kohler K 241 points won't Open

[dunoon2]

I'm nearly finished with this engine, all back together. Except the points won't open. I reused the original breaker rod. It was running when I took it apart. I rechecked all the timing marks they are correct. I ground the point mounting base to allow the points to move closer but still not opening, the lobe on the camshaft looks OK. Do they make a longer breaker rod? Or any suggestions would help.

[RoyM]

Either the plunger is excessively worn or you are not rotating the cam to where the lobe contacts it.

[Skywatcher]

Hi Dunoon

A couple of things to remember on these Kohler K-series engines is the points only open every second revolution of the crankshaft and the rod doesn't move that much even then. Some K-series engines had an aluminum operating rod and some had steel rods. The aluminum rods were more prone to wear than the steel and would sometimes mushroom a little on the cam end making them harder to extract.

The best way that I've found to check the breaker point operating rod action is to removed the points and sparkplug, put your finger on the end of the rod as if you were pushing it into the engine and turn the crankshaft several revolutions. You should feel the rod push out just a little every second revolution of the crankshaft. Turn the crankshaft until the rod is at its furthest out and stop there. Now reinstall the breaker points and set the gap to about .016", I know the specs call for .020", but as long as the camshaft and crankshaft are properly timed, this will get you going. Turn the crankshaft and the points should close, go two full rotations of the crankshaft and the points should open again. Hope this points you in the right direction,

Sky

[bgsengine]

sounds like you need to know how to adjust points - there's a single screw in the mounting base of the breaker assembly fitting in a slotted metal arm (breaker ground contact) , loosen it and screwdriver between base and metal arm to pry the metal arm away from base towards push rod until points JUST show a gap, then back it off slightly until points just touch, then rotate engine through several revolutions to see if a gap opens up every so often (every other revolution of the crank when piston is coming to TDC on compression stroke) if not, see if you can move the breaker metal arm a bit further to open a gap.

Also, look for any sort of marks on the back of the flywheel that line up with a hole (or hole with a metal plug) in the blower housing if you see 2 close together that line up with the hole when piston is at or near to TDC on compression stroke, those are timing marks that can be used to set point gap (Dwell) with engine running.

Typically spec is .020, but points can be set to that give or take .004 or so, which will affect timing.

And lastly, is your pushrod steel or aluminum? If it is aluminum kohler had problems with those, you may need a new steel pushrod