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I don't think anyone thinks your being critical, Alain. A lot of good info in what you've said. Thanks.

I wasn't trying to criticise all your hard work, but it would seem risky to get the engine down to that state and not mic and bore the cylinder. I would hate for you to get it running like a top, only to have the bottom of the skirt blow out, or the balance gears fly off. It would also seem like a lot of work to do this and then take it apart again to rebuild, but hey it is not my labor, only trying to give a little advice from someone that has been down that rode, some of the mistakes made by me due to inexperience, some made by a "trusted" mechanic. I guess I should have considered you might be on a tight schedule in repairing the engine. Best regards

From what you have described to this point, you have covered just about all that should have sorted the issue. I would never criticise anyone for doing things their own way, only offer advice on the assumption a person is not familiar when they ask, but it is hard to know people's situation. The standard to which you have reassembled/described will result in an engine that should run effectively, based on what condition you described it in initially after the Head was off. Short of what You/Nigel suggests regarding the possible shearing of the Flywheel Key, the only things it can be are the Fuel Pump/lack of fuel or the iffy Aftermarket Carb!. As you have another C-161, if that is running fine, then I would carefully remove that Carb off it and bolt it onto this problem engine without affecting any Needle settings. If it runs ok, then your new Carb is suspect!. Keep at it, you'll get there, and be all the wiser for it.

Hi All update on Blair's garden Finished at last until next year when we start to lay it out to a plan Hope you like Glad we managed to finish it before the winter sets in.

A new piston and rings in a untouched cylinder is a problem. Your engine is in excess of 30 years old, the wear on the engine was not only to the piston and rings, but more so to the rings and cylinder wall. The movement of the piston in the cylinder creates an out of round cylinder in the course of many years of use. It gets both out of round and tapers, by installing new rings you do slightly improve or actually reduces this clearance between the rings and cylinder, therefore increasing compression, but the new rings are round and the cylinder is not. In many cases installing new rings will snap the connecting rod as the increased pressure on the old rod and pin are substantially increased. That said, I would surmise that if your engine still contains the balance gears and was not rebuilt to standard, it is time to invest in doing so. The Kohler k341 is not as abundant as the k321 or k301 and if you want to keep it it around specific steps must be undertaken now that will prevent catastrophe in the future. Previous owners may have been penny wise, but pound foolish or relied on the advice of someone with no horse in the race, but if you find yourself in neither position, it is up to you how to proceed from here. I would start by realizing the engine was not brought to standards when worked on in the past and rectify that by doing so now. When you have the engine out, start by micing the cylinder wall and go from there. Remember measurements must be taken at the top, middle, and bottom of the cylinder. BTW, advice like this is why I have had problems on other forums, I say things some people would rather not hear. I hope you you hear that I have only good wishes for you and your engine. Good luck

I can't... Spent it all on new toys Here's a few taken in daylight.... Just

After what seems a good month on blocks. I finally completed the temporary engine transplant. The donor C-161 had been under a tarp in the garden for 3 years and I gave the carb and fuel pump a good clean when I bolted it on. The pulley was swapped as for some reason its a larger diameter than normal. After a few turns and a bit of choke it was back running As it seems to get dark here at 3pm all my pics are in the dark! Here's hauling some timber down for the fire.

All this is familiar. Except for the engine stripping, it sounds just like my C-81. Idles really nice, but open the throttle........ One or two things raised on this topic, which have not been tried, will be soon. Maybe even tomorrow.

lets start from the beginning I bought a new horse couple of weeks ago off the ebay because I wanted to have a go at a front loader ive already got 1 c161 and another one came up so I thought id buy that to put a fel on any way bought it as none running as I did with my first 1 got it home new battery on it jumped it from the battery straight to the starter turns over no probs checked voltage to coil and it was there drained fuel tank replaced fuel pipe as was perished flushed tank out with a pint of new fuel emptied it out toped up with fresh fuel got her running badly but running( pops farts flames the lot) so I changed the spark plug no better so I changed the coil no better changed the ht lead no better changed the points no better I had a carb service kit so I took the carb off was going to service it then thought I've got a new carb so I put a brand new carb all be it 1 of ebay hence the questions about cheapish parts still no better hence the original post with a little advice heads coming off to see what's actually in there not a lot seemed wrong so I thought while im this far ill take the sump off just incase there is anything obvious there wasn't while id got it in bits and I had got a new piston piston rings and conrod I thought what the hell I cant make it worse so honed the cylinder (as I would with car engine)I must admit that I never took any measurements as such but I run the new piston up and down the cylinder and checked for slap I appreciate that there is right and wrong ways of doing this and this way was wrong for all the right reasons but I just thought to see if I could get it running I couldn't make things worse at this point so checked play on bearings and gears in the block nothing that you could say that's warn out it all felt tight a little play but nothing id have an issue with so built back up new valves reground put back in no probs all seemed fine new sump gasket new breather gasket new head gasket new carb gasket air filter gasket NOT TO THE STANDARD YOU BOYS DO A REBUILD I NO BUT IT SHOULD RUN NOPE exactly the same as when I started runs but like a bag of nails pop bang flames nearly jumps of the bench right fiddle with the carb screwed both adjusting screws in till they bottom out turn back 2.5 turns on both as a starting point started it up needed choke but started runs poorly no revs just tick over fiddled a little more tick over just about smooth ish best I've had her give it a bit of throttle either cuts out fuel starved or jumps up and down like my granny's just won bingo so timings out I thought looked on line static timing test looking for a "T" and an "S" on the fly wheel nowhere anyway after using the dremel with a small wire brush took must of been 30 years of build up from the flywheel found the "S" and the "T" set the points so they just open when the S is in the line through the hole as the static test tells me to using a ohms meter ITS GOT TO WORK RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOPE EXACTLY THE SAME I did just check the points gap with the setting from the static test and there more like 28/29 thou rather than the 20 though the service manual tells you to but iv run out of ideas now im going to pull the fly wheel off to make sure that it hasn't come loose at some point and then gone as tight as a egg in a ducks ar*e but I cant see it to be fair ANY THOUGHTS GUYS I NO IVE PROB NOT DONE THINGS TO 100% STANDARDS LIKE YOU GUYS DO BUT IM CERTAIN THIS ENGINE SHOULD RUN

I can't help but want to drive and use ths machine, I'm going over to a thicket to knock down brush and sawgrass.

I had wondered just what procedures you have followed/applied to reassemble the engine and having seen that your still having smooth running issues, then there are just 2 basic things that are affecting it. Ignition or Fuel. Ignition- It is always best to set the 'Static Timing' , as just sticking a 0.020" Feeler Gauge into the points is insufficient. Just for curiosity, I did set my points to 20thou and then check where the Spark was occurring and it was virtually on the TDC !!. Just doing the points does not compensate for Breaker Rod, Points or Cam Lobe wear and 20thou is a default setting. These are the marks you should find on the Flywheel periphery - They are viewed through a small hole in the Shroud similar to this example on a K301- A simple process and when I had set my engines to this method, the whole running performance and even the sound of the engines changed for the better. Having changed out virtually all of the Ignition parts, other than timing it properly, the only other main problem area is the Carb. Just to be sure you have the correct Carb fitted to it, could you post the number stamped in on the Flange and if possible look for the number 'cast in' inside the Venturi throat (where the Main High Speed needle passes through the bore). It should be '30'. I say this because someone may have bolted a non original one on it. A worn Throttle Shaft will drastically affect the running of an engine and it/yours may be badly worn. If it rocks back and forwards in it's bore, then it's worn. There are loads of small capillary and galleries inside the Carb and Needles that may not be clear of detritus, even after what id deemed as a good clean, so it is possible there is still a blockage. Depending on what brand and type of Carb you have, depends on what 'Preliminary' needle settings you need for setting it up, prior to final adjustment on a warmed up and high/low speed running engine. So once you've sorted the timing, we can move on to the Carb issues. As for parts, I've used Meetens for over 35 years and so Paul Childs should provide all you need (usual disclaimer). You will need to obtain the part numbers for them, so if you need any help let us know on here by posting your K341's Engine Spec and serial number on here.

the timing is clearly marked on the gears, my pic above shows one of the marks. I have been buying from Kevin at bakt4kids - his stuff is a mix of genuine and copy but very good quality.

also where is the best place for parts can you still buy the bits from kohler genuine parts for the k341 as I see there's a lot of parts on ebay but are they cheap copy's

Slow progress, distracted with the house and playing with the horses.

Finally found an XLH-1 Harvester, or should I say "one fell in my lap". A really nice man from Michigan (Steve Adams) found this XL tool thread on MoM while researching it and contacted me through a PM. Turns out he is not a collector and would like it to go to someone who will get it running and enjoy having it in a collection. Steve also took the time to go back to the place he found it and look for the extension pole and the tree jaw that goes with it. He found them in a barn and is sending those as well. These are very rare and even more so for a complete machine. I'm pretty excited about having one in the collection and look forward to getting it running to test it out.