Recent content by txmowman

Usually is. Service is what keeps a lot of shops in business. People just don’t give their mowers any consideration for maintenance because it only gets used once a week, maybe. There are a lot of people too where their pay check depends on the mower and they do crappy maintenance as well. Down...

@jz8fenton, what is the serial number of this engine (e/no)? I can call Kawasaki tomorrow and find out if there is any previous history on this engine.

The cylinder being overheated, leading to metal fatigue is what causes this failure. The valve broke where the valve head is welded to the stem.

FX730VFS12S. The starter is a shift type (heavy duty) as opposed to the bendix type. If your FR starter is good, you could just swap the starter from the FR to the FX. If you use the FX starter, there will need to be a simple wiring modification. Other than that it would be identical unless your...

Yes, that is the correct replacement. Currently FR730VJS00S. It will be money well spent to go with an FX model for a few hundred more. If you stay with FR, make sure you keep tabs on your air filter. It may need more attention besides flipping up the cover and saying it looks good.

Pull the rubber tube for the air filter off from the intake pipe (before the carburetor). If you live in the south, the engine is possibly dirt ingested due to inadequate air filter maintenance. Sorry to say but I see a lot of it. Valve guides are not the issue.

Kawasaki published a bulletin in 2016 listing all of the available welch plugs. If you only paid a $16 freight charge, that is a deal as the rest of us pay $25 for an order under $200.

LOL

The part number for the crankcase cover is 14041-7009, still available from Kawasaki. See your local Kawasaki Engine dealer. If it is not exclusive to Deere, they should be able to order. This engine was built in 2004.

Proper welch plug replacement does not flatten the dome but rather is peened around the edge. Harbor Freight sells a leather punch set. Get one of these for less than $10. There is one that fits the larger welch plug perfectly. Grind the sharp edge off of the punch, install the welch plug and...

Yes. I would check continuity. If there isn’t any, it is a Hi Auto Docs, The coil is actually two separate windings (see attached). Each winding creates full-wave AC. The AC then goes through a diode and gets converted to half-wave pulsating DC. These two half-waves then come together as a...

Its job is to put out to operate the load for as long as needed.

What you have is called a clutch coil. It generates AC voltage but then goes through a pair of diodes that convert the AC to DC to power the clutch. The DC voltage is then “regulated” by the load applied. So, the red wire, unregulated, should read 30+ VDC normally. If not, either the coil is...

👏🏻 nicely done sir!