Hello All, New member over 70 and retired machinist for steel mill.>> I have been given above riding mower with less than 75 hours and blown engine. It was well maintained,OILED and garaged. After tear down down and inspection I have concluded that both balance links are destroyed. There are no other damages EXCEPT the small offset weight under and attached to camshaft.From the design I have a feeling that this was the initial failure. Cast weight,dowel,springs,plastic piece,Circlip and halfround rod were broken and loose in case. I am not real familiar with small engines ( have replaced valves and pistons on my AVEO -timing belt fail) So Question, Is this weight part of a compression release And is it mandatory?

I've put new needles in, cleaned the seats, polished the seats, re-cut the surface of the seats, and nothing works, they continue to slowly leak gas ad fill the crankcase. I'm seeing this more and more. It's happening on the courage engines now too. This is an ongoing problem just with Kohler singles so far. Has anyone found a way to cure the problem? I've been replacing the carbs but I really don't like to replace a perfectly good running carb just because it won't stop seeping gas. Shut off valves are not an option. I usually find the fix for most any problem but nothing has worked so far. I think something in the ethanol fuels is etching the seat or something. The seats in these used to be non-serviceable but Kohler has introduced a new kit for $30-40 with which you can replace the seat because they are aware of the problem. That's an option I haven't yet tried but for that much money and then no guarantee it will fix it and the labor involved, I just opt for a new carb at $120 and be done with it.