FD731V Kawasaki major problem

[Mr Mower Man]

A commercial landscaper's Hustler Super Z came into my shop, with a liquid cooled 26HP Kawasaki (FD731V-BS00). I noticed that the engine was loose on the frame, so when I tried to tighten it down, I found that there was damage to the mounting bolts and also to the threaded holes at the base of the engine. In fact, 3 of the 4 bolts were broken off inside the aluminum, but not before the prolonged movement of the engine against the loose bolts basically destroyed the mounting holes. I had to remove the engine in order to inspect the mounting holes well enough to determine what could be done. I decided to drain the oil before turning the engine on it's back, but when I opened the oil drain valve, nothing came out. I double checked the oil level, and there was indeed oil inside (but low, and black). So I removed the oil drain tube from the sump, assuming it was plugged. It was indeed plugged, but what I saw inside the crankcase was something I've never before encountered in my shop -- black jello. Uh-oh. As I used an air hose down the dipstick tube to force some of this sludge out, I noticed a little bit of bright green antifreeze coming out of the crankcase as well. So after I got the sump off, I noticed some additional damage. First of all, the oil pump filter was broken and the screen destroyed. Not sure how that happened. Second, I noticed that the PTO bushing had a really rough spot, presumable caused by a lack of lubrication paired with the side load caused by the belts.

I'm trying to put a story together, to explain to the customer what has happened. I plan to call Kawasaki on Monday, but I thought I'd give you guys something to chew on as well. Besides, I really don't want to wait until Monday.

One more detail that seems to be important, now that I've seen inside the engine. I feel sorta silly for not recognizing this clue at the outset. There's a beeping alarm on the mower that I think is supposed to sound whenever you start it up, but it's supposed to go away after startup. But it kept ringing as long as the engine was running. NOW I realize that it was probably an alarm caused by low oil pressure, but I didn't think of that at first. The customer was aware of the alarm, but I don't know how long he operated it like that.

So, was the sludge caused by water leaking into the oil? Or is that kind of black sludge only caused by heat and a lack of maintenance? I don't have too much experience with the liquid cooled engines, so I've not seen a lot of the problems associated with them. I need to do some more checking, but I believe the engine is repairable with a new sump, a gasket set, and a few other parts. I took one of the rod caps off, and both it and the rod journal looked perfect.

What are your thoughts?

[hanz63]

Call Kawasaki? Might call in Quincy on this one... It definitely sounds under serviced to me. Going sideways here. It is always good protocol to verify oil and coolant level either when it comes in the door or when the tech begins working on the equipment. Write it on the order, then do your evaluation. Your eval may just end up being the conditions you found rather than a prognoses and treatment options doc. Your customer may have good insight into what happened and tell you his expectations. Is he a unscrew the gas cap and put a new machine under it kind of guy? How much failure analysis does he want to pay for?

[Skywatcher]

Evening All

The only time I've ever come across engine oil that was like black Jello was when I was still working at the John Deere dealership. A tractor came in from a Hutterite colony with a low engine oil pressure problem. We ended up dropping the oil pan which was half full of black Jello except for where the oil pickup had been which was a neat round hole. There was a corresponding circular column of black Jello sitting on the oil pickup screen. It turned out that some oil additive salesman had convinced them that by adding his product, they could double the time between oil changes. We ended up taking that oil out in slices and had to flush the whole lubrication system out with diesel fuel in order to get all that stuff out of the engine.

Check with your customer to see if he has added any sort of oil additive to the engine, or as Hanz says, it may simply be due to a severe lack of service. Let us know what you are able to find on this one. All the best,

Sky

[Fulltilt]

As I used an air hose down the dipstick tube to force some of this sludge out, I noticed a little bit of bright green antifreeze coming out of the crankcase as well.

What are your thoughts?

What are your thoughts? Anti freeze in the oil ? Not good. Where did it come from? Think about it. It's gonna need more than just a few additional parts...

[KE4AVB]

MM, I deal with a couple nursery customers here. They are treble at equipment maintenance though I have got them into doing much better. The main problem with customer they were using cheap labor, the Mexicans that didn't care. Now they still have a lot of Mexicans working for them but they are the ones that actually take good care of the equipment. At first engines were coming with broken rods among other things. They even burned up an engine I that rebuilt in less than two months using it in +100F temps and never checking the oil level.I also got out of trying to fix the problems themselves. I only 15 minutes North of the Northside of the their operation so now sup just brings things in.

At the customer got some good use out the engine before it died. One the nursery here had brought three brand new Stihl hedgers and all three were locked up with an hour. You guess it; straight gassed. $1200 into the recycling bin.

I hate hearing a good equipment dying an early death due to lack of maintenance but it is something I have seen all my life. I have been a service tech since '79.

[Luffydog]

How old is the motor in this unit. I does sound like improper and lack of maintance. If low on oil I would have to say lack of lube was the main cause of the breakdown. Inspect piston and rings and bore good. If it locked up might be more damage that's there. Those sumps are costly. I had one last year that was no oil and lack of lube and no maintance with a maple tree growing out of air filter. It was in warranty but the valve had broke causing the failure. Kawasaki stood up and said we want ours customers to be happy and they over nighter me a new motor and told me to put it in and they paid all cost of motor and labor just wanted them happy. Sounds like if you do the work later might come back and give you a bite right where u don't want it. Not because of the work you done but just because of the failure itself. Just beaware if it needs new engine put it in.