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Fs600v burning oil fast

#1

C

CrusinSusan

Hello folks! Read through a few posts here similar to issues im having but needed more specific advice. I bought a used wright 52in walk behind for my daughters birthday, it has about 500 hours on it and was owned and maintained by a landscaping company. They told me it burns oil pretty fast and the mechanics there said it was most likely the piston/rings. Never dealt with those before but I am willing to learn and don’t mind the time or labor to fix it. It runs great besides needing to bring a case of oil with us lol! Smokes a bluish tint at start, once she’s runnin don’t see any smoke except a small poof here and there but nothing crazy. I took the spark plugs out and took a picture. I haven’t tested the compression yet but will do that today. Any other tests or anything I can look at to diagnose this? There is no visible oil dripping anywhere on the outside. Thank you kindly for any help!
-Susan

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#2

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

What weight oil are you using?


#3

Fish

Fish

What is the oil level? Does your oil/dipstick smell like gas?

If no, then I would suspect just a blown head gasket.


#4

Fish

Fish

Likely on the side of the first plug.


#5

B

bertsmobile1

Oil enters the cylinder either past the rings , past the valves or at the very worse case through a crack in the head which includes blown head gaskets
The head gasket is alloy and rarely blows but you test this by removing the dip stick after running for 10 minutes /
IF smoke rises then the gasket is gone .
To test for a crak in the head or a worn valve seal or slipping valve guide, remove the rocker cover.
This relieves any pressure on the oil in the head to force it into the cylinder
So if it stops burning oil when you do a test run, no rocker cover ( it will be very messy ) then suspect the head .

However if your mower has the right angle rubber elbow connecting the air filter, I would suspect that the rings are gone.
Had one earlier this year , both cylinders glassy smooth
They got a quick hone, new set of rings, problem solved


This customer has a bagger on the mower and it was sucking a mile of fine dust from the bagger into the cylinder .
remove the rubber elbow , put your damp finger into the carb throat and wipe around .
If it comes out with dust on it then the rings / bore will most likely be your culprit .

The elbow is a big problem as it does not seal particularly well and is quite difficult to fit properly .
FWIW the customer found a Donaldson filter 2nd hand which ended the fine dust problem.


#6

C

CrusinSusan

Scrubcadet10 said:
What weight oil are you using?
Click to expand...
He said he had been putting 10w30 but after reading posts here I bought some 20w-50 molasses ! Lol


#7

C

CrusinSusan

Fish said:
What is the oil level? Does your oil/dipstick smell like gas?

If no, then I would suspect just a blown head gasket.
Click to expand...
I did not smell the oil but will do that. Does it matter let it run or not before?


#8

C

CrusinSusan

bertsmobile1 said:
Oil enters the cylinder either past the rings , past the valves or at the very worse case through a crack in the head which includes blown head gaskets
The head gasket is alloy and rarely blows but you test this by removing the dip stick after running for 10 minutes /
IF smoke rises then the gasket is gone .
To test for a crak in the head or a worn valve seal or slipping valve guide, remove the rocker cover.
This relieves any pressure on the oil in the head to force it into the cylinder
So if it stops burning oil when you do a test run, no rocker cover ( it will be very messy ) then suspect the head .

However if your mower has the right angle rubber elbow connecting the air filter, I would suspect that the rings are gone.
Had one earlier this year , both cylinders glassy smooth
They got a quick hone, new set of rings, problem solved


This customer has a bagger on the mower and it was sucking a mile of fine dust from the bagger into the cylinder .
remove the rubber elbow , put your damp finger into the carb throat and wipe around .
If it comes out with dust on it then the rings / bore will most likely be your culprit .

The elbow is a big problem as it does not seal particularly well and is quite difficult to fit properly .
FWIW the customer found a Donaldson filter 2nd hand which ended the fine dust problem.
Click to expand...
I will give that a test! Don’t mind messy :) ty for the help! So I’ll let it run for 10 min, then check to see if I see smoke coming out. I’ll update.


#9

B

bertsmobile1

The cafine just kicked in ( morning down here )
See if you can get your hands on a bore-o-scope
Shove it down the spark plug hole and look for the cross hatching on the cylinder walls


#10

Fish

Fish

Take off the valve covers and then have someone crank the engine while you watch, you should be able to see where the head gasket is blown.


#11

C

CrusinSusan

bertsmobile1 said:
The cafine just kicked in ( morning down here )
See if you can get your hands on a bore-o-scope
Shove it down the spark plug hole and look for the cross hatching on the cylinder walls
Click to expand...
When you said to remove the rocker covers and do a test run, just start the mower and let it run idle at full throttle with covers off? No blade engaged just running? How long do I let her run? Thank you very much! I can get a bore o scope from my neighbor I’ll check that tomorrow and look for the hatching.


#12

C

CrusinSusan

Fish said:
Take off the valve covers and then have someone crank the engine while you watch, you should be able to see where the head gasket is blown.
Click to expand...
What would I be watching for? Sorry for my ignorance heh. Thank you!!


#13

B

bertsmobile1

Good neighbour to have .
Engage the blades so the throttle opens up.
The usual "alert" symptom for an internally blown head gasket is very rough running the instant you engage the blades.
Engine usually backfires, blows a little smoke ( either colour ) then settles down once the speed has stabilized.
Some times it will do the same when you go quickly to full ahead then full reverse because the engine slows a little & the governor allows the throttle plate to open fully so the engine get a full lung of air thus developes maximum compression pressure


#14

Fish

Fish

Compression blowing through the bad section of the head gasket, it pressurizes the crankcase and forces oil into the carb/intake and is burned while using the engine, you should be able to see where it is leaking. I used to start and run the engines, oil will spray a bunch more on the leak side.


#15

C

CrusinSusan

bertsmobile1 said:
The cafine just kicked in ( morning down here )
See if you can get your hands on a bore-o-scope
Shove it down the spark plug hole and look for the cross hatching on the cylinder walls
Click to expand...
Is this what im looking at with the scope?
I tried to get it to turn inside but wasn’t going anywhere lol.

Attachments









#16

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

That's the usual carbon build up on the piston, From the looks of it the cylinder walls look pretty glazed and shiny with a few light vertical scoring marks.
PISTON12.jpg


#17

C

CrusinSusan

Scrubcadet10 said:
That's the usual carbon build up on the piston, From the looks of it the cylinder walls look pretty glazed and shiny with a few light vertical scoring marks.
View attachment 54659
Click to expand...
What does the scoring come from? I seen some oil in one of the pics looks like it is seeping out on one particular spot. Is that normal? What should I do next? Thank you!!


#18

B

bertsmobile1

Your engine has been eating dirt
As the compression looks reasonable. time to whip the pistons out give the bore a crosshatch hone and pop some new rings in.
kawasaki parts are priced properly so it is not going to be cheap .
kawasaki have their service manuals on line and older ones are on the K & C Spares web page .
Too many chargable hours ( 6 to 8 ) for a mower shop job but you might get a discount if your local workshops have very quiet off seasons


#19

C

CrusinSusan

bertsmobile1 said:
Your engine has been eating dirt
As the compression looks reasonable. time to whip the pistons out give the bore a crosshatch hone and pop some new rings in.
kawasaki parts are priced properly so it is not going to be cheap .
kawasaki have their service manuals on line and older ones are on the K & C Spares web page .
Too many chargable hours ( 6 to 8 ) for a mower shop job but you might get a discount if your local workshops have very quiet off seasons
Click to expand...
Thanks Bert! The dirt, would that be from the elbow you referred to earlier or is it that something that will be hard to pinpoint without a professional eye? Thank you very much again for the help!


#20

C

CrusinSusan

Is this pretty much everything I need as far as parts? Thank you all for the help!!

Attachments





#21

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

Looks like it to me

except i would also buy 2 wrist pins and 4 new retaining clips, not included in that kit, since you'll be changing the pistons.
The pin should be 13002-7001 , and the clips should be, 92033-7002 superseded to 92033-0725


#22

C

CrusinSusan

Scrubcadet10 said:
Looks like it to me

except i would also buy 2 wrist pins and 4 new retaining clips, not included in that kit, since you'll be changing the pistons.
The pin should be 13002-7001 , and the clips should be, 92033-7002 superseded to 92033-0725
Click to expand...
Ty!!


#23

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

This manual should help you also, you'll need the torque specifications for the connecting rod bolts, sump bolts, head bolts, and flywheel nut.
[/URL]


#24

Fish

Fish

Pull the heads off first before spending any money.
Put up pics, especially of the gaskets.


#25

B

bertsmobile1

CrusinSusan said:
Thanks Bert! The dirt, would that be from the elbow you referred to earlier or is it that something that will be hard to pinpoint without a professional eye? Thank you very much again for the help!
Click to expand...
Yes
That filter elbow is a real problem to get to seal properly.
I have a sneaky feeling that the engine series was origionally designed as the full commercial FX with the external canister filter which is excellent then down graded to make the FR & FS .
There was a very detailed post of conversion to a canister filter in the "build it yourself" section of this forum .
Otherwise when you replace the filter always run a long Q tip , petrol damp white cloth etc down the elbow and check for dust .
I seal the engine end with silly cone and replace the elbows the instant they start to become stiff or start to crack or show any kind of deterioration .
As you are just about to find out, it is a big job to replace the rings & hone the bore and the parts price don't make it any cheaper .

That is an amazing price for a Kawasaki kit, where did you find it ?
My wholesale price for rings & gaskets is more than that .


#26

C

CrusinSusan

Scrubcadet10 said:
This manual should help you also, you'll need the torque specifications for the connecting rod bolts, sump bolts, head bolts, and flywheel nut.
[/URL]
Click to expand...
Ty!!


#27

C

CrusinSusan

bertsmobile1 said:
Yes
That filter elbow is a real problem to get to seal properly.
I have a sneaky feeling that the engine series was origionally designed as the full commercial FX with the external canister filter which is excellent then down graded to make the FR & FS .
There was a very detailed post of conversion to a canister filter in the "build it yourself" section of this forum .
Otherwise when you replace the filter always run a long Q tip , petrol damp white cloth etc down the elbow and check for dust .
I seal the engine end with silly cone and replace the elbows the instant they start to become stiff or start to crack or show any kind of deterioration .
As you are just about to find out, it is a big job to replace the rings & hone the bore and the parts price don't make it any cheaper .

That is an amazing price for a Kawasaki kit, where did you find it ?
My wholesale price for rings & gaskets is more than that .
Click to expand...
Thanks Bert! I’ve never dealt with pistons before but excited to break it open and explore! I’ll also check out that diy. Is it pretty safe to say my issue is 99.9% rings /piston and getting a good bore before I buy this kit tonight? Or should I check anything else before?I’ll look up the site again tonight when I get home I have like 50 tabs open with manuals, tools etc haha. I appreciate all the help, my father passed away last year suddenly.. not used to not being able to pick up the phone and get instant mechanic troubleshooting from him. Wish we would of had more time to learn from him! Anyways thank you all!!!

-Susan


#28

Scrubcadet10

Scrubcadet10

Fish said:
Pull the heads off first before spending any money.
Put up pics, especially of the gaskets.
Click to expand...
i would recommend doing what Fish said first,


#29

C

CrusinSusan

Fish said:
Pull the heads off first before spending any money.
Put up pics, especially of the gaskets.
Click to expand...
Hey Fish! Sorry missed this message reading over. I’ll take the heads off first and get a pic :)


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