On 08/21/2015 9:03 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
My little tractor has had a mishap , it put a con rod out the side of the
motor . Motor in question is a Kohler KT17 opposed twin . Since these are
rather hard - and expensive - to replace , I would like to repair the hole
by welding a patch over it . This unit is over 30 years old and oil soaked
,,, I've had reasonable success a couple of times , but nothing I'd write
home about , and I'm pretty sure the reason is I haven't been getting all
the oil out of the pores .
How long and at what temp do I need to bake this thing to be reasonably
sure I've got most of the oil out ? It will be degreased with solvent first
followed by a thorough scrubbing with detergent before baking . The part
looks to be die cast , which I believe means it has a fair percentage of
silicon in the alloy , which rod is recommended ? I have on hand 4043 and
5356 , but can get other if needed .
Or do I just need to bite the bullet and drop 130 bucks on a replacement ?
There is one on fleabay right now ... it's not that I don't have the money ,
I just hate to replace something that I can repair .

Don't really know the answer but sometimes the effort in a repair and
the result just isn't worth it compared to the alternative...this might
be one of those times.

I'd donate the old one here for parts but it's not the right one...too
small so wouldn't help.

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