SC 252 Engine

[curterj145xr]

I have a 2005 Vermeer SC 252 with the Kohler 27HP motor. While grinding it was running fine and all of a sudden I noticed oil pouring down onto the bottom of the machine. I immediately raised the arm and threw the machine to idle upon which it quit running.

After letting it cool down I started looking at it and it appears that it is coming right out of the main crankshaft area. I then re-filled it with oil just to try to get it back on the trailer, but it won't re-start and while just cranking the motor, it is pouring out oil.

I plan to take it to a Kohler dealer for a professional opinion, but I just wanted to get everyone's opinion here. Do you think it is toast, or could it just be the main seal?

If I have to replace, what are the options as far as upgrading to a bigger motor vs. just getting a replacement? What are these motors going for these days?

The machine only has 516 hours on it, so this is a little disappointing to say the least. I have heard of others with well over 2000 hours on their original engine. What is the typical lifespan of these things?

 

[Plyscamp]

Ther is a post called upgrades for the 252. Rather long post as it includes many upgrades including how to install a 35 HP Briggs. Really wakes up a SC252.

 

[chainsawcircus]

252 oil leak

have seen this before on some of our rental machines. It is usually from the belt tension being to tight. Eventually the overtightened belt pulls the crankshaft off center in the bearing and seal at the rear of the motor. Hope that is not it but I have seen it twice on our stuff on two different machines.

 

[gr8scott72]

have seen this before on some of our rental machines. It is usually from the belt tension being to tight. Eventually the overtightened belt pulls the crankshaft off center in the bearing and seal at the rear of the motor. Hope that is not it but I have seen it twice on our stuff on two different machines.

They don't even use bearings there. It's just a bushing. That's probably one of the biggest weaknesses of that engine.

 

[chainsawcircus]

thats my point

that little thin bushing cannot stand overtightened belts, once you cut through, ouch the money!!!!!

 

[curterj145xr]

That's what I was afraid of. I take it that either this type of damage is unrepairable or that it costs so much that you are better off just replacing the whole thing.

It was a former rental.

Does the Briggs engine have a better reliability in this area?

 

[Plyscamp]

I have over 1,000 hours on a 35HP Briggs on a SC252. Absolutly no issues to report on the engine 0 zip nada.

 

[curterj145xr]

Well, it's toast. The big question is why. It wore out the bearing (if you can even call it that) on the front plate of the motor. When you look at it, the majority of the wear is on the bottom and slightly forward part of the bearing (about 7 o'clock position). That being said, I would think that if it were caused by the belts being too tight, it would wear the bearing out closer to the 9 o'clock position.

The Kohler dealer suggested that it could have been the clutch not grounding correctly. Apparently this was an issue years ago - the electric clutches would ground themselves through the crankshaft and effectively arc between the crank and the bearing, eventually wearing the bearing out. A google search confirms that this has been an issue in the past.

Here's my quandry - I know I have to replace the engine, but I want to make sure that the same thing doesn't happen again. Since this machine only had 500 hours on it, I think it is safe to say that it died way too young and either I just got an engine with a defect or something caused it to fail prematurely. I'd hate to spend $400 on a clutch that doesn't need to be replaced, but at the same time, I don't want to take a chance on hurting the new motor either.

Vermeer said that they have never heard of this clutch arcing thing before. Has anyone else had an issue with this?

 

[pacific stumper]

belt tension

have seen this before on some of our rental machines. It is usually from the belt tension being to tight. Eventually the overtightened belt pulls the crankshaft off center in the bearing and seal at the rear of the motor. Hope that is not it but I have seen it twice on our stuff on two different machines.

how tight should any of my belts be ,,,, without doing damage ,,,,, i'm about to change them all in the near future


thanks Rich