Kawasaki FR691V compatibility

Rodney,

Yes this engine has a pcv valve.
There is a quick & dirty test for excessive crankcase pressuer and this is to remove the oil filler when you turn the engine off.
If it send up smoke signals then you have excessive crank case pressure and excessive crank case pressure will send a lot of oil through the pcv vlave into the cylinder.
I have a color tune ( Gunsons product ) which is a spark plug with a window in it so I can see the color of the combustion.
If the motor is burning clean the flame is blue white , if the engine is burning rich it will burn yellow, if the engine is burning oil you get funny colours, greens reds & purples.
I double test this by flicking some oil into the carb while the engine is running and see what color that particular oil burns.

Just because you have 120 psi does not mean you do not have a leak into the crankcase.

Rodney, Just an enthusiast here, reading what the pros and you say with interest. Couple things I will volunteer. I run 5W-30 purposely 'cause the thinner oil cools better and that may be why the dealer runs the 20W mulit grade. I have oil pressure and temp gauges on my lowly Intek 24 'cause it pushed a guide and ate a pushrod early on from new. Running thinner oil requires even more diligence . The Intek also will throw out ( invisible spray I believe, no smoke) oil in usage. After a 2-3 hour session here in 85F ambient I will have to top up at least 4 oz, sometimes more. My Intek is old now (2004) and does leak at the pan gasket so crankcase pressure is pushing out some oil. I once had a 1600 cc English Ford based twincam which had such crankcase pressure it would drive raw oil out of the breather tube into the air intake and onto the floor in puddles. Blowby is always a factor in engines. The motoGP road racers hook up a vacuum to the crank case to relieve pressure, and oil "catch tanks" are standard on many race engines. But our low rpm units should not have such a problem. I wonder about the oil scraper rings as they do not play such a big role in leak down results, I believe. Finally the crankcase rubber tube hookup to the intake throat below the air cleaner can indeed be a problem. When the Intek was new I kept wondering why there was a coating in intake. The little rubber coupling (turned away from the owner, invisible) had not been connected at the factory. How the engine survived is beyond me. I use a vacuum to clean up the air cleaner mounting surfaces of the engine. Often when I mow a weedy area with lots of dust I often completely clean up and change out the air cleaner if it is suspect. Hope you are able to find a knowledgeable and fair factory rep to help you.

After just over two weeks I've heard back from the dealer and Kawasaki won't cover the repair. They gave me the number to Kawasaki and encouraged me to raise hell with Kawasaki myself because they seemed to think determining causality and fault was iffy at best Dealer sent pics they requested and Kawasaki decided it had ingested dirt.......they said the green pre-filter was not a Kawasaki filter and they wouldn't stand behind it because of that. I mentioned to the Kawasaki rep that it didn't even come with that pre-filter anyhow and I'd only put it on for extra protection and he said it may have caused the filter to draw improperly or something but that they wouldn't stand behind it. I'm done with Kawasaki, and unfortunately Hustler too since they power with Kawasaki. I'm going to Kohler. I've only to decide now whether to rebuild for 600-700 bucks or run it til it plays out and re-power for twice that. It could run a week or years, no way to know.

RodneyShuffler said:

After just over two weeks I've heard back from the dealer and Kawasaki won't cover the repair. They gave me the number to Kawasaki and encouraged me to raise hell with Kawasaki myself because they seemed to think determining causality and fault was iffy at best Dealer sent pics they requested and Kawasaki decided it had ingested dirt.......they said the green pre-filter was not a Kawasaki filter and they wouldn't stand behind it because of that. I mentioned to the Kawasaki rep that it didn't even come with that pre-filter anyhow and I'd only put it on for extra protection and he said it may have caused the filter to draw improperly or something but that they wouldn't stand behind it. I'm done with Kawasaki, and unfortunately Hustler too since they power with Kawasaki. I'm going to Kohler. I've only to decide now whether to rebuild for 600-700 bucks or run it til it plays out and re-power for twice that. It could run a week or years, no way to know.

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You can go one better than that and also take it up with Rotary.
The after market suppliers get really pissed when engine makers try this stunt as most times what they are supplying is the same filter made from the same materials at the same factory as the ones the engine makers use.
The only difference is the colour which has to be done for patient reasons.
There s a subtle difference between coppying and making a substitute part.
Stens also stands behind all their products and will go to bat for owners who are getting flac for using their products.
Foam wraps should nevr be oiled, they are there to stop sticks & stones, not to filter the air.
Oiling the foam will cause it to clog faster but should not cause any problem other than a clogged filter , rich running .
If the engine was eating dirt and the fliter was not compromised then there was a problem with the manifold or the filter / engine seal.
Do not phone kawakasi but send them a letter, on paper. in an envelope.
Start the letter with words to the effect
" my attorney as adviced me that all further communications about this case must be in writing for reasons of leagal proof thus I am writing to to you............."
However for this ploy to work you must be consistant
If they phone you tell them you can not talk about it and to write back then hang up.
They will run you around for a while and try to call your bluff but once they realisze you might just be serious you will get a totally different attitude.
And make sure you send a copy of everything to Rotary as well.
A bit of stuffing around but worht it in the end.
If it is really dusty where you mow then get Donaldson filter fitted.
kawakasi fit them standard to most of the commercial range.

I went threw 2 Kawasaki engines on my toro. They are junk.
I went with a kohler pro with hydro lifters. Best engine I have ever used.
100 hours and has used no oil. I change oil at 50 hours but have let this go because the oil is still brown as the day I put it in.
The kohler is 4 hp less than the Kawasaki but has more power.

I would think putting an oiled pre filter on your FR would change the jetting...hmmmm..I usually just tap mine out at the end of the day and give it a light blow inside out till I cant see light through it that good any more.
Kawasakis are alot better then kohler IMO..alot tighter..I have an FC420V with oclose to 2K hours on it,,well see how the FR goes,,Ill be happy with 1000 on that.

577jersey said:

I would think putting an oiled pre filter on your FR would change the jetting...hmmmm..I usually just tap mine out at the end of the day and give it a light blow inside out till I cant see light through it that good any more.
Kawasakis are alot better then kohler IMO..alot tighter..I have an FC420V with oclose to 2K hours on it,,well see how the FR goes,,Ill be happy with 1000 on that.

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Just like valve seat recession from running unleaded this is something that is a problem in a minute area of internal combustion engine use but it gets picked up on by clowns trying to sound intelligent and finally becames a truth by virtue of continued repeating.
Oiling a filter makes very little difference to the air flow on a mower engine of 400cc to 1,200 cc spinning at 4000 rpm or less.
Leaving it in there till it has enough dust on it to carve your name into it might almost cause some slight richness.
You can troll through all the episodes of mythbusters they did this a few times and it was BUSTED every time.

bertsmobile1 said:

Just like valve seat recession from running unleaded this is something that is a problem in a minute area of internal combustion engine use but it gets picked up on by clowns trying to sound intelligent and finally becames a truth by virtue of continued repeating.
Oiling a filter makes very little difference to the air flow on a mower engine of 400cc to 1,200 cc spinning at 4000 rpm or less.
Leaving it in there till it has enough dust on it to carve your name into it might almost cause some slight richness.
You can troll through all the episodes of mythbusters they did this a few times and it was BUSTED every time.

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Well thats good to know because it really bothered me that my FR did not come with a pre filter,always liked the extra filtration.Im sure the engine would last a bit longer with less dirt getting by the throat.I wont oil it,,but will definitely order one now!
Thanks for the info!!

Tom

577jersey said:

Well thats good to know because it really bothered me that my FR did not come with a pre filter,always liked the extra filtration.Im sure the engine would last a bit longer with less dirt getting by the throat.I wont oil it,,but will definitely order one now!
Thanks for the info!!

Tom

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Wraps are not really a filter as such they h=just stop big bits like grass clippings getting in.
They also disperse the air so it gets sucked through a larger area of the filter.

No where in the Kawasaki FR series engines parts manuals is a foam prefilter shown.
The Kawasaki FR operators manual stated that shaking the air filter to clean it is OK. Blowing it out with pressurized air is not OK.
Air filters will filter better with some dust in them.
Kawasaki engines do not have a PCV valve. They do have a crankcase pressure/vacuum control valve and filter with a hose connection to the filtered air entering the carb. Most carburetored engines have a pulse powered fuel pump, the diaphragm in which is pulsed back and forth by pressure changes in the crankcase caused by pistons moving up and down in the cylinder(s). This causes fuel to be drawn into the fuel pump thru and open check valve. When the diaphragm is pulsed to the opposite direction, the incoming check valve closes, the outgoing check valve opens allowing fuel to be pumped into the carb float bowl. The dry side of the fuel pump diaphragm is vented to the atmosphere to allow it to pulse.