kohler genset

[oldwood69]

I have a Kohler gas genset, believed to be the original one, in my 69 Seavoyager. I apparently had a short in the system after having some motor work done and when the control box for the genset was reinstalled (had to be moved to get the port block out) a wire was pinched. Upon the first attempt to start the genset after this set of events a part in the control box for the Kohler "smoked" and is not inoperable. The part was a block of metal plates with what appears to be paper insulation between the plates, a voltage regulator maybe? So far I have run into wall after wall of finding someone who has this part and/or can give advice as to how to breathe life back into the old genset. Any help would be appreciated.

[Paul]

I have a couple of controllers from that era.
Post a picture of the part and I'll see if I have one.

[oldwood69]

Hopefully these pictures will display correctly. One photo is of the dataplate on the genset, the others are of the part in question - hopefully you can see the one end of the part is "burnt" - this is where the smoke came from. The smoke started as soon as I fired the genset up, it was still running for a second as I shut the unit off.

[Paul]

Haven't forgotten. I plan on going thru some boxes of parts this week.

[oldwood69]

Thank you so much...really appreciate it!

[Paul]

Does this look like your part. If so, let me know and I'll pull it out of the controller so we can take a closer look at it.

[oldwood69]

Paul - Yes Yes Yes...that looks like the one!

[Paul]

OK, here's the transformer. I checked it out and found 2.5 Ohms on the skinny side and 0.3 Ohms on the big end. It did come out of a generator that worked well until its engine developed a major issue so I know that it works. The part number on this piece is 245675.

The part is yours N/C as long as all I have to do is box it up and drop it off at the UPS store around the corner from me. (or other similar arrangement) Send me a PM with the specifics and we'll get this ball rolling.




Always happy to help keep these old boats and their systems operating correctly.

[Paul]

This piece should be at your door by mid next week. Let us know how you make out.

[oldwood69]

Thank you very very much. Will let you know if she purrs again!

[Paul]

Hi Tim,

How are you making out with the generator?

[oldwood69]

Unfortunately had to make a call to my mechanic yesterday to go ahead and winterize the boat (and gene)...getting too cold and too busy at work to get a chance to go down there again this season. I will be installing the part this spring though and very excited that it will hopefully fix the problem!!!

[Paul]

Hi Tim,

Were you able to try the replacement part yet? If so, hope it worked out.

[oldwood69]

Unfortunately work has been too busy for me to get down to the boat yet, I was actually within about 5 miles of her the other day and didn't even have time to stop by and check in. Frustrating. I am very excited to try the part out though and hopefully will get down there soon...maybe this weekend!

[oldwood69]

I have a few updates on the old Kohler genset, I want to thank Paul again for the part, we installed it and fired the genset up for the first time in two years, she purred to life and no smoke from the newly installed part! BUT...smoke started pouring out of a couple of capacitors so I shut her down immediately. A bit of research led me to an 87 year old man who was actually and engineer on these units when new. He asked me to read him the serial number over the phone and he actually finished the number for me before I could get it all out!!! Turns out the smoking parts were all part of the old autostart system, he mailed me a diagram of how to rewire the control box and remove these unnecessary items. After doing this and reinstalling the control box she fired right up again and NO SMOKE!!! I was so excited I could barely contain myself, that is until I noticed water flowing out of two of the sparkplug holes (plugs obviously installed, water was pushing past the threads). Ugh, why does it have to keep fighting me! I haven't dug in yet to see if I have a blown head gasket or a crack somewhere, so frustrated and tired of fixing one thing just to hit another road block. I am almost to the point of just pulling and replacing with a different unit...just don't want to part with upwards of 5 grand to do that. Thoughts, advice?