Hard Starting 19 h.p. Kawasaki - Scag 48" Tiger Cub(2004) model

My Scag mower has been increasingly harder to start the last few years. The starter turns engine over good, but most of the time I will have the starter turning over 15-30 secs or more.. Now it's longer than that. Today it never did start. It's getting fuel, I smell it- maybe too much. The plugs were changed about 25hrs ago. The air filter/after filter changed less than 100 hrs ago. Like I said this has been a problem for the last few years and it has gotten worse this mowing season.
Engine has less than 500hrs. I do hear back puffing through the intake. Don't have a compression gauge to check for worn valves or rings , but will do so this week. I hope the thing isn't worn out. Anyone know what the compression reading should be for a healthy 19 horse Kawasaki. I have maintained the motor very well. Can anyone offer some tips I have overlooked.
Thanks,
Doug

dugpat49 said:

My Scag mower has been increasingly harder to start the last few years. The starter turns engine over good, but most of the time I will have the starter turning over 15-30 secs or more.. Now it's longer than that. Today it never did start. It's getting fuel, I smell it- maybe too much. The plugs were changed about 25hrs ago. The air filter/after filter changed less than 100 hrs ago. Like I said this has been a problem for the last few years and it has gotten worse this mowing season.
Engine has less than 500hrs. I do hear back puffing through the intake. Don't have a compression gauge to check for worn valves or rings , but will do so this week. I hope the thing isn't worn out. Anyone know what the compression reading should be for a healthy 19 horse Kawasaki. I have maintained the motor very well. Can anyone offer some tips I have overlooked.
Thanks,
Doug

Click to expand...

Since you are smelling gasoline, try starting it without the air filter. Depending on the mowing conditions 50-100 hours on an air filter can sometimes be too long between changes. If it has flooded ( rich with gasoline ) that often causes premature plug failure. Check them again and possibly exchange them for new.

Keep us posted. The Kawasaki is my favorite engine and I have a couple of them. Id be interested in knowing what you find.

SandburRanch said:

Since you are smelling gasoline, try starting it without the air filter. Depending on the mowing conditions 50-100 hours on an air filter can sometimes be too long between changes. If it has flooded ( rich with gasoline ) that often causes premature plug failure. Check them again and possibly exchange them for new.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. In my case, I really believe I have no more than about 50hrs., but all in dusty conditions. I take the filter out and tap the dust out after every use to help extend the life, but this gets only part of all the particles imbeded in the element. I'll get a new one Mon. Plugs were fouled. I'll clean'em and put'em back in the morning and get another set when I get to town.. My experience with the 19 h.p. Kawasaki on my Tiger Cub is that it runs a little on the rich side. With fresh air filter and new plugs when checked after 25hrs. the plugs color shows a rich run- even smells slightly of gas. I have wondered if the filter system is too restrictive?
Thanks,
Doug

Good advice on the filter system. Spark plugs only slightly fouled, but the gap had really opened up. Cleaned and regaped to .032". Removed complete filter housing down to carb. Motor started within 1-2secs. using choke. Ran about 1-1/2 mins. shut down and restarted immediately. Repeated several times-OK. Completely washed filter housing inside out. The duckbill rubber tit on the end of housing is completely deteriorated. The duckbill is only about (9) months old. Scag must have it made overseas somewhere. I think I paid over $12.00 for the thing and don't know what function it does unless to let higher pressure air in the filter housing by-pass to atmosphere??? Will make trip to Scag in morning to get filters. Anyone know where we can get these filters cheaper?
Thanks again Sandbur,
Doug

Try RockAuto auto parts.

Fred

Check the valve clearance

This spring a friend called me as his older Toro ZTR/17 HP Kawasaki quit in the middle of mowing his fairly large lawn. He had towed it toward his garage and was able to push it into the garage. I checked it out and found no spark on both cylinders. It also was cranking slower than normal even with the plugs removed. I removed the blower housing, removed the grounding wires from the coils, cranked it over, still no spark. I closed up the spark checkers to almost no gap, still no spark. I checked the coil primary and secondary and the readings were somewhat normal but I had no reference to the coil specs. I suggested new coils as I had read about some Kawasaki engines had upgraded coils available. He had the local Toro dealer come and pick it up. They replaced the coils with the upgraded ones, replaced the spark plugs and wanted to replace the starter motor, but he said no to the starter. The machine was delivered back to him with a note that had been included with the new coils to gap the plugs to .025" and not .032" that the operators manual specified. This machine runs great, has an electrical problem, but not related to the engine. I did a temp fix to the wiring harness, removed the starter motor, cleaned it and lubed the bearings, reinstalled it.
Anyway, this coil situation may pertain to the 19 Kawi on your Tiger Cub.
Mad Mackie in CT