Kohler K361 - Page 12

BREAKER POINTS: Points are illld er th e r ec tangul ar cover on th e c arbur et or si de of engi ne . Use th e follow in g
procedure t o adjust br e aker point gap:
1. Remove br eaker poin t cov er.
2. Turn eng in e over illlt il br eak er p oints are full open--measu re gap w ith fee ler gauge. Op enin g
sh ould be .020". Adjust by lo osening gap adjust in g s cr ew th en ins ert screwdr ive r bl ade in
adjust in g notch t o sh if t mo veabl e plat e until .020" op enin g i s att aine d. R eti ghten gap ad-
just ing screw.
3. Ga p s etting ca~ vary (. 017 - .0 23). To ach iev e s moo thes t running see timing l i ght in stru cti ons
b el ow.
Alwa ys r epl ace ba dly burned or pitt ed br eak er po int s. A ce rtalll am ount of bui ld up or met al tran sfer
o ccur s illlder normal opera ti ng c onditi ons; h ow ever, if thi s oc cur s t oo fre qu entl y and beco me s exces sive ,
th e condens er may be at fault . Slightl y pitted po int s can be dre ssed do wn wi t h a point file, al though
th i s should be done on ly as a tempor ary fi x s in ce point s may t end t o arc more re adil y af te r f ilin g. Re-
pl ace point s at fir st opportilllity af te r filing. If p oint s a re oxi d ize d, rub a p ie ce of coa rse cl oth be-
tween the surfaces. Dirt y or o il y poin ts can be cl eaned with a cloth but mak e sure no p article s of lint
a re l eft between surfaces.
TIMI N G: Engines are equipped with a timin g sight ho le in eit her t he be ari ng plat e or in t he bl ow er housing.
Two timlllg marks ar e st am ped on the fl ywhe el --t he T mark ind ic at es Top Dead Center (TDC ) whi le t he S or
SP ma rk llldicat es t he Sp ar k or Spark Run p oint which i s 20
0
b efore TDC.
Tw o methods can be used f or timing--th e timing li ght m eth od is th e more pre ci se way of a chi ev ing
exa ct timing. The timin g li ght can be used with magn eto igniti on sy ste ms ; howe v er, a st o ra ge b att ery ma y
have to be used p er timin g light manufactur er I s instructions.
MET HOD 1 - S TA TIC TIM ING : Re mo ve br eak er point cov er and remove spark plug le ad t o pr ev ent illlintention al
st ar ti ng. Rot ate eng me by hand in direction of normal rotation (cloc kw ise wh en v ie we d from blow er hou sing
end) . Point s should just b egin to break as the S mark app ear s in th e c enter of th e timi ng Si ght hol e.
Continue r ot ating eng in e unt i l po in ts reach m aximum open in g. M eas ure gap wi th fe el er gauge--gap shou ld
be .0 20" full y open. If nece ss ary, loosen point gap adjustment s cr ew and readjust gap t o .020" full open.
Maximum gap se tt ing can va ry a few thousandths (.017 - . 023) to a chiev e smoothe st running. Sec ur e ly ti ghten
adjust ing screw af te r timing.
METH OD 2 - TIMING LIQIT: Several diff er ent types of timing li ghts ar e avail able--follow manu fa ctur er's
llistru ctions for type used. The fo ll ow ing timing procedure can be used wi th ~ timin g li ght s:
A. R emo ve high tension lead at spark plug--wrap one end of a shor t pie ce of fine wi re around spark plug
t erminal. Reconnect lead to t erminal--fr ee end of wir e must p rotrude from under b oot. Ql ote: Step
A for timin g lights with alli g at or clips - -s ome li ght s have sharp prongs on spa rk lead --on the se sim-
pl y push prong thru boot until it con ta ct s metal connec to r .)
B. Co nnect one timin g light lead to th e wir e th at has just been wrapped ar olIDd spark plug t ermin al.
C. Conne ct second timin g lignr-fe ad t o h ot ( lIDg rounded) side of batt ery-- see timin g li ght ins t ruct ions
for bat te ry s ize , wi ring, etC:--
D. Conn ect third timing light lead t o ground.
E. Ro t a te eng in e by hand until S mark v is ib le --cha lk S lin e for easy re ading.
F. S ta rt engine , run at 1200 - 1800 RP M, aim timin g li ght int o s ig ht hol e--li ght should fla sh just as
S mark is centered in sight hol e or even with cent er mark on bear ing pl ate or blow er housing.
G. If timing is o ff --remove breaker p oint cover , loo se n gap adju stin g s cr ew, sh ift break er plat e until
S mark is exa ctl y c ent er ed. Reti ght en adjust lllg s cre w bef ore re pl acin g br eaker poi nt cove r.
alternator system
On e le ct ric st art models the 15 amp al t e rna to r sy st em provides elect ric al energy to charge t he b atter y.
A sol id state rectifi er-regul ator is mounted ex te rna l ly on th e engi ne or on th e equipment powered by the
eng ine . The system a lso includ es an alternat or-st ator and perm anent ma gnet r i ng ins id e th e f l ywh e el.
These sys te ms ar e v irtu ally s ervice fr ee --the on ly requ ir ed se rv ice i s an oc casiona l check t o make su re
th at all el ectr ical connect io ns are ti ght and th at wir es a re n ot fra yed or c ra cked. Check th e prec autions
t o the sys te m on your engine to a void dama gin g chargin g sys te m components .
P RE CA lIT IONS- -15 AMP SY S TEM
1. Bat tery polarit y mus t be cor rec t . Nega t iv e ground sy st em s ar e used with Koh le r Engin es.
2. Pre vent al t ernator l eads (A C) from touching or shor t ing. This could perman entl y damage th e stator.
3. Disconnect l eads at r ectifier--r egul ator bef ore e lec tr ic w elding is done on equi pm ent in comm on
gro lID d with eng in e .
4. Do not ope ra t e for any l en gth of t~ne wi thout a b att e ry in th e sys te m.
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