Posted by Dale S. on April 18, 1998 at 19:32:35:
I have an old cub cadet 108 than ran fro about 20 years. rather than overhaul it , the dealer suggested putting in a 12 horse new engine, of which the factory suggested doing and thay had done it with success. a 112 hp Kohler. all is well, has be ok for about 4 years and last summer i noticed a loss in power and a "thunking" noise from the exhaust . Upon contacting the dealer, thay said that compliments of todays gasolines, that carbon has built up around the valve and it is not seating. they suggest that i take off the head and simply scrabe the valve and put it back together. I havaae never tackled head removal before. My luck this will really goof something up. will i need a head gasket. will the head come off easily, do i need to pry??? does all of this make sense? It is strange how the first engine run for 20 years on leaded gas nad this one for 4 on non lead. maybe i should add lead additive to the gas , but theyassured me that this new engine was designed to run on unleaded. I sure could use some guidance before i tear into this and my grass starts getting reall tall!!!!Thank a bunch in advance. Dale