Kohler Command oil leak issue

[woodlandfarms]

Hmmm, well my good deal may not be so much a good deal. I have a Kohler Command 23HP on the wifes "tractor". I ran it for a few hours, then found some oil under the filter. Figuring I had mis installed, I gor a new filter, cleaned the contact area and put a new filter on. Now I am up to 10 hours and, Well, I have oil again under the filter.

While I have no guarantee it is coming from the filter, it seems the most likely. The top of the flange has caked on dust, the bottom of the flange looks clean and oil wet. (flange is referring to where the gasket meets the engine, the oil filter flange. Anyone have any ideas? Maybe the flange is warped which I will check tomorrow, but what are the chances I it is burping or over pressured or.... Any ideas on how to diagnose this kind of issue.

Carl

 

[woodlandfarms]

I will ad something the wife said which was that she used the machine on steep slopes today.

 

[Dana Warner]

Can you post a pic of the leak location?

 

[westbrooklawn]

I experienced the exact same leak on a Koler Command 27 hp. I turned out to be the sump gasket. I found this is a common problem on these engines, and there is a new type gasket which is supposed to help. The motor only had 600 hours on it, but I was 2 years over my 1 year warranty. In discussions with Kohler they agreed the gasket shouldn't fail in 600 hours, and they talked like they were going to try to fix it under warranty... they backed out on that with a return call. Bottom line, back to the dealer and $400 later it was fixed. Google Kohler command sump gasket leak, and you will find a ton of reading.