Break In?

[AL_Josh]

I have always heard of breaking an engine in. The guys at dealer said just go for it. I read in another post that the throttle should be kept at a moderate speed. till it is broke in. It is a 23 hp Kohler Command. The guys at dealer also said change the oil after 4 to 5 hours. The manual says the oil from the factory is good for 24 hours. I would like for the mower to last me a long time so I want to do what is right.
Being a new homeowner this is the first mower I have actually bought. It is a LT1046. My first impressions of it are it is an awesome mower with plenty of power (23 hp). I am 6' 4" and I do not have a bit of problems sitting on it. It cuts very nice. I am very pleased with my purchase. I compared many mower in this price range and think I got the most for my money with the Cub.

 

[Mojoman]

Definitely refer to your owners' manual, it has the proper break-in times and oil change intervals in there, and I would follow those as opposed to what the dealer is telling you.

 

[MrWiggles2]

I totally disagree. My dealer dropped off my first Cub and said do not do what the manual says. If you run it at half throttle, then 3/4 throttle you are doing more damage than you think. A proper way to break in an engine is to not baby it. Start it, raise the throttle to wide open and work it. The rings will seat properly, the engine will pump oil properly and it will last a long time. When I purchased my first Cub, the mechanic went over the entire machine with me. I couldn't understand why he was telling me to do things that were against the owners manual. He said rarely does he work on an engine that is properly broken in. The ones that he sees are the ones that were babied, not broken in correctly, then they fail... and they can fail at 100 hours or more, many times resulting from poor breaking proceedures. Then I thought, do commercial lawn companies break-in equipment. No, they run them W.O. from the word go and get thousands of hours on a motor. The maintenance schedule that I follow is the first 5-10 hours do the first oil change and lube it up. Don't wait until 25 hours, that could be 1/2 the year on the oil that has been sitting in the crankcase becoming more acidic. Then I change the oil every 50 hours or seasonal, whichever. My hydro filter gets changed every 100 hours, per the dealer. I've attached an interesting link that I found on-line about proper break-in. A lot of good points. I have 73 hours on my 2180, its not totally broken in yet. It takes awhile to break it in, BUT, the majority is done in the first few hours.
Break-In
Don't baby it, as my signature states below /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DmansPadge]

I agree with Mr Wiggles. It would seem that running it slow at first would be best, but, that is not the case. Run it like you would use it if it was 10 years old.

 

[gamble77]

I agree. I tell my customers to not be afraid to run it at full throttle, but only do so after letting the machine warm up for a little while. I also strongly recommend that my customers change the oil in their machines before the 15 hour mark. Thats our standard procedure.

 

[AL_Josh]

Thanks for the help.

I now have 4 hrs on it. I have been running it full throttle. Like the dealer said. I will be changing the oil arround the 10 hr mark.

It is cutting fine but the next step I think is going to be leveling the deck. Everyone seems to rave about it so I would like to see if it will make a difference on my mower. I just need to pick up the little tool.

I do not see a recomended oil in the manual for the motor it does give a suggested weight. I live in Mobile. So it gets pretty hot and hummid.

Any suggestions?

 

[JTKub]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ........I am 6' 4" and I do not have a bit of problems sitting on it. It cuts very nice. I am very pleased ... )</font>

Holy cow Al, are you sitting in the tow behind cart? (j/kidding) the "break-in" concept cracks me up for a hydro drive LT/GT. You cant cut grass worth a darn at anything other than full throttle. The rings seat pretty quick on a modern small air cooled engine. No worries!
G/luck
Joel

 

[depdir802]

The book says to run it at full throttle and the break in period is 24 Hrs. and that should be your first oil change then I believe its every 100 hrs after that. The book gives you a break down of service per hours on the machine

 

[Mojoman]

Well hopefully when you guys get a new boat motor or a new car you don't also run them wide open from the word go.....I always heard that proper break-in on engines require change in rpms to seat the rings correctly. I realize that a car motor is not a small air cooled engine, so there probably is somewhat of a difference, but it just doesn't make sense that you would treat engines differently when the ideal behind breaking in an engine is the same. Well crap... I guess my engine is going to explode on me 'cause I followed the manufacturers break in instructions /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Bob_Bainbridge]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Well hopefully when you guys get a new boat motor or a new car you don't also run them wide open from the word go.....I always heard that proper break-in on engines require change in rpms to seat the rings correctly. I realize that a car motor is not a small air cooled engine, so there probably is somewhat of a difference, but it just doesn't make sense that you would treat engines differently when the ideal behind breaking in an engine is the same. Well crap... I guess my engine is going to explode on me 'cause I followed the manufacturers break in instructions /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif )</font>

Car/boat engines are a little different. They usually recommend avoiding high speed or trailer pulling and not running at a constant speed. Lawn mowers, OTOH, are different since they are always run at max throttle to cut grass well. Unlike car engines, they are governed to not exceed a specified RPM, so full throttle is not really that high a speed.

Bob B.

 

[Ludakris]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Thanks for the help.

I now have 4 hrs on it. I have been running it full throttle. Like the dealer said. I will be changing the oil arround the 10 hr mark.

I do not see a recomended oil in the manual for the motor it does give a suggested weight. I live in Mobile. So it gets pretty hot and hummid.

Any suggestions? )</font>

I just got the same mower, at 6'3" it definetly a comfortable ride. I had the same question on oil. I plan on 10w30, and have been told that Synthetic is the way to go. but havent confirmed it yet..

 

[anthonyk]

I just leveled mine and it's not that hard.
Park it on a flat surface.
CHECKYOUR TIRE PRESSURES!
If they're not correct and consistent, you're just wasting your time.
I made that mistake the first time.
I've got mine at 14 on the rear and 10 on the front.
Set the deck for the highest level.
Put the key in your pocket
Go to the side that has the grass exhaust and turn the blade so that it's parallel to the tractor, in other words pointing front to back.
Then just measure the heights at both tips on that blade.
They should be the same or within an eighth of an inch.
If you need to adjust them, there are two long threaded bolts that the front of the deck hangs from that connect to the front of the mower frame. Look at the mower from the front and down at the bottom, you'll see where they come through the frame.
Loosen the locking nut on each, and then tighten or loosen the leveling nut under it to raise or lower the front of the deck as needed. It's really easy.
Once you get it, just lock up the top nut and you're done.
One more thing, make sure you don't have this strange piece of L shaped mounting frame blocking the raising of the deck.
I had that on the right front side of the frame, looks like it might be for attaching something like a canopy, and it was between the deck and the frame itself. I kept cranking the deck up and it wouldn't raise. One I saw it was blocked, I removed the bracket (still don't know what it was for) and the deck popped up.
That'll level the deck front to back.
Next check it for left to right level.
turn the two outside blades so that they're perpendicular to the deck and measure the heights at the outside tip of each one.
If they're not the same, look under the mower from the left side, there's a 1 and 1/4 inch big adjustment device.
Loosen the holding bolt in it's middle (don't remove it)
Then put a big socket on the big one, and crank it up or down as needed. Retighten the locking bolt, and you're ready to go!

Hope it helps and you don't make the mistakes I did! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

anthony

 

[MrWiggles2]

Well, this has always been a controversial subject. While the concept (4 stroke) may be similar in a boat/car application, its quite different than the relatively simple small engine technology. Automotive engines have some of the tightest tolerances and a host of moving parts and assemblies. I think the proper way to break in an automotive engine is to vary the rpm and speed for the first 500 miles, but you don't have to baby it per say. Small engines are designed to run at
a specified rpm, say 3300-3500. That is their sweet spot, where they produce their specified horsepower. I am not an expert, by no means, but I'll take the advice of an expert that works on these engines 6 days a week, over what is in an owners manual that may have just been reprinted year to year. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[lovemytoys]

when i pick up my new Harley i was told by the dealer dont baby it ,drive like i would normaly do.

 

[MBDiagMan]

I'm an old codger and have been around long enough to break in lots of engines of ALL kinds. Cars, Trucks, boats, mowers, tractors, motorcycles......

In the fifties, sixties and even the seventies, it was good to vary speed and take it easy for a little while, but now we have much better lubricants, more accurate machine tolerances and more sophisticated metal alloys. Today, anything with an engine that I start fresh, I just drive it like I stole it.

It always seems to work out okay.

Have a great day,
Doc