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FX850V dilemma
#1
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
I am hoping for advice from a seasoned Kawasaki engine tech. Here's what I have: a 9 year old Hustler Super Z that has had several parts replaced, good pumps and motors, mows great but has right at 2000 hrs on the Kaw FX850V-CS12 and is using oil. From personal experience, this is the beginning of the end for this engine. Now my dilemma, 1) is it worth rebuilding? I'm not a small engine mechanic but I do all my own maintenance on my equipment and am sure I could do a complete rebuild using Kaw parts for about $400. If nothing else it would be cheaper than taking a class on them and I could say that I have personally put one back together. If it gets an additional 500 to 1000 hours it would be money well spent. If not, again cheap education and therapy. 2) Replace? I am finding that EFI engines seem to be plentiful and about $300 cheaper than the CS-12 (S-12). Is it easy to convert an EFI engine to carb or to adapt the mower to accommodate the EFI engine (that would be ideal)? Or #3) repower with a Briggs engine for about 2/3 the price? If #3 is the answer which B&S engine do I need to use for the closest direct replacement (30 amp charging, correct crankshaft size, mounting holes, wiring harness, etc.)? Goal is to get another 1000 -1500 hours from this machine. Thanks to anyone willing to offer solid advice. I value the knowledge of those much more well versed than I.
(BTW, I'm not actually a Newby on here, just could not seem to recover my password so I created a new account)
(BTW, I'm not actually a Newby on here, just could not seem to recover my password so I created a new account)
#2
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
The burning question is where is the oil going
it could be as simple as new inlet valve stem seals , breather spring or just a hone + rings
But you won't know till you pull the heads off
Does one side oil up worse than the other
it could be as simple as new inlet valve stem seals , breather spring or just a hone + rings
But you won't know till you pull the heads off
Does one side oil up worse than the other
#3
Scrubcadet10
Scrubcadet10
Burning oil could be a few things, at that hours, i could see piston rings causing it, it could also be a valve guide seals.
The thing about doing a total rebuild, you really never know for sure what you need until you tear everything down, and break out your caliper and micrometer, check the ring gap in the bore, measure the plain bearings, and rod clearance on the crankshaft....
Carrol stream has the FX850 for 2,189.00.
Looking through IPL's, doesn't appear there are oversize rings available, so if a bore is out of round, or is scored too badly or just wore out and needs bored out bigger, i don't see any rings to accommodate that, nor a piston...
as far as repowering with a briggs, i really don't know how much longer Briggs will be around... so can you get parts for it 5 years down the road?
The thing about doing a total rebuild, you really never know for sure what you need until you tear everything down, and break out your caliper and micrometer, check the ring gap in the bore, measure the plain bearings, and rod clearance on the crankshaft....
Carrol stream has the FX850 for 2,189.00.
Looking through IPL's, doesn't appear there are oversize rings available, so if a bore is out of round, or is scored too badly or just wore out and needs bored out bigger, i don't see any rings to accommodate that, nor a piston...
as far as repowering with a briggs, i really don't know how much longer Briggs will be around... so can you get parts for it 5 years down the road?
#4
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
Both plugs were fouled pretty badly and evenly so I figured I could rule out valve stem seals (unless they went bad on both heads at approx the same time.) I have 125# compression on cyl 1 but only 90# on #2. No appreciable leak down on either side. I did adjust valve lash. Nothing weird noticed while doing that. Push rods, springs, etc all appear OK. No significant power loss once I replaced the fouled plugs bit still too much smoke on start up and some smoke under load. I'd like to think rings But so many people tell me rebuild is a waste of money. That's why I'm on here looking for other opinions/ options. Thanks!The burning question is where is the oil going
it could be as simple as new inlet valve stem seals , breather spring or just a hone + rings
But you won't know till you pull the heads off
Does one side oil up worse than the other
#5
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
Thanks, getting it bored and oversized pistons/ rings is really not an option for me without having access to a machine shop on the cheap. Sending it out would run into more expense than replacement. Do you know if an EFI version is adaptable? I can get one for about $1700? Or again just less expensive in the long run to pay more now for the direct replacement?Burning oil could be a few things, at that hours, i could see piston rings causing it, it could also be a valve guide seals.
The thing about doing a total rebuild, you really never know for sure what you need until you tear everything down, and break out your caliper and micrometer, check the ring gap in the bore, measure the plain bearings, and rod clearance on the crankshaft....
Carrol stream has the FX850 for 2,189.00.
Looking through IPL's, doesn't appear there are oversize rings available, so if a bore is out of round, or is scored too badly or just wore out and needs bored out bigger, i don't see any rings to accommodate that, nor a piston...
as far as repowering with a briggs, i really don't know how much longer Briggs will be around... so can you get parts for it 5 years down the road?
#6
Scrubcadet10
Scrubcadet10
One thing i should have asked first, what color is the smoke?
#7
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
Blue, def oil. Uses about 1/2 qt every 10 or so hours. I change oil & filter every 50 hrs in all my machines.
#8
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
BTW, I didn't mention oil change frequency or type in the original post because I didn't want to get off on a tangent about "Best oil", too often / not often enough, etc since what I'm doing now works for me. Just wanted to stay focused on their particular situation. I see so many threads become sidetracked by personal preferences.
#9
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
What's your first take on the compression difference? 35# seems like too big a difference to me???One thing i should have asked first, what color is the smoke?
#10
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Rare for an FX to suffer excessive wear from dust unless you have the bad habit of regularly removing the air filter for cleaning.
The Donaldson filters should not be touched till there are signs of the engine running rich ( filter blocked ) when the outer gets replaced .
# outers to each inner, but if you keep pulling the elements out you wreck the seal which allows dust into the engine.
Before you go down any path, pull the heads & have a look inside
a FX should be good for 10,000 hours standing on it's head .
The Donaldson filters should not be touched till there are signs of the engine running rich ( filter blocked ) when the outer gets replaced .
# outers to each inner, but if you keep pulling the elements out you wreck the seal which allows dust into the engine.
Before you go down any path, pull the heads & have a look inside
a FX should be good for 10,000 hours standing on it's head .
#11
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
10,000 hours? Wow, that is the first time I've every heard that number. Not saying you're wrong, just never heard anyone say that I should expect that many hours from a mower engine. I pull and replace the outer filter when the indicator says to do so.
#12
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Well you have done everything right so you should have gotten a lot more service out of that engine.
Domestic engines are designed for a 10 year service life
That works out as 2.5 hours a week for 30 weeks a year for 10 years.
Runs out around 1000 hours and he domestic hydros start to fall apart at around those hours as well.
Commercial grade engines are designed to go 5 hours a day by 5 hours a week by 50 weeks a year for around 10 years
Horozontal shaft engines are designed to last a lot longer because they could be doing more than 5 hours a day and on things like generators 24 hours a day while the power is out.
Domestic engines are designed for a 10 year service life
That works out as 2.5 hours a week for 30 weeks a year for 10 years.
Runs out around 1000 hours and he domestic hydros start to fall apart at around those hours as well.
Commercial grade engines are designed to go 5 hours a day by 5 hours a week by 50 weeks a year for around 10 years
Horozontal shaft engines are designed to last a lot longer because they could be doing more than 5 hours a day and on things like generators 24 hours a day while the power is out.
#13
L
LawnWizard
Is the stator and voltage reg the only difference on a S-12 and S-00?
L
LawnWizard
Bert,Well you have done everything right so you should have gotten a lot more service out of that engine.
Domestic engines are designed for a 10 year service life
That works out as 2.5 hours a week for 30 weeks a year for 10 years.
Runs out around 1000 hours and he domestic hydros start to fall apart at around those hours as well.
Commercial grade engines are designed to go 5 hours a day by 5 hours a week by 50 weeks a year for around 10 years
Horozontal shaft engines are designed to last a lot longer because they could be doing more than 5 hours a day and on things like generators 24 hours a day while the power is out.
Is the stator and voltage reg the only difference on a S-12 and S-00?
#14
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
No idea I do not have access to the dealer network just Kawakasi parts lists through my wholesalerBert,
Is the stator and voltage reg the only difference on a S-12 and S-00?
#15
A
Ariens A19A42
A
Ariens A19A42
I'd try some Liqui-Moly Motor Oil Saver. I had the same problems with my mower and changed the oil and put about 25% of this Liqui-Moly in it and she runs like a champ and stopped smoking.in about 2 hrs running time I think if you use gas with alcohol in it then it tends to gum the rings and valve seals up. This cleans them and softens the seals to up more like when they were new.
Liqui-Moly on Amazon-
Liqui-Moly on Amazon-
#16
T
txmowman
T
txmowman
If you are doing the rebuild yourself, it might be worth while. If you are having it done, I would replace the engine. An FX850V is available in EFI, but you would need to get all the controls side of it through Hustler. If this engine is using oil and smoking, it has been dirt ingested at some point. If maintenance is done as you suggested, possibly an inner air filter was not installed correctly, or if the filter was blown out between changes, which happens a lot. I've seen engines at 2000 hours and still have cross-hatch in the cylinders. Oversized pistons and rings are not available from Kawasaki for this engine.
#17
T
txmowman
T
txmowman
Engines are designed to ideally last through the warranty period. What is the source of your information?Well you have done everything right so you should have gotten a lot more service out of that engine.
Domestic engines are designed for a 10 year service life
That works out as 2.5 hours a week for 30 weeks a year for 10 years.
Runs out around 1000 hours and he domestic hydros start to fall apart at around those hours as well.
Commercial grade engines are designed to go 5 hours a day by 5 hours a week by 50 weeks a year for around 10 years
Horozontal shaft engines are designed to last a lot longer because they could be doing more than 5 hours a day and on things like generators 24 hours a day while the power is out.
#18
T
txmowman
T
txmowman
Yes, S00 is 15amp, S12 is 30amp, for Hustler applications.No idea I do not have access to the dealer network just Kawakasi parts lists through my wholesaler
#19
T
txmowman
T
txmowman
The 90 psi would typically be more "normal". There is no spec for what it should be, but both cylinders should be within 10% or so of each other. Has there ever been any valve maintenance performed, other than checking valve lash? If lash is set correctly, you could try adding SeaFoam to a tank of fuel.What's your first take on the compression difference? 35# seems like too big a difference to me???
#20
L
LawnWizard
L
LawnWizard
Nothing other that adjusting lash. I did replace head gaskets a couple months (about 300 hours) ago. Everything else appeared fine at that time. The cly with 125# had a blown gasket is why I changed them. Really don't remember checking compression afterwards tho. Ran fine and had much better power. Would mis-adjusting valve lash explain the higher comp number?The 90 psi would typically be more "normal". There is no spec for what it should be, but both cylinders should be within 10% or so of each other. Has there ever been any valve maintenance performed, other than checking valve lash? If lash is set correctly, you could try adding SeaFoam to a tank of fuel.
#21
B
bertsmobile1
A warranty period is not the design service life.
If that was the case no mower would last more than 3 years & I have 6 in my yard that are better than 20 years old and at least a hundred in my service run of similar age
Service life is time the engine can be expected to run for if used within it's design parrameters and serviced according to the makers schedule.
Warranty is the time during which any faults in design , materials or manufacture will have become evident & be repaired at cost to the makers.
Outside that time problems will be considered to be owner caused .
If mowers are supposed only to last till warranty expires then there would be on 100. 200 or 500 hour service schedules because the mower will have ceased to be operational before then.
No mower company would even think of marketing a mower that has a very short design llife because they want you too b happy with your purchase and replace your mower with another on from the same maker .
Junk merchants like Lowes, Walmart , HF etc don't care because their customers just want what is cheap & they will often sell short life brands the drop that brand when they become known as trash & sales drop off .
B
bertsmobile1
My engine wholesalersEngines are designed to ideally last through the warranty period. What is the source of your information?
A warranty period is not the design service life.
If that was the case no mower would last more than 3 years & I have 6 in my yard that are better than 20 years old and at least a hundred in my service run of similar age
Service life is time the engine can be expected to run for if used within it's design parrameters and serviced according to the makers schedule.
Warranty is the time during which any faults in design , materials or manufacture will have become evident & be repaired at cost to the makers.
Outside that time problems will be considered to be owner caused .
If mowers are supposed only to last till warranty expires then there would be on 100. 200 or 500 hour service schedules because the mower will have ceased to be operational before then.
No mower company would even think of marketing a mower that has a very short design llife because they want you too b happy with your purchase and replace your mower with another on from the same maker .
Junk merchants like Lowes, Walmart , HF etc don't care because their customers just want what is cheap & they will often sell short life brands the drop that brand when they become known as trash & sales drop off .
#22
T
txmowman
T
txmowman
There is no published service life. The service life is dependent on the proper maintenance and care given. An engine that is 20 years old or more, lets say, is not still running because it was "designed" to.
#23
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Everything has a designed service life.
from the biro in a hotel room that only has a 1/2" of ink to a pacemaker .
And with computer modeling and what is known about lubricants & materials now days you can design a mower engine's service life almost to the minute
An alloy bore has a designed service life that is shorter than an iron bore
An iron bore with hard rings has a shorter design life than and iron bore with soft rings
A wider bearing surface on the crankshaft will have a longer design life than a shorter one
A rolling element bearing will go in an engine with a longer design life than a plain non replaceable bush.
This is why engines get tested to destruction
My usual reply is there are 2 very famous Henry's in motoring history.
Both of then tested their vehicles to destruction
One of them did this till the first major component failed, then downgraded everything else to fail near the same time
His name was Ford & by doing this he made the cheapest car it was possible to make at the time which sold faster than he could make them and became one of the richest people on the planet.
The other Henry did the same then as each & every part failed, he made them stronger so his cars will ( and do ) run forever .
His name was Royce & he believed an automobile should be a one time purchase & last forever.
His cars did not sell well and he died a pauper.
Everything, absolutely everything that is manufactured has a designed service life.
And the fact that most of them are way too short is exactly why the planet is going to hell in a hand basket and it very well could be that children born today may never live as long as my generation has .
from the biro in a hotel room that only has a 1/2" of ink to a pacemaker .
And with computer modeling and what is known about lubricants & materials now days you can design a mower engine's service life almost to the minute
An alloy bore has a designed service life that is shorter than an iron bore
An iron bore with hard rings has a shorter design life than and iron bore with soft rings
A wider bearing surface on the crankshaft will have a longer design life than a shorter one
A rolling element bearing will go in an engine with a longer design life than a plain non replaceable bush.
This is why engines get tested to destruction
My usual reply is there are 2 very famous Henry's in motoring history.
Both of then tested their vehicles to destruction
One of them did this till the first major component failed, then downgraded everything else to fail near the same time
His name was Ford & by doing this he made the cheapest car it was possible to make at the time which sold faster than he could make them and became one of the richest people on the planet.
The other Henry did the same then as each & every part failed, he made them stronger so his cars will ( and do ) run forever .
His name was Royce & he believed an automobile should be a one time purchase & last forever.
His cars did not sell well and he died a pauper.
Everything, absolutely everything that is manufactured has a designed service life.
And the fact that most of them are way too short is exactly why the planet is going to hell in a hand basket and it very well could be that children born today may never live as long as my generation has .
#24
VRR.DYNDNS>BIZ
VRR.DYNDNS>BIZ
B&S will be here after we are long dead. The CEo's just took the money and ran. There production sales are booked into 2023! With existing engine and chassis information, check with a qualified B&S Dealer for an existing repower known engine option. If you go ahead with the overhaul investigation, check the bore with the proper method as ring gap is not a tell all. Need bore ID at top, middle, bottom, inline with crank and 90 degrees from crank and any variation beyond spec ( ussually .002" ) is not going to last if just re-ring cause of ring flex and breakage.If a general feel for bore is used with ring gap before going to the better method, you need new rings as old worn rings will lie.Get started now, spring will be here early we hope!Burning oil could be a few things, at that hours, i could see piston rings causing it, it could also be a valve guide seals.
The thing about doing a total rebuild, you really never know for sure what you need until you tear everything down, and break out your caliper and micrometer, check the ring gap in the bore, measure the plain bearings, and rod clearance on the crankshaft....
Carrol stream has the FX850 for 2,189.00.
Looking through IPL's, doesn't appear there are oversize rings available, so if a bore is out of round, or is scored too badly or just wore out and needs bored out bigger, i don't see any rings to accommodate that, nor a piston...
as far as repowering with a briggs, i really don't know how much longer Briggs will be around... so can you get parts for it 5 years down the road?
#25
Scrubcadet10
Scrubcadet10
I hope you're right...B&S will be here after we are long dead.
#26
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
I seriously doubt it
The days of petrol powered mowers is rapidly coming to an end
Company greed will have more & more mower fitted with imported engines , much the same way as B & S / Tecumseh killed off engine makers in Europe & Australia in the 40's & 50's & 60's because they were substantially cheaper.
The only thing B & S have going for them now is the fact that there are millions of them out there needing parts
But again company greed had B & S outsourcing most of the parts used in their engines .
Then having done the dirty on all of these suppliers , no surprise that they will either not supply B & S or continue on a COD basis.
When they can get supplies, smaller volumes mean higher prices
I only fit kawakasi & loncin engines now days
The shop up the street fits Kohler Kawakasi & Ducar
None of the tool sores down here sell B & S powered tools any more, all Chinese engines on the cheap stuff & Honda on the expensive ones .
The days of petrol powered mowers is rapidly coming to an end
Company greed will have more & more mower fitted with imported engines , much the same way as B & S / Tecumseh killed off engine makers in Europe & Australia in the 40's & 50's & 60's because they were substantially cheaper.
The only thing B & S have going for them now is the fact that there are millions of them out there needing parts
But again company greed had B & S outsourcing most of the parts used in their engines .
Then having done the dirty on all of these suppliers , no surprise that they will either not supply B & S or continue on a COD basis.
When they can get supplies, smaller volumes mean higher prices
I only fit kawakasi & loncin engines now days
The shop up the street fits Kohler Kawakasi & Ducar
None of the tool sores down here sell B & S powered tools any more, all Chinese engines on the cheap stuff & Honda on the expensive ones .
#27
T
txmowman
T
txmowman
Nothing other that adjusting lash. I did replace head gaskets a couple months (about 300 hours) ago. Everything else appeared fine at that time. The cly with 125# had a blown gasket is why I changed them. Really don't remember checking compression afterwards tho. Ran fine and had much better power. Would mis-adjusting valve lash explain the higher comp number?
Everything has a designed service life.
from the biro in a hotel room that only has a 1/2" of ink to a pacemaker .
And with computer modeling and what is known about lubricants & materials now days you can design a mower engine's service life almost to the minute
An alloy bore has a designed service life that is shorter than an iron bore
An iron bore with hard rings has a shorter design life than and iron bore with soft rings
A wider bearing surface on the crankshaft will have a longer design life than a shorter one
A rolling element bearing will go in an engine with a longer design life than a plain non replaceable bush.
This is why engines get tested to destruction
My usual reply is there are 2 very famous Henry's in motoring history.
Both of then tested their vehicles to destruction
One of them did this till the first major component failed, then downgraded everything else to fail near the same time
His name was Ford & by doing this he made the cheapest car it was possible to make at the time which sold faster than he could make them and became one of the richest people on the planet.
The other Henry did the same then as each & every part failed, he made them stronger so his cars will ( and do ) run forever .
His name was Royce & he believed an automobile should be a one time purchase & last forever.
His cars did not sell well and he died a pauper.
Everything, absolutely everything that is manufactured has a designed service life.
And the fact that most of them are way too short is exactly why the planet is going to hell in a hand basket and it very well could be that children born today may never live as long as my
Nice storyEverything has a designed service life.
from the biro in a hotel room that only has a 1/2" of ink to a pacemaker .
And with computer modeling and what is known about lubricants & materials now days you can design a mower engine's service life almost to the minute
An alloy bore has a designed service life that is shorter than an iron bore
An iron bore with hard rings has a shorter design life than and iron bore with soft rings
A wider bearing surface on the crankshaft will have a longer design life than a shorter one
A rolling element bearing will go in an engine with a longer design life than a plain non replaceable bush.
This is why engines get tested to destruction
My usual reply is there are 2 very famous Henry's in motoring history.
Both of then tested their vehicles to destruction
One of them did this till the first major component failed, then downgraded everything else to fail near the same time
His name was Ford & by doing this he made the cheapest car it was possible to make at the time which sold faster than he could make them and became one of the richest people on the planet.
The other Henry did the same then as each & every part failed, he made them stronger so his cars will ( and do ) run forever .
His name was Royce & he believed an automobile should be a one time purchase & last forever.
His cars did not sell well and he died a pauper.
Everything, absolutely everything that is manufactured has a designed service life.
And the fact that most of them are way too short is exactly why the planet is going to hell in a hand basket and it very well could be that children born today may never live as long as my generation has .
#28
LebronPMS
LebronPMS
Doing a rebuild would be the more affordable option. We sell these engines and parts where I work all the time. Depending on what parts you would need, I'd also be able to work something out on a complete fx850v engine brand new if it is still something you were considering. I have a smaller FS691V on my Ferris and I'm gonna do the swap soon for an FX850V, I almost never hear anything bad about them. Plus as long as they are maintained properly, the ones we sell come with a 3 year warranty!
#29
L
larryuno
L
larryuno
Hi, I know you work on lawn tractors a lot, would you give an opinion on Loncin motors' quality? Many Chinese products I have bought have been seriously disappointing. Thanks, Larry.I seriously doubt it
The days of petrol powered mowers is rapidly coming to an end
Company greed will have more & more mower fitted with imported engines , much the same way as B & S / Tecumseh killed off engine makers in Europe & Australia in the 40's & 50's & 60's because they were substantially cheaper.
The only thing B & S have going for them now is the fact that there are millions of them out there needing parts
But again company greed had B & S outsourcing most of the parts used in their engines .
Then having done the dirty on all of these suppliers , no surprise that they will either not supply B & S or continue on a COD basis.
When they can get supplies, smaller volumes mean higher prices
I only fit kawakasi & loncin engines now days
The shop up the street fits Kohler Kawakasi & Ducar
None of the tool sores down here sell B & S powered tools any more, all Chinese engines on the cheap stuff & Honda on the expensive ones .
#30
Scrubcadet10
Scrubcadet10
Loncin motors are used fairly widely, They are the makers of Harbor Freight predator engines ( or at least their horizontal shaft engine) and also they make the predator generator engines. They also make Toro's own brand engine, as well as MTD's powermore engine. I've worked on a large handful of them... Usually minor issues like carb trouble ( fuel sitting too long) or bad ignition coil here and there. I wouldn't expect 2000+ hrs from.
#31
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Considered that they are basically copies of Honda engines that are out of patient they behave as you would expect.
The only real problem I see down here are due to the very shallow sump & low oil capacity.
Several of them only run 1 litre of oil so the fine line between just enough oil and not enough oil is very fine indeed thus I have had 2 low oil seizures.
All vertical crank engines are tilt sensitive but the Loncins are more so.
Apart from that no more or no less a problem than any other engine.
The pull starts are a bit on the flimsey side but they seem to hold up for now , remembering that wide useage of them is quite recient .
Time will tell
Yet to see a twin
The float bowl is smaller which also makes them sensitive to lean running when used across slopes.
Build quality is reasonable .
Casting quality is excellent so the extra money spent on top quality castings is recovered by next to no dressing of the castings ( similar to Kohler)
The metal is thinner so abuse will probably take a higher toll on the engine and as mentioned you have to check the oil without fail.
I put 10w40 in them as the SAE 30 mower oil tended to leak out a bit hot and caused slow cranking when cold.
OTOH both Honda & Kawakasi specify the same 10w40 .
Now that Loncin have established a parts warehouse down here I will be fitting their engines to domestic repowers and Kawakasi engines for commercial repowers.
I have 10 B & S engines and 3 Kohlers left over from the last pallet load of engines I bought and when they are gone they will be the last B & S or Kohler engines I will be fitting .
The only real problem I see down here are due to the very shallow sump & low oil capacity.
Several of them only run 1 litre of oil so the fine line between just enough oil and not enough oil is very fine indeed thus I have had 2 low oil seizures.
All vertical crank engines are tilt sensitive but the Loncins are more so.
Apart from that no more or no less a problem than any other engine.
The pull starts are a bit on the flimsey side but they seem to hold up for now , remembering that wide useage of them is quite recient .
Time will tell
Yet to see a twin
The float bowl is smaller which also makes them sensitive to lean running when used across slopes.
Build quality is reasonable .
Casting quality is excellent so the extra money spent on top quality castings is recovered by next to no dressing of the castings ( similar to Kohler)
The metal is thinner so abuse will probably take a higher toll on the engine and as mentioned you have to check the oil without fail.
I put 10w40 in them as the SAE 30 mower oil tended to leak out a bit hot and caused slow cranking when cold.
OTOH both Honda & Kawakasi specify the same 10w40 .
Now that Loncin have established a parts warehouse down here I will be fitting their engines to domestic repowers and Kawakasi engines for commercial repowers.
I have 10 B & S engines and 3 Kohlers left over from the last pallet load of engines I bought and when they are gone they will be the last B & S or Kohler engines I will be fitting .
#32
7394
7394
Hold the phone..........Before the surgery on the FX, do a leak down test to pinpoint the exact cause of the issue..
Might be very minor.
Can't see throwing parts at something w/out knowing the real issue..
Might be very minor.
Can't see throwing parts at something w/out knowing the real issue..