Ultima ZT2 surging

[jviews12]

This is a great forum guys, please stay friendly and understanding. Now for my lecture, please use clean gas, drain equipment at end of season, clean tank and lines and carb and everything for the next season. I like starting knowing everything was put away 100% ready for next crop season. No preventing animals chewing through wires though.

 

[poncho144]

I guess no one has any answers of what I should or should not do.

Well pardner, you seem like a smart enough dude to realize the folks "fixing mowers, cars, M Cycles, etc, today ain't even in the same class as the ones of yester year.
My advice, for what its worth, is to get more involved in DIY hands on down an dirty manly art of "fixing" shit. I mean, its a frigg'n lawn mower, not a spacecraft. How hard would it be to self-educate yourself on internal combustion machinery so you can cut-out the middleman jerkoff and claim the title of master of your domain?
You probably actually do the dishes, vacuum the floors and water the house plants for your little woman. Git wit da f...king man program dude....!
Just say'n....

 

[tbmmbt]

Well pardner, you seem like a smart enough dude to realize the folks "fixing mowers, cars, M Cycles, etc, today ain't even in the same class as the ones of yester year.
My advice, for what its worth, is to get more involved in DIY hands on down an dirty manly art of "fixing" shit. I mean, its a frigg'n lawn mower, not a spacecraft. How hard would it be to self-educate yourself on internal combustion machinery so you can cut-out the middleman jerkoff and claim the title of master of your domain?
You probably actually do the dishes, vacuum the floors and water the house plants for your little woman. Git wit da f...king man program dude....!
Just say'n....

I do all of my maintenance but thought since the mower was still under warranty that I would just let them change the hydo oil as I was going to change it myself but that way if something comes up with anything they would not be able to say "well you did this" and get out of covering anything. It only cost me $100 more for them to do it as compared to me buying the stuff to do it myself so thought in the long run would be cheap insurance and apparently it may work out. Talked to the head technician and he said that since his guys did the adjustment and all of this has started since then that he wants to make it right so asked me to bring the mower back and let him find where the problem is and get the mower back to the adjustments that it is supposed to be running under so I took it back (only a 1/2 mile away) and he is looking into it. Like he agreed, it is still under warranty so will make it right and tell me when to pick it up. Others on here have stated that technicians should fix whatever they "deem" is necessary but I told them I only wanted the hydo oil change as I do my own stuff. They said they would do this and that and whatever but I told them no just the hydo oil. If they thought the oil needed changing or whatever then that would be something that they would want to charge for but I do all of that myself. They went farther than was asked of them and this is on them and they realize it. Wish I had just done it myself but I didn't so I have to go with the direction it is taking me. Not that I wanted to but am forced into that by them. And you are wrong about doing the dishes, vacuuming and watering the plants for my "little woman" thats what she does as I do all the "manly" stuff as you say.

 

[closecut]

There is a very small spring that is parallel to the governor spring.It seems to do nothing,but it takes up the slack in the governor spring hole to prevent surging and hunting.It prevents what they call hysteresis.Hysteresis is good in some cases,like a pipe wrench for instance,the sloppy fit make it grab,but not good on a mower governor.If this spring fell off or was removed and not put back on,it can cause surging.
To clean a carb that is not totally clogged,I use Dextron ATF. A small amount, a couple of tablespoons in a gallon usually does it, given time.The engine will smoke some,but the very high amount of varnish and sludge removers in the ATF will break up and remove the same stuff from your mower carb.Run it for a couple of hours,then let it rest overnight..let the solvents do their job.Then run out the tank next day.That has solved many problems for me in the past,even on the older carbureted cars,before computer controls. It may not solve your problem,but it will certainly clean the carb.IMHO:Better than Sea Foam for this purpose.

 

[tbmmbt]

There is a very small spring that is parallel to the governor spring.It seems to do nothing,but it takes up the slack in the governor spring hole to prevent surging and hunting.It prevents what they call hysteresis.Hysteresis is good in some cases,like a pipe wrench for instance,the sloppy fit make it grab,but not good on a mower governor.If this spring fell off or was removed and not put back on,it can cause surging.
To clean a carb that is not totally clogged,I use Dextron ATF. A small amount, a couple of tablespoons in a gallon usually does it, given time.The engine will smoke some,but the very high amount of varnish and sludge removers in the ATF will break up and remove the same stuff from your mower carb.Run it for a couple of hours,then let it rest overnight..let the solvents do their job.Then run out the tank next day.That has solved many problems for me in the past,even on the older carbureted cars,before computer controls. It may not solve your problem,but it will certainly clean the carb.IMHO:Better than Sea Foam for this purpose.

Thanks for the info. When I get the mower back will try the carb cleaning as it won't hurt to clean it up inside even if that isn't the problem.

 

[ccheatha]

First of all, check your attitude and have a little patience. We are not at your beck and call. Do you assume the technicians on this site are waiting to serve others and should provide answers within 24 hours, we do have other lives and commitments., especially on the weekends. Service manual does say high speed, no load RPMs should be at 3600. Second, as a technician when we see that things are not up to spec, we set them where the manual recommends. Others complain that it should be done even though we weren’t told to do so. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t. More than likely you have a fuel delivery problem that you were unaware of, due to the low speed setting. It manifested itself when the RPMs were set properly. How you want to proceed is up to you, but you are not going to get any sympathy from the techs on this site with your failure to understand what techs have to do to please every customer. Most understand, others RANT. Your can now get mad at me and hit the ignore button.

I definitely see both sides of the discussion here. Tbmmbt’s 2nd post does come off as a little impatient. However, he did make his first post on the 18th, so it was a while ago. At any rate, if the tech made changes according to specs, it might help to simply pass that info on to the customer.

For the surging, I’d be wondering if all the jets in the carb are clean. I’ve seen Pilot jets cause that issue.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge. I certainly learn a lot just by tuning in now and then.

 

[poncho144]

I do all of my maintenance but thought since the mower was still under warranty that I would just let them change the hydo oil as I was going to change it myself but that way if something comes up with anything they would not be able to say "well you did this" and get out of covering anything. It only cost me $100 more for them to do it as compared to me buying the stuff to do it myself so thought in the long run would be cheap insurance and apparently it may work out. Talked to the head technician and he said that since his guys did the adjustment and all of this has started since then that he wants to make it right so asked me to bring the mower back and let him find where the problem is and get the mower back to the adjustments that it is supposed to be running under so I took it back (only a 1/2 mile away) and he is looking into it. Like he agreed, it is still under warranty so will make it right and tell me when to pick it up. Others on here have stated that technicians should fix whatever they "deem" is necessary but I told them I only wanted the hydo oil change as I do my own stuff. They said they would do this and that and whatever but I told them no just the hydo oil. If they thought the oil needed changing or whatever then that would be something that they would want to charge for but I do all of that myself. They went farther than was asked of them and this is on them and they realize it. Wish I had just done it myself but I didn't so I have to go with the direction it is taking me. Not that I wanted to but am forced into that by them. And you are wrong about doing the dishes, vacuuming and watering the plants for my "little woman" thats what she does as I do all the "manly" stuff as you say.

Uh huh....

 

[CaptFerd]

I guess no one has any answers of what I should or should not do.

Sorry to hear your having problems with your mower. I can understand how frustrated you may be. A video I did on YouTube may explain why your mower runs so bad after leaving a service shop. Unfortunately, we are plagued with a world of so-called lawn mower mechanics that have watched a few videos of drunks and women flashing cleavage fixing mowers and have what I call a YouTube education. Its very possible you found one in that shop. They become professionals overnight after they just learned how to take off 2 bolts, put on a carburetor and fix a mower. You may want to lick your wounds and find another person or business to service your mower. To the ones that say its not a space shuttle, I can say there is more technology in modern mowers and tractors than the one that went to the moon.

 

[Combat_Pyro]

Took my mower to the dealer to get the drive oil changed. Was recommended to change it at 100 hours and then every 400 hours. After I got the mower back I noticed it was harder to start than it usually was and when I did get it started it puffed some smoke and ran a lot faster at just idle than normal. Have owned the mower for 2 1/2 years so have learned its tendencies and such. When I put the throttle full it sounded much loader and faster and much higher rpms and when I engaged the blades and started mowing it sounded like the motor was "surging". Sounds like it is "bumping" up to the governor and back off . It has a rrR rrR rrR sound but only when the blades are engaged not when they are not. I used to able to mow my yard 2 times give or take every tank but the last 3 times I mowed there is only about 1" of gas left in tank. Went to the dealer and complained about it and they pulled the report and it said the rpms was at 32?? rpms and was supposed to be at 36?? rpms so they set them up to what the factory specs were recommended. Told them about the hard starting and smoke so they told me to bring it back. I did and told the guy at the counter that it used to run and start fantastic and to put it back the way it was and they said they could. Got the mower back and when I started it, it was better but not the same and every now and then it will still puff a little smoke (not as much) but a little and not every time. Called and was connected to the mechanic and told him all of this and he said the rpms was set back to 34?? and I asked him why he didn't set it back to where it was as I was told they would. He said he was never told that. I told him I bring my mower in to replace the hydro oil and they mess with it and screw it up and they sent me a bill for them to try and fix their screw up. It still "sounds" like it is surging, not as prominent as before but it is still there. The mechanic said if I wanted to bring it back and talk directly to him that he can put the meter on it and set it to the 32?? rpms. My question is will it hurt the 691v Kawasaki motor for it to run that way or just run it. It used more gas than normal last mowing but not as much as it did when I first got it back. Looking for insight about what I should do or not do. Thanks.

 

[Combat_Pyro]

Sorry to hear your having problems with your mower. I can understand how frustrated you may be. A video I did on YouTube may explain why your mower runs so bad after leaving a service shop. Unfortunately, we are plagued with a world of so-called lawn mower mechanics that have watched a few videos of drunks and women flashing cleavage fixing mowers and have what I call a YouTube education. Its very possible you found one in that shop. They become professionals overnight after they just learned how to take off 2 bolts, put on a carburetor and fix a mower. You may want to lick your wounds and find another person or business to service your mower. To the ones that say its not a space shuttle, I can say there is more technology in modern mowers and tractors than the one that went to the moon.

Congratulations, you answered a question that he didn’t ask for the purpose of promoting your own YouTube video. Useless self centered comment.