Kawa Fr600v >100hrs already trashed

[0729dad]

I knew from zero turn shopping that adding a bagger would require me to constantly be blowing out my air filter area and I never expected to come close to the 100 hours of use that the owners manual says that’s when to change it.

it was around 50-60 hours when I took the original filter off and noticed the paper element was not seated in the plastic housing anymore! (I’ll attach a pic) So I immediately changed it to a new filter. Over the next 50 hours or so i changed the air filter twice just to be safe.

somewhere around the 60 hour mark I started to smell burning oil but very faint. So I would check the oil and it would seem fine but dirty so I’d change it.

now this spring I start to see very little white smoke with the faint oil burning smell only intermittently. That finally got me to take it to a Kawasaki dealer per husqvarna’s warranty department’s instructions.

This dealer I bring it to seems offended I bought it at Lowe’s but agrees to lol at it as long as I agree to pay the bill if Kawasaki denies the warranty claim which I did. To make a long story short he says I trashed my engine with dust and dirt from an aftermarket air filter and Kawasaki will definitely not honor it. Plus they left the key on over the weekend adding <100 hrs onto my meter!!!

now its at the second dealer that’s also a husqvarna dealer. They say the engine should run for another 50-200 more hours as long as I keep dumping oil in it but Kawasaki won’t replace anything. He said there is no issue with the air filter… go figure

I’m very frustrated since I still owe just about what it would cost to get a new engine installed on this unit. I really feel like I took care of this tractor and something wasn’t right for it to start failing so fast!

 

[cpurvis]

If the original filter from the factory was defective or improperly installed, you HAD a case for factory warranty work at that time. Did you file a claim then? If not, and you've replaced the air filter several more times, I doubt if you still have a valid claim.

Additionally, obsessing over air filter cleanliness, you may have become your own worst enemy.
First, a new or cleaned air filter does not do a better job of filtering. In fact, it does worse. Air filters filter better as they get dirtier. They have no bypass feature like an oil filter. So unless you detect a decrease in performance, follow the change interval in your manual.

That might help you with your next mower. What to do about this one?

While it's still burning relatively little oil, you could trade it in on a mower with a Kawasaki FX series engine. It has a cannister type air filter which has a lot more filtering area and can be fitted with a Filter Minder, a little indicator that measures intake restriction. It tells you when you need a new filter.

Lastly, don't clean air filter elements with compressed air. Run it to the interval specified in the manual (or when the Filter Minder tells you to replace it) and throw the old one away. Don't re-install it.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Yep looks like the air filter is at fault
So if you want to persue a claim then it has to be against the filter maker
If it came from ebay / amazon not much chance of that
Keep the oil level up for the remainder of this season
At the end of the year get a set of rings, a full gasket kit and a bottle brush hone to put some cross hatching into the bore and re-ring the engine .
Not a particularly difficult job.
The biggest part of the cost is labour for removing & replacing the engine.
So if you feel it is above your skill set, take it out yourself then get a repair workshop to re-ring the engine.
An independent repair shop will be cheaper and usually do a better job than a glass front retailer .
Long term find the thread on fitting a Donaldson filter and fit one to your mower
The EngineAire equivalent will be less expensive and every bit as good.
Better still to pay the extra for a filter minder then never touch the filter till the minder says to replace it .