K Series Kohler, 2 cylinder - Oil Consumption - Advice?

[AuroraGirl]

My skidsteer has a 20hp k series kohler, and i planned to replace it with a predator of 24hp but 6 less foot pounds of torque. It direct shafts to a hydraulic pump.

Of course, i would need to do fab work and couple new engine(different shaft diameter) which i had a thread ab.

but, I learned that crankcase breathers, rings, valve timing, etc could be my issue rather than mechanical wear.

And im inclined to believe it.

It leaks out like a MFer, but when its not running the leak stops within 12 hours.
It burns oil like a MFer, but its also covered in oil, sludge, grime (hot engine) and the crankcase might be overpressurized, blowing by rings...
It also sat for 20 years after the points failed and it got parked.it had some nasty oil inside.
So maybe I have an engine, an old heavy iron flathead, that cant breathe and the oil route is past rings, out of seals, or elsewhere.
It also shoots tiny bits of oil out of air filter housing... it will make everythign oily.
but that could be valve timing.... intake and ehxuast are both open at same time in anyway, exhaust shooting oil vapor up past carb?
Would explain why old carb was grimey.

So, anyone have experience?
I dont have much internal engine experience but to pull the engine wont be much. finding online stuff for the 2 cylinder is hard. where is a breather at? any tips? other things to look at?

i cant reach it, but i seemingly have a k series kohler in my engine stash, but i wouldnt know its displacement. it just outwardly appears the same. if its a parts thing, maybe you never know

 

[Poppy 87]

Being that the engine runs, I would perform a compression test. Follow up with leak down test. Read up on that. Its an internal combustion engine so no special diagnosis required. Good luck

 

[bucket]

I've got a couple single cylinder Kohlers in Cub Cadets. A 12 horse and a 14 horse. The 14 horse went through a lot of oil and it always had a good amount of smoke belching from the breather on the side of the block. When I took it apart, I found that the rings were completely shot. The 12 horse smokes some, I can only assume the rings are worn on that one too.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Being that the engine runs, I would perform a compression test. Follow up with leak down test. Read up on that. Its an internal combustion engine so no special diagnosis required. Good luck

they run on the lower compression side as it is. but definitely not bad. im thinking the head gasket might have issues though, because even without the flywheel pushing air it seems like combustion gas is pushing out somewhere, maybe the heads?

 

[AuroraGirl]

Ive done more research and a lot is pointing to the vent for the crankcase as well as the ACR automatic compression release. old sticky oil gums up the vent and the ACR or just one and that is from old oil not being serviced often enough but an engine that also sees little run time to clear them out from use. it sat with 5 year old oil in 1990 to now unchanged, i only put store brand 22$ for 12qt oil in and got it running for less than 2 hours total.

I also researched more about gravity feed vs fuel pump feed carburetors, a gravity feed has a different needle and seat than fuel pump. I should open my original carb and compare to my current carb - possibly over fueling? Its got about 5-7 gallons at full tank directly above the engine with a 3 foot gas line, thats gotta be a good amount of pressure against the carb float/needle/etc. i say all this because the plugs foul in no time.

I also say vent because I have very clear issues with blowby or valve timing. Or both. Or one. Or head gasket. My uncle seems to recall my gpa was playing with valve timing before he gave up and parked it. of course the engine has to be pulled for valve timing.

Well, all these options indicate time to pull engine and crack her open. at best, I need to clean the engine and redo some gaskets at worse i need internal parts or machining. Apparently a blown head gasket on an old flathead is able to cause some weird oil issues as well as crankcase pressure issues. it also leaks like a drunk guy so im sure a sump seal could go for replacement