Never ever seen or heard of this being a problem with Kirby engines having worked on them for many years .
They run for ever if looked after, vk30s main cause for failure was neglect on the owners part for not changing the oil.
With a pressure fed oiling system for crank and con rod it did cause failures for lack of oil, unlike the splash system on the Briggs
in its favour vk30 has a more durable cast iron bore than common alloy cool bore Briggs
they're a good motor when regularly serviced
