Hey guys I'm brand new to the forum and need some help. I bought a 2013 Gravely ZT 54XL from an older guy on Offer Up that had been sitting for a couple years. When I bought the mower the battery was bad and corroded, gas was stale, deck and belt had been removed. The guy selling it tried starting it multiple times and it would turn over and attempt to crank but no dice. I took a risk and seems like the engine is bad. Here is a list of components I've already replaced or adjusted in trying to get this thing up and running properly.
New Battery
-Fuel system rebuild, fuel pickup, all fuel lines, fuel pump, fuel filter, carb.
(cleaned tank).
-New oil, filter and plugs. (Old plugs were very oil fouled)
-# 1 cylinder head assy w/ new valves and springs with all new gaskets. (Engine was only running on #2 cylinder)
-# 1 cylinder lower rocker bolt had stripped out of the head and caused intake pushrod to bend thus the dead cylinder.
- Checked ignition coils and reset gap
- Performed compression test and showed 90 psi in each cylinder
Engine is currently running on both cylinders but is burning oil badly. It has burned over a quart of oil in less than an hour of operating time. Could the piston rings be bad even though compression is showing good?
Would it be worth it to take it into a shop and have them diagnose or just tear it down?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Clay
#2
cpurvis
Could the piston rings be bad even though compression is showing good?
Would it be worth it to take it into a shop and have them diagnose or just tear it down?
Did you replace the inlet valve stem seals ?
90 psi is getting near the lower end of use full compression .
How many hours on the engine ?
When you had the heads off what did the bore look like ?
Was the cross hatching still present ?
Did you replace the inlet valve stem seals ?
90 psi is getting near the lower end of use full compression .
How many hours on the engine ?
When you had the heads off what did the bore look like ?
Was the cross hatching still present ?
Hey bert, I replaced the entire # 1 cylinder head assy to include all the valves, seals, guides. Unfortunately I think the dead cylinder was just a symptom and not the cause of the smoking. I drove the mower around this morning to warm it up like it says in the manual. Did another compression check and got 150 psi on # 1 and 100 psi on #2. I went ahead and tore the engine down because I suspect a cracked or broken oil ring like was mentioned in one of the previous posts. Both cylinders had quite a bit of oil in them when I removed each cylinder head, especially #2. Oil came pouring out. This mower supposedly has 247 hours on it, at least thats what the meter says. I'm guessing this thing was just dogged and worn out. Thoughts?
#5
Scrubcadet10
That bore looks a lot like a engine I tore apart that had 1000 hours on it.
I see none, to little hone marks.
Well that is encouraging.
A low dry & High wet compression signals worn rings or worn piston or both
So out with the engine and whip those pistons out.
Measure the ring side gap in the piston & the ring gap in the bore.
If the side is OK & the bore gap is big then a new set of rings + a hone will have you sweet.
If the side gaps are big then new pistons & rings.
Kawasaki parts are not as cheap as Briggs parts so you have to go from there.
That bore does not look good , but the oil on the side could be masking the honing.
OTOH a bottlebrush hone is quite cheap.
Did you find dust in the carb throat ?
What was the engine off ?
Do you have an engine manual.
If not it is a free download form kawasaki and there are a couple of other sites with the PDF on them.
That bore does not look good , but the oil on the side could be masking the honing.
OTOH a bottlebrush hone is quite cheap.
Did you find dust in the carb throat? I didn't find any dust in the carb throat but the mower was extremely dirty when I bought it.
What was the engine off ? Came off a 2013 Gravely ZT XL 54
Do you have an engine manual. I did download the manual.
If not it is a free download form kawasaki and there are a couple of other sites with the PDF on them.[/QUOTE]
At this point I've got the engine torn down to the short block. I've never cracked a case before and don't have access to machining tools so I'll probably get an estimate on what a shop will charge to go through the block and compare that with the cost of a new engine. Found one brand new on Ebay for $1200 USD. I'm also guessing the guy who sold it to me had replaced the hour meter and this mower has many more hours on it than claimed. Thank you for the help!
Don't need any special tool other than a set of feelers and the hone.
bottlebrush hone goes into a power drill, battery or mains power
The side gap is fairly obvius, you shoce the feeler between the ring & the piston.
End gap, you put the ring in the bore then tap it with the piston to square it up then measure the gap in the ring You do this top & bottom.
If one is substantially bigger than the other then a rebore is required which in not economic on a mower engine.
I have a fr691v motor on my zero turn and it only had 100 hours. It started smoking and burning oil quart per hour as mentioned above. My machine was not dogged out, maintenace was performed after every season.
Piston ring is cracked, and engine is being replaced. So I do not think that the guy who sold you the machine replaced the hours meter or dogged the mower....its just a bad engine.
You got a bad one
I have only come across 2 design flaws with the FR series
1) air filters very prone to leaking if overtightened
2) rocker mount can come loose & break the pip off the head ( fixed with a grub screw )
