Kohler courage exhaust cam replacement

A somewhat more thorough video on replacing the troublesome exhaust camshaft in Kohler courage engines which are known to have compression releases that don't work.
FYI these engines are also known for bad starters as well. If yours is hard to crank check the starter first and if it's bad just buy the cheapest on Ebay you can find as it's better than the factory one...

[@tomhockett7391]

Thanks a bunch for this video. It is a job that I need to do this winter and just watching you do it will make it far less of an intimidating task.

[@mra2957]

Great video. The comments say the replacement cam gear & compression release mechanism fixed the hard start problem but would like to have seen a close up of the old cam compression release and a final shot of it starting and working.

[@benpravecek2418]

Good job. Thanks for making this video. There isnt much anywhere online about these specific cams with th ACR. Mine has a lip that catches like your new one in this video. Any idea why it has that?

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

Not sure but it seems they have reengineered the cam gear multiple times and they leave remnants of the last fix in the mold. Mine should have been one of the better corrected ones but it was still sticking intermittently probably at less than 50 hours but I don't remember now. I kept putting it off and helping it start by turning the engine backwards so it had the best chance of starting. Since the replacement cam it has started flawlessly every time. I do wish the mower had more power though. Also keep an eye out on the governor shaft. I have sand and silt and it blows like a sand storm when mowing. It will build up on the shaft coming out of the engine and the carb linkages and will keep them from moving. It's obvious when it gets bad because the engine won't open the throttle more under load. I have to clean off all that gunk to free it up.

[@ronniewortham3260]

Great video. Starting to work on a V-twin, I see the second part though, did it run afterwards?

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

Been running like new ever since. That said it was so dry last year I only cut twice. Already 4 times this year and it starts immediately every time. I often use it more for moving the trailer around than actually mowing. I do need an air ride seat for it since my yard is rough enough that it sends painful shocks up my spine every sip and bump. I have the tires as low as I can put them

[@ronniewortham3260]

@@theinfernalcraftsman I"m gonna start on my today probably, hopefully be as easy as yours was.

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

@@ronniewortham3260 Awesome. I wasn't really planning to record it when I did it so... And I didn't show it running because of the weather at the time and other constraints. The point of the video was to show it being done. Now I need to do some mods to it as I really wish it had more power. I replaced all but one of the pulleys recently because the sand I have ruins bearings very fast. One pulley is a royal pain to get to and fortunately it wasn't making much noise.

[@doransignal]

Is it obvious when you look at the old one that it's broken or worn? I didn't see that part in your video.

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

There is no broken plastic on the later versions of the engine. The small metal shaft with the lever gets sticky in the worn hole and will occasionally work. The older engines used a chunk of the plastic on the gear to actuate the compression release. They updated it and now it has different problems.

[@IronHorseGarage]

Yee Haw!!!

[@tomhockett7391]

So why did you replace the cam follower?

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

The cam follower comes with the kit. They have to be replaced in pairs because they need to break in together. If you use the old one it will prematurely wear out the cam lobe.

[@Unsocial01]

Nothing was wrong with old part

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

The old one was bad 98% of the time. Every so often it would work right but most of the time it would stick and not work correctly. The new one works perfect every time and starts like a new mower every time since and no other changes. Course this year I have only had a few weeds to mow once since it has barely rained the past 6 months.

[@outtatime4512]

Randomly replacing parts jus because...

[@theinfernalcraftsman]

Just because it was sticky and rarely worked properly. The original worked once out of 10 starts. The new one works every time and it starts like a new engine every time. It wasn't broken like they usually are it just stuck and failed to work most of the time.