches sure made things a lot easier.

Next chance I get, I'll reinstall the 4 engine plate mounting bolts, reinstall the right rear tire and start hooking up electronics and the hydro back device. Choke and throttle linkage. Then I have add a new battery, reinstall the muffler, bleed everything, put the spark plugs back in, block it up off the ground and give it a test.

(click pictures to enlarge)

 

[m5040]

The excitement is starting to build...

 

[ponytug]

@MossRoad thanks for the detailed post and great photos. I find it very interesting to see the design/construction of your 425!

What kind of straps did you use under the engine?

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

@MossRoad thanks for the detailed post and great photos. I find it very interesting to see the design/construction of your 425!

What kind of straps did you use under the engine?

All the best,

Peter

I bought two axle straps from Harbor Freight.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3333-lb-capacity-24-in-x-2-in-axle-strap-with-d-rings-57271.html

2 D ring shackles

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-d-ring-shackle-for-atv-red-58639.html

And used some existing chains, hooks, etc. that I had laying around.

I slipped the axle straps through the engine mounting plate. It's two plates. The bottom plate bolts to the engine tub base, there are about 2" risers around the edges, inset a bit, then the top plate. The engine bolts to the top plate. So I slipped them between the plates. Worked fine. The only thing that passes through those plates are one hose for the right/rear wheel motor. That got installed to the tram pump manifold area and slipped through before I lowered the engine the last couple inches just to make it easier on myself.

Now that I know how easy it is to remove/install the engine, I'm a lot more comfortable if I have to do it again. Also, pretty comfortable with the hydraulic hoses now that I bought two sets of those caps and plugs. Boy, you don't plug something on that and a hose drops below the level of the tank and you're gonna be cleaning up a lot of oil!

I had to buy two sets of them because I was short a couple when taking the thing apart. There were reasonably priced and now I have them forever.

 

[MossRoad]

You can see the tram pump/engine mounting plate pretty good in that first picture. Pretty slick if you think about it. All one unit.

It went in much easier with both pumps installed than the way I took it out by separating the pumps from the engine.

Also, I found one tab on the rubber lovejoy star cracked off between the tram pump coupler sections. So I ordered a new one and replaced that as well.

 

[MossRoad]

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.

 

[MossRoad]

I also noticed in that picture you can see a hose sitting on the left rear wheel. That's the hose for the right rear wheel that had to slip through the engine mount. I had it sitting there so I wouldn't forget it.