All the oils & grease - beginner questions

[bertsmobile1]

Rule of thumb
Do the first oil change as early as possible because he first few hour s will ave a lot of metal in there as the parts wear into each other.
Unless you are doing a lot of mowing then just do an annual oil change on the last mow of the season, immediately after mowing the grass so all of the heavy crud is in suspension so it will flow out rather than dropping to the bottom of the sump

 

[7394]

I haven't done end-of-season oil change yet as Kawasaki, the dealer, and the manual all say 100 hours for the first one. If that's not good direction, I'm open.

I'm quite sure if you look in your Operators Manual in Section 7.1 "Maintenance" you will see the chart for 8 hour services recommended. Your Kawasaki owners manual will list the same. Which includes the early oil change. You really want to get that early oil out, as Bert posted.

I'm not trying to sell you anything, just offering free advice. Oil is the cheapest thing on an Engine. And getting it off to a good start is key to longevity.

 

[7394]

the dealer, and the manual all say 100 hours for the first one.

Are you sure you are not looking @ the service hours for the Tranny (hydros)..

 

[bertsmobile1]

All of the Kawakasi engines I have sold had the first oil change at 30 hours
I do it labour free because I do a complete scheduled first service on the engine at the same time, checking all of the fasteners, valve lash rocker mounting bolts etc etc etc
Customer pays for oil & filter .

 

[7394]

Bert- Then the Operators Manual & Kawasaki engine manual must both be wrong..

 

[whodunit68]

Here it is....

Kawasaki FT730V-EFI-English-Spanish.pdf states "Change oil every 100 hours." That's it.
I'm certainly not trying to fight a fight I'd lose but it's right there - twice....no matter how much experience one has, it's what it says. Is it right? Well I have no idea.

 

[bertsmobile1]

So they have dropped the first service for the USA market
The break in oil change is on the dealers warranty information & a dealer bulletin that came with the engines
For the price of 2 L of oil & a filter, not worth fighting about
You do what you want & I will do as I have always done.
Perhaps the assembly line has been upgraded so they no longer send out engines with loose rocker retaining bolts or perhaps they run the engines for more than 15 seconds on the production line .

 

[whodunit68]

I want to do what's right. That's why I started the thread in the first place. Unfortunately some started suggesting I can't read so I shared what is from them. That's all that's here.

I had started to look at ZTRs a few years ago and first oil change at i think it was 50 hours was included so I was surprised this time around that not one offered it now.

 

[bertsmobile1]

You have to undestand how the engines are made.
They are assembled with the same assembly grease that most good mechanics use which is basically a wax
When they get to the end of the production line they are hooked up to a diagnosis machine and propane ( usually) is fed into the carb throat so the engine can be fired up.
They get run for a few seconds then if the machine says it is OK then put into a box for single sale or on a rack for mower factories.
If the machine says no then they get sent down to mechanical rectification for repair.
As such they are not run in
How much running in they need is directly proportional to the machining
The finner the surface finishes the less running in the engine needs
So it is feasable for tighter control over build quality to circumvent the need for the early post run in check.
Now I am a belts & Braces type of guy so regardless of what the manual says, they will always get an early oil change & full service check.
If all dealers & owners actually did this then the Kohler Courage cracks would never have happened because techs would have found the loose crank case bolts earlier.
This first service used to be free and considered as part of the delivery service.
Naturally big box stores did not do this so it became a job for dealers to do ( at a loss if done properly ) to mowers that they did not sell.
I do not know how the factories reimbersed dealers for doing this .
Down here the dealer wears the cost because it is supposed to come out of the retail mark up .
However if the mower was not bought from the dealer, then I would assume the factory had to pay for it ( No idea )
So knowing how directors & CEO's think I can see them doing the numbers & deciding to do away with the early service.
The last Loncin engine I fitted had an instruction to do oil & filter change at 30 hours or end of first season whichever comes first.

I am yet to see an engine that fell apart due to excessive oil changes
OTOH I have seen quite a few that were trashed by not changing the oil

Your engine
Your decision

 

[7394]

I want to do what's right. That's why I started the thread in the first place. Unfortunately some started suggesting I can't read so I shared what is from them. That's all that's here.

I wasn't implying you can't read, thought maybe an oversight. Now I see it, & think it's hard to believe it.

Have you looked in the (separate) Kawasak®i Engine manual ? You should have gotten with your manuals etc..If that says same thing, I will rest my case.

I build Harley engines, so I have a bit of a clue. Oil is cheap, engines are not.