Best Summer Weight Oil

[GTSRider]

What is the best summer weight oil for a Kohler 20hp V motor in my Cub Cadet.
I bought it used and it has 414 hrs. on it.
The factory recommended weight seems way to thin.... and the 100 hr interval is a joke ! This engine runs super hot.
I am changing every 15 hours for now.
Pete

 

[Transit]

The Kohler V20 is air cooled; running super hot is a relative term. However, to see what is going on with the air cooling you will need to disassemble the baffle and shrouds and look for clumps of grass in the cooling fins. At the very top of the engine there should be a grass screen that rotates with the drive shaft and below that is the fan that blows air to cool the engine. If the engine dose not burn oil at 400+ hours and the oil at 15 hours is clean, than you are doing good. The recommended oil is 10w30; you may switch to a 20w30 or a 10 w 30 part or full synthetic.

 

[JTKub]

Pete, like Transit says, you might wanna blow out the shrouding under the cylinder heads. You can *usually* get a decent look through the area where the sparkplugs poke through. That said, I run 15w40 heavy-duty engine oils in all my small air cooled OPE, and Buffalo summers don't stay hot for long (usually). I know Kohler specs 10w30 and they are no doubt smart fellers, but I honestly believe most spec that weight because it's a good blanket oil that covers most conditions, is easily recognized and easy to source. FWIW, Cub recommends 15w40 for my brand-new Kohler Courage Pro 20hp twin on my Z-Force.

Joel

 

[GTSRider]

Thanks Guys for your input.
I have cleaned this engine fins and all other areas of engine and tranny.
This thing is as new clean.
I am even thinking it may be a new replacement engine as internal casting
at oil fill shows shiny internals.
Pete

 

[Transit]

Thanks Guys for your input.
I have cleaned this engine fins and all other areas of engine and tranny.
This thing is as new clean.
I am even thinking it may be a new replacement engine as internal casting
at oil fill shows shiny internals.
Pete

and so why do you think it runs hot?

 

[SHUNKSTER]

What tractor model do you have?

 

[GTSRider]

2003 3000 series Cub Cadet

 

[GTSRider]

Why does it run so hot ?
Dunno.... guys on this forum say it is the nature of the beast.
Also 3 acres of half football field flat other half hilly...
so it is working hard.
I still can't believe Cub Cadet says 100 hrs. on oil !
I am changing at 15, but will extend to 20 with better oil.

 

[Storm56]

What are you using to gauge "running hot"? It is common to equate 50 hours on equipment to 2000 miles on a car, thus 100 hours would be like 4000 miles on a car. Hardly excessive and well within every manufacturer recommendation.

If your unit is indeed running hot it would be better to find the problem rather than changing oil every 15 hours.

 

[smstonypoint]

What are you using to gauge "running hot"? It is common to equate 50 hours on equipment to 2000 miles on a car, thus 100 hours would be like 4000 miles on a car. Hardly excessive and well within every manufacturer recommendation.

If your unit is indeed running hot it would be better to find the problem rather than changing oil every 15 hours.

I agree. Every 15 hours seems like a waste of time and money. I just bought a new ZTR with a Kawasaki FX850V. Kawasaki recommends changing the oil after the first 8 hours and then every 100 hours.

Steve

 

[SHUNKSTER]

My GT2554 run's what I consider hot ( there are plenty of postings on this site that talk about this) It will leave a burnt patch of grass under it in August. I always make sure I blow the clippings out of the engine and lift the hood after mowing. I change the oil after every 50 hrs of use and that seems fine. For the most part the oil still looks clean when I change it. Every 15 seems like a lot, but it doesn't cost much to change and it sure won't hurt it.

 

[smstonypoint]

My GT2554 run's what I consider hot ( there are plenty of postings on this site that talk about this) It will leave a burnt patch of grass under it in August. I always make sure I blow the clippings out of the engine and lift the hood after mowing. I change the oil after every 50 hrs of use and that seems fine. For the most part the oil still looks clean when I change it. Every 15 seems like a lot, but it doesn't cost much to change and it sure won't hurt it.

Just curious, is this overheating common to all of the 20 HP Kohlers, regardless of the mower?

Steve

 

[SHUNKSTER]

Don't know, I do know that the 2500 series seem to run hot, expecially with the 54" deck. I have a 23HP Command Kohler probably the same motor.

 

[Toyboy]

I used 10w 30 synthetic (I used Mobil 1 but any brand will do) in my 16hp Onan and never looked back. If everything is as clean as you say, by using synthetic oil it'll run as cool as it's gonna get depending on your ambient temperature.

 

[JTKub]

I know they seem scorching hot, but if the engine is sucking lots of air on the flywheel end, is running well at full range of RPM and isn't pinging or making any weird noises, it's not too hot. In regards to the burnt patch of grass under a 2 or 3K series, that's because of where the muffler is located. Especially on the pre 2006 model 2500's. The radiant heat from the muffler will kill the grass near it if you leave the tractor parked hot for any length of time. I haven't head of this issue with the 2006+ 2500 series. The muffler is mounted up high under the hood on these (front lift, plastic hood) models.

Joel

 

[GTSRider]

I have never done an infared temp test or oil temp test.....
but this tractor runs so hot that you can not hold your hand on top of hood after it has run half an hour for more than 2 seconds.
It scorches the grass under it when I park it as was mentioned.
You are all right I believe on the 15 hrs.
The reason I thought of 15 is because my other Kohler 16 hp single calls for 25 hr oil changes , and this V-twin seems to runs 10 times hotter.
Is there any company that makes an oil temp gauge for these engines ?

 

[MArvane]

GTSR, I owned an air cooled 911 Porsche for several years and 125,000 miles in another life (single without kids). Being VERY concerned about the well being of my baby I instrumented the heck out of it. Not only did I have a factory dash mounted oil temperature gauge (calibrated in degrees) but I installed a cylinder head temperature gauge (a must on air cooled small plane engines) which was a thermocouple attached to a washer that I used instead of the regular washer between the spark plug and the cylinder head. In all my years and miles I found that the cylinder head temperature was virtually the same as the oil temperature, which made sense---and may hold the same for air cooled engines in general. This may be a relatively easy solution.

FYI most dash mounted instruments are actually 0-6 VDC (or other) gauges calibrated for the parameter being measured. Twenty years ago (when I owned the Porsche) I determined what the critical alarm point, in volts, was for the parameter of interest. Let's say for oil pressure, the "red" zone (low oil pressure) would be at 3 VDC. I bought a 3 VDC zener diode at Radio Shack and wired it to the gauge then to a piezo alarm buzzer which would go off and give me an loud audio alarm on low oil pressure. Cost all of a few bucks; too easy and cheap a preventative measure for manufacturers I suppose.

 

[Skyco]

The IR temp guns have gotten really inexpensive since I bought my Raytek way back. Super handy to have around. Get one and read the crankcase area where the oil is to see how hot it is...then you can judge from there on change interval.
I find a zillion uses for IR guns..great for checking tire temps to spot one low on air when on the run or reading hubs on a trailer to spot dragging brakes or dry or too tight bearings...read exhaust manifold inputs to spot a dead or weak cylinder, heck I've even used it in the kitchen! the list goes on..:thumbsup:

 

[MArvane]

Are you kidding? I've seen them cheaper than bi-met thermometers! Also use them to monitor hot pulleys, hot belts, etc.---a must have!

 

[highboy1975]

i use digi-tron on my go-karts. it has a tach and a thermometer. i might try and pick up a used one for my 125. there is a "washer" that sits under the sparkplug to measure the temp there, and an attachment that goes to the plug wire to measure rpms. digitron tachs are programmable, so you should be able to set one up for these motors, but in my experience, although very accurate, they arent cheap. we used them ot help in making carb adjustments, and gearing adjustments at the track. i've seen briggs 5hp motors spin 9k+, without looking at it, i'll bet your muffler is holding alot of heat and displacing it onto the grass under the tractor and killing your grass there.