Hey Gang, like a lot of people I joined this forum trying to get some advice. I hope that isn't offensive, but at least I'm honest about it. Here's my scenario:
I have a 2011 Bad Boy ZT-60 that I bought at TSC in the spring of that year. I intentionally bought more mower than I really need to both speed the job of mowing and (hopefully) get long life out of a $5000 mower by not using it that hard. I mow around 1.5 acres and four years later the mower has 100.5 hours on the clock. This mower has the Kohler Courage Pro 27hp engine. I have changed the oil with quality dinosaur juice every year, and also cleaned the air filter, hit the grease zerks, etc. This mower certainly has not been abused.
My dilemma:
The year before last, near the end of the season, I had a few "spells" of power loss. The motor would bog and threaten to stall if I did not pause and let the rpms come back up. This would only last for 20-30 seconds and then would completely resolve itself, and mow like normal. This happened a few times but rarely, and I thought perhaps I had some bad fuel. Last year I got it out and it worked fine for the first half of the summer, but the bogging issue returned mid-season and got progressively worse. I put it away puzzled last year, and this year it's almost unusable. I should mention that I suspected either air or fuel starvation, but replacing the plugs, the air filter, and the fuel filter did not help. The plugs looked normal. I now also have an additional symptom. When I pause to let the rpms catch up, and shut off the mower deck, I get a lot of gray/blue smoke as the motor revs up. It lasts for a while (30 seconds) before clearing up, with the motor spinning at 3350rpm. Aside from the filters and plugs, I have also checked the pto torque to ensure that it isn't overly tight and making the motor work too hard, but it was fine. I can spin the blades easily by hand, so I know it isn't a question of the spindles being seized and taking too much motor to spin. The choke and throttle cable seem to move appropriately and not bind.
The blue/gray smoke and lack of power made me fear the worst, and I thought perhaps I have blown the motor, either having ring/cylinder problems or perhaps a burned valve. But this evening after mowing (incredibly poorly and slowly) I got fed up and pulled the plugs. Neither side shows evidence of oil burning (if anything they look a tad lean) and the right side (passengers side) was wet. It wasn't oil so I assume it's gas, but I have no sense of smell so I really couldn't tell. I then did a compression test and I have 180psi at both sides. This tells me the motor isn't blown, I believe. So, I am now contemplating some arcane situation where I am actually flooding the engine due to a carb issue, and this is making it bog down and also making the right side plug wet. But, I am not aware of a scenario where the motor gaining rpm's after a flooding situation would make it smoke gray/blue. Black sure, but not blue. So, that's where I'm at.
Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated. Having a 100-hour-old $5000 mower that doesn't work is gnawing at my soul...
Thanks to all,
AC
I have a 2011 Bad Boy ZT-60 that I bought at TSC in the spring of that year. I intentionally bought more mower than I really need to both speed the job of mowing and (hopefully) get long life out of a $5000 mower by not using it that hard. I mow around 1.5 acres and four years later the mower has 100.5 hours on the clock. This mower has the Kohler Courage Pro 27hp engine. I have changed the oil with quality dinosaur juice every year, and also cleaned the air filter, hit the grease zerks, etc. This mower certainly has not been abused.
My dilemma:
The year before last, near the end of the season, I had a few "spells" of power loss. The motor would bog and threaten to stall if I did not pause and let the rpms come back up. This would only last for 20-30 seconds and then would completely resolve itself, and mow like normal. This happened a few times but rarely, and I thought perhaps I had some bad fuel. Last year I got it out and it worked fine for the first half of the summer, but the bogging issue returned mid-season and got progressively worse. I put it away puzzled last year, and this year it's almost unusable. I should mention that I suspected either air or fuel starvation, but replacing the plugs, the air filter, and the fuel filter did not help. The plugs looked normal. I now also have an additional symptom. When I pause to let the rpms catch up, and shut off the mower deck, I get a lot of gray/blue smoke as the motor revs up. It lasts for a while (30 seconds) before clearing up, with the motor spinning at 3350rpm. Aside from the filters and plugs, I have also checked the pto torque to ensure that it isn't overly tight and making the motor work too hard, but it was fine. I can spin the blades easily by hand, so I know it isn't a question of the spindles being seized and taking too much motor to spin. The choke and throttle cable seem to move appropriately and not bind.
The blue/gray smoke and lack of power made me fear the worst, and I thought perhaps I have blown the motor, either having ring/cylinder problems or perhaps a burned valve. But this evening after mowing (incredibly poorly and slowly) I got fed up and pulled the plugs. Neither side shows evidence of oil burning (if anything they look a tad lean) and the right side (passengers side) was wet. It wasn't oil so I assume it's gas, but I have no sense of smell so I really couldn't tell. I then did a compression test and I have 180psi at both sides. This tells me the motor isn't blown, I believe. So, I am now contemplating some arcane situation where I am actually flooding the engine due to a carb issue, and this is making it bog down and also making the right side plug wet. But, I am not aware of a scenario where the motor gaining rpm's after a flooding situation would make it smoke gray/blue. Black sure, but not blue. So, that's where I'm at.
Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated. Having a 100-hour-old $5000 mower that doesn't work is gnawing at my soul...
Thanks to all,
AC
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