I thought I'd mention, my 325EFI with excel package is now at 1,250 hrs and I haven't had an ounce of trouble with it, I've changed the oil, filter and fuel filters at regular intervals. The one thing I am adamant about is using premium fuel as it doesn't have methanol in it. Perhaps this a possible fail point for the Kohler and so many other small engines.
@@LostSkills I would agree just based on recent experience. My 25 year old inherited garden tractor has a twin cylinder Kohler motor. Same style diaphragm fuel pump I’ve replaced and it worked great for a few years and now I think its junk again. A buddy at work said that I need to switch all my small engine gas to premium and I use stabil as I don’t use that much fuel in a year. So after I did that last year I’ve had no problems and ALL the motors run much better. 2 stroke chain saw and string trimmer. Mower and generator. I’m a premium gas buyer for all my small engines from now on. I just dumped the other fuel in my truck tank and also added premium for a few tanks to even out the old crap. We were discussing fuel issues as he loaned his premium fuel required Lexus to a buddy and he’s sure this buddy didn’t put premium fuel in it for the month. All kinds of problems came of that.
Lincoln only uses One fuel filter on the Ranger. My Kohler rep says They have been talking to Miller to do the same. The lift pump has trouble drawing thru 2 filters. I've stopped installing the second filter in Miller's. just 1/4 splice the one filter out. Lincoln tune up kits only comes with one filter. The rep says it does not matter which filter you remove.
My local Kohler rep said the filters are 2 different micron levels. There is a third filter inside the fuel pump, so I agree that it probably doesn't matter which one you take out.
From the kohler ech730 engine maintenance literature : If there are two filters in system, one before lift pump will be a standard 51-75 micron filter, and one after lift pump will be special 10-micron filter. Be sure to use an approved 10-micron filter for replacement.
My 325 started to flood out and I think you just pointed to the problem! Sitting at 825 hours. Fuel gauge, hour meter have been replaced. Under warranty. It's not the EFI model. They don't start at -30 f.
i bought my ranger 250 when they still made Onan engines, i am glad i got the Onan. i have over 1200 hours and only had to change the voltage regulator once.
Hey Lost Skills, I have a Bobcat 250 EFI. I have religiously started it up on a weekly basis to exercise the engine. Recently I noticed gas coming out of the vent tube from the fuel pump. I closed it off only to find out the generator will run in "RUN" mode but stall in "run/idle" mode. Would you know if this is a result of a bad fuel pump or the pulse fuel pump?
If it like the Trailblazer the fuel pump has a needle valve in it. Most likely the needle valve isn't closing. The problem is probably in the fuel pump.
There is no fuel in the filters. Then I took a funnel and put some gas in the lines to the fuel injection. If it starts and runs for a few seconds you know the lift pump is bad. I also have taken the line off the pump and cranked it over and when no fuel came out I figured the pump was bad.
Fuel pump fail because of the gas w ethanol..I have a 302 non Eli regular old carb...fuel lines pump n filter every two yrs if it sits even more an it’s got 3k in hour s on a Kolhar engine
i am glad i bought the onan for my welder, its when they offered the kohler but i knew the onan was a good engine. i never knew the kohler was made so cheap with their bad push rods, its quite a down grade from the old super tough K series kohler engines. oh well thats what the government forces us to buy
I bought a 325tb 5 years ago and it kept on blowing a high temp fuse. It did that 3 times and had to force the welding supply store to replace it with a new machine. 5 years later it has started losing power after 5 hours of welding.
Do you have a link to where you got your lift pumps from? I did a quick google search and found a bunch of no name brand replacements, a genuine kohlr one from Miller is $248. Ain’t spending that much on a disposable part. Mine started spewing fuel out the vent hole yesteray so after some research I need to get a couple ordered. Thanks
Funny, my TB302 puked an O2 sensor at 400 hrs and the power output has so much noise on the line that it blew up the circuit board on my multimatic 200 ...
were you using the Excel option or just the standard auxiliary? I've noticed a lot more noise with a oscilloscope when it comes to Millers half ass backwards engine to the front design compared to the engine in the rear. The new time I get an Excel in I'll scope the auxillary. Had a customer blow thru 2 pc's on Multimatic 215 but he was renting a cheap generator. The wave form on that generator was very noisy.
Its not lincoln or miller.....its that damn kohler company, both brand of welding machines are awesome in my opinion, but that kohler company needs to fix their crap.
I was wondering if some one can help me out I have a ,Miller 325 efi my problem it will start then all of sudden it shuts off it won't turn back on at all then a couple of hours later it turn ons again can someone please help me outb
@@eloyelizondo5040 I bought a new fuel pump on the one in the video. I modified the pump in the one I am running now. Still testing the modification. You can't buy parts for the fuel pump, only the whole assembly.
@@LostSkills What modification are you running - mine stalled today. tried to restart and it just sputtered. Finally after 5 minutes, it restarted and was able to finish my work. Saw your vid on the needle valve - why is that in there? What about building a custom system with a relief valve?
They don't want a satisfied customer, they want a loyal customer. You're not buying it , you're renting it , you're paying for the privilege to use it. For a while.
Have you ever tig welded with a TB325? No? You should .... 300 amp with a water cooled setup ... Why? Do it !!!! And you find out why .... its not pretty - i can tell you that much
@@LostSkills i welded a bunch of SCH160XX hydraulic pipe and flanges with tig and needed BIG amperage and water cooled tig ... lets say the TB325 is lacking some tig arc dynamic .... you have to put it in stick mode to make it work ...it is a long and sad story for a $7000 engine drive ....
Got a friend that got a Miller 325 last year and only had 4 hour on the unit . Same fuel pump went out and Miller was not going to Warranty it . Saying kohler Problem not there . So after this unit goes out he not buying a Miller again.
Have ranger newer generation that I'm going to sell having these companies sell machines with intentional failure paint Is joke both linclon n Kohler linclon there board problems n Kohler for unnecessary designs suck being a moblie welder n having dumb issues with designs being the problem so far miller has been working out for me so I'm sticking to that now
I put 1000 hours on this one and sold it to a friend who didn't need to use it much. I bought another one and have 200 hours on it. I have figured out how to fix the fuel system. I need to post a video on that. People tell me to start getting worried at 2500 hrs. The problems I have had have all been fuel related. No major engine trouble, but still a pain. Never tried out the Miller warranty, always fixed stuff myself because it's was faster.
That's why theres more blues on the pipeline?? I'm a professional welder and I run Miller have for years never had an issue minus starter and regular maintenance.. have the same machine as a backup 325 efi with exel power and over 3 thousand hours on it zero issues
From what I have seen , and I am in and out of Fab shops, tank farms and on pipe lines daily. Blue is definitely the most popular. Tank farms and fab shops especially. Pipe liners seem to have a few more of the older Lincoln’s. I have an HTP invertig 221 but in reality very few welders have even heard of them.
Not even close dude All the welders we have at the rip track are 3 phase millers, all the welders on our service trucks, road trucks and section / gang trucks all run miller air pacs Trail Blazers or bobcats The railroad is as industrial as it gets And everything here runs all day every day 24/7 365 The rail road never shuts off Had a buddy that worked for a scab shop for several years before he came to over to the union side, they ran miller and esab machines over there all from the 80’s and 90’s which are still going today, they had a Lincoln rep come out and let them use a brand new machine for a test trial, didn’t even last 1 day before it blew up and melted the circuit board Blue is for the real professionals The red stuff just doesn’t have the beef
I’m a Lincoln Fan and even I have to say this comment is preposterous. I think we’ve all had a welding instructor tell us “A welding machine is only as good as the operator”, at some point. Clearly Kholer has sold out so hard that they’re no longer in the “Engine business “ they’re in the retail parts business. I’m ngl Miller makes very nice stuff. I even own a TB 302 as my personal welder as well. All of their portable stuff has worked well for me over the years, and has been very reliable. As for me , I’m still sentimental about certain things. Old SAE 200’s, New 300 classics ect. But at the end of the day regardless. “They’re all good when they’re running good “
the government made them stop making the best engine the Onan because of fake environmental reasons. did your push rods go bad yet? kohlers are know for that too. get a diesel powered machine with a kubota engine
I bought the Trailblazer 325 Liquid Propane one based on this video to avoid these issues.
I thought I'd mention, my 325EFI with excel package is now at 1,250 hrs and I haven't had an ounce of trouble with it, I've changed the oil, filter and fuel filters at regular intervals. The one thing I am adamant about is using premium fuel as it doesn't have methanol in it. Perhaps this a possible fail point for the Kohler and so many other small engines.
It is very likely that the ethanol fuel is what destroys the fuel pump.
@@LostSkills I would agree just based on recent experience. My 25 year old inherited garden tractor has a twin cylinder Kohler motor. Same style diaphragm fuel pump I’ve replaced and it worked great for a few years and now I think its junk again. A buddy at work said that I need to switch all my small engine gas to premium and I use stabil as I don’t use that much fuel in a year. So after I did that last year I’ve had no problems and ALL the motors run much better. 2 stroke chain saw and string trimmer. Mower and generator. I’m a premium gas buyer for all my small engines from now on. I just dumped the other fuel in my truck tank and also added premium for a few tanks to even out the old crap. We were discussing fuel issues as he loaned his premium fuel required Lexus to a buddy and he’s sure this buddy didn’t put premium fuel in it for the month. All kinds of problems came of that.
i run premium in all my small gas 4 stroke engines. compressor,riding mower ect. never had to clean the fuel system or gotten grief from it
Lincoln only uses One fuel filter on the Ranger. My Kohler rep says They have been talking to Miller to do the same. The lift pump has trouble drawing thru 2 filters. I've stopped installing the second filter in Miller's. just 1/4 splice the one filter out. Lincoln tune up kits only comes with one filter. The rep says it does not matter which filter you remove.
My local Kohler rep said the filters are 2 different micron levels. There is a third filter inside the fuel pump, so I agree that it probably doesn't matter which one you take out.
From the kohler ech730 engine maintenance literature : If there are two filters in system, one before lift pump will be a standard 51-75 micron filter, and one after lift pump will be special 10-micron filter. Be sure to use an approved 10-micron filter for replacement.
Just wondering if you are still considering posting a vid about the mod you did to this fuel pump? And Thanks for helping me diagnose mine 3yrs ago!
My 325 started to flood out and I think you just pointed to the problem! Sitting at 825 hours. Fuel gauge, hour meter have been replaced. Under warranty. It's not the EFI model. They don't start at -30 f.
Thank you very much for this information.
I have the same vacuum-powered fuel pump go bad occasionally on my Onan Bobcat 225G.
i bought my ranger 250 when they still made Onan engines, i am glad i got the Onan. i have over 1200 hours and only had to change the voltage regulator once.
I want a diesel, but they cost a lot more. Any Onan engine I have been around lasted forever. Not like these new Kohlers.
Hey Lost Skills, I have a Bobcat 250 EFI. I have religiously started it up on a weekly basis to exercise the engine. Recently I noticed gas coming out of the vent tube from the fuel pump. I closed it off only to find out the generator will run in "RUN" mode but stall in "run/idle" mode. Would you know if this is a result of a bad fuel pump or the pulse fuel pump?
If it like the Trailblazer the fuel pump has a needle valve in it. Most likely the needle valve isn't closing. The problem is probably in the fuel pump.
Agreed. Kholer is not what it used to be. I’ll be filling my 302 with premium from now on.
How do you know when to replace lift pump? Thanks.
There is no fuel in the filters. Then I took a funnel and put some gas in the lines to the fuel injection. If it starts and runs for a few seconds you know the lift pump is bad. I also have taken the line off the pump and cranked it over and when no fuel came out I figured the pump was bad.
Fuel pump fail because of the gas w ethanol..I have a 302 non Eli regular old carb...fuel lines pump n filter every two yrs if it sits even more an it’s got 3k in hour s on a Kolhar engine
i am glad i bought the onan for my welder, its when they offered the kohler but i knew the onan was a good engine. i never knew the kohler was made so cheap with their bad push rods, its quite a down grade from the old super tough K series kohler engines. oh well thats what the government forces us to buy
I bought a 325tb 5 years ago and it kept on blowing a high temp fuse. It did that 3 times and had to force the welding supply store to replace it with a new machine. 5 years later it has started losing power after 5 hours of welding.
How many hours do you have on it?
Lost Skills I haven’t looked lately but we are pushing 6k hours on it. Oil changes and tune ups kept as well.
Do you have a link to where you got your lift pumps from? I did a quick google search and found a bunch of no name brand replacements, a genuine kohlr one from Miller is $248. Ain’t spending that much on a disposable part. Mine started spewing fuel out the vent hole yesteray so after some research I need to get a couple ordered. Thanks
808656 fuel pump Its a Briggs and Stratton part number. It's the same pump that kohler uses. It should cost less than $30.00
@@LostSkills thanks for the reply ! I need to order one. I saw a bunch on eBay but didn’t know which manufacture they were and all that.
Funny, my TB302 puked an O2 sensor at 400 hrs and the power output has so much noise on the line that it blew up the circuit board on my multimatic 200 ...
were you using the Excel option or just the standard auxiliary?
I've noticed a lot more noise with a oscilloscope when it comes to Millers half ass backwards engine to the front design compared to the engine in the rear. The new time I get an Excel in I'll scope the auxillary. Had a customer blow thru 2 pc's on Multimatic 215 but he was renting a cheap generator. The wave form on that generator was very noisy.
Now the new units they adding in one more pumps . A Electric then to the Canister pump then a diaphragm pump . 3 of them . wow .
Its not lincoln or miller.....its that damn kohler company, both brand of welding machines are awesome in my opinion, but that kohler company needs to fix their crap.
Kohler needs to step it up.
I actually have figured out a fix for the Kohler problem. I am still testing it. Will do a video on it when I am sure that it will work.
Any update on this "Fix"?
Thanx for the vid! Ordering a lift pump!🤞
@@LostSkills what did you do?
I was thinking to installed the electric fuel pump instead of the std diaphragm lift pump. Miller part 300976. Anybody ever tryed it?
I was wondering if some one can help me out I have a ,Miller 325 efi my problem it will start then all of sudden it shuts off it won't turn back on at all then a couple of hours later it turn ons again can someone please help me outb
The one I am running now did that and it was the needle valve sticking inside the electric fuel pump
@@LostSkills so did u use seafoam or did u just buy a new fuel pump
@@eloyelizondo5040 I bought a new fuel pump on the one in the video. I modified the pump in the one I am running now. Still testing the modification. You can't buy parts for the fuel pump, only the whole assembly.
@@LostSkills damn those things are like 300 bucks thank u for ur help buddy it means a lot to me
@@LostSkills What modification are you running - mine stalled today. tried to restart and it just sputtered. Finally after 5 minutes, it restarted and was able to finish my work. Saw your vid on the needle valve - why is that in there? What about building a custom system with a relief valve?
They don't want a satisfied customer, they want a loyal customer.
You're not buying it , you're renting it , you're paying for the privilege to use it.
For a while.
And that's sad because money doesn't grow on trees.
They're stealing your profit from you.
You're working for them.
Have tons of parts & extra armature tested/tagged! 😆 LE is a Indoor Artifact...
Have you ever tig welded with a TB325? No? You should .... 300 amp with a water cooled setup ...
Why? Do it !!!! And you find out why .... its not pretty - i can tell you that much
I am not against Tig welding. Just doesn't come up very often for me. Mostly take care of Tig welding with the diversion 180.
@@LostSkills i welded a bunch of SCH160XX hydraulic pipe and flanges with tig and needed BIG amperage and water cooled tig ... lets say the TB325 is lacking some tig arc dynamic .... you have to put it in stick mode to make it work ...it is a long and sad story for a $7000 engine drive ....
I agree with you.
It's so disappointed
Got a friend that got a Miller 325 last year and only had 4 hour on the unit . Same fuel pump went out and Miller was not going to Warranty it . Saying kohler Problem not there . So after this unit goes out he not buying a Miller again.
I figured out a fix for the fuel pump. I need to post a video about it.
I love my trailblazer. But I also know the pain.
To many reliability issues for such an expensive machine
Yes, and it's usually simple stuff that Kohler made too cheaply. The Miller part is fine
Have ranger newer generation that I'm going to sell having these companies sell machines with intentional failure paint Is joke both linclon n Kohler linclon there board problems n Kohler for unnecessary designs suck being a moblie welder n having dumb issues with designs being the problem so far miller has been working out for me so I'm sticking to that now
It's a peace of shit miller . My ranger has 1300 hrs on it with a Kohler. Never had one problem . Just regular maintenance .
7
Disposable machine what do you expect
I agree it's disposal. But they all are. My 1968 Lincoln SAM400 still works. They don't build them like that anymore.
I put 1000 hours on this one and sold it to a friend who didn't need to use it much. I bought another one and have 200 hours on it. I have figured out how to fix the fuel system. I need to post a video on that. People tell me to start getting worried at 2500 hrs. The problems I have had have all been fuel related. No major engine trouble, but still a pain. Never tried out the Miller warranty, always fixed stuff myself because it's was faster.
@deleted account I have only purchased new Millers. My Lincolns are used, but that is because they are from the 60's. The catch is they weigh 2000 lbs
@deleted account everything besides the welder as always been extra at the 2 dealers I have worked with
@deleted account only deals I have seen in the past are from cyber weld.com
Kohler sux
Professionals have red machines .... lol and only when it comes to engine drives i mean lincoln red - otherwise its htp red ....
That's why theres more blues on the pipeline?? I'm a professional welder and I run Miller have for years never had an issue minus starter and regular maintenance.. have the same machine as a backup 325 efi with exel power and over 3 thousand hours on it zero issues
From what I have seen , and I am in and out of Fab shops, tank farms and on pipe lines daily. Blue is definitely the most popular. Tank farms and fab shops especially. Pipe liners seem to have a few more of the older Lincoln’s. I have an HTP invertig 221 but in reality very few welders have even heard of them.
Not even close dude
All the welders we have at the rip track are 3 phase millers, all the welders on our service trucks, road trucks and section / gang trucks all run miller air pacs Trail Blazers or bobcats
The railroad is as industrial as it gets
And everything here runs all day every day 24/7 365
The rail road never shuts off
Had a buddy that worked for a scab shop for several years before he came to over to the union side, they ran miller and esab machines over there all from the 80’s and 90’s which are still going today, they had a Lincoln rep come out and let them use a brand new machine for a test trial, didn’t even last 1 day before it blew up and melted the circuit board
Blue is for the real professionals
The red stuff just doesn’t have the beef
More blues on pipeline today... Lincoln been riding on there name for too long. Customer service better too.
I’m a Lincoln Fan and even I have to say this comment is preposterous. I think we’ve all had a welding instructor tell us “A welding machine is only as good as the operator”, at some point. Clearly Kholer has sold out so hard that they’re no longer in the “Engine business “ they’re in the retail parts business.
I’m ngl Miller makes very nice stuff. I even own a TB 302 as my personal welder as well. All of their portable stuff has worked well for me over the years, and has been very reliable.
As for me , I’m still sentimental about certain things. Old SAE 200’s, New 300 classics ect. But at the end of the day regardless.
“They’re all good when they’re running good “
the government made them stop making the best engine the Onan because of fake environmental reasons. did your push rods go bad yet? kohlers are know for that too. get a diesel powered machine with a kubota engine