Welch plugs

[txmowman]

That is the very reason the Kawasaki Nikki twin barrel carbs are losing their welch plugs. They are just peened around the edges then they are easily getting loose and falling out.

Personally I don't like having to replacing $6 welch plugs because of this. Sometimes I get lucky and they fall out while cleaning the

LOL

 

[StarTech]

LOL

It wouldn't be so funny if you are in the middle of a rush job and had to special order one with a $16 freight charge and had to eat the freight charge. And most the Kawasaki IPLs don't even list the PN for these small welch plugs. Just certain IPLs.

Since I have the PN I keep at least 4 of them in stock so I can order replacements on stock orders.

 

[RevB]

I have the same motor on my Toro SS5000, and it recently started surging while idling. Also, on occasion, it will blow a puff of oil smoke when I start it after it's been sitting for a while. Other than that, the motor runs fine. I know zero about welch plugs, what/where are they and how do I check them? TIA

Welch plugs are there to hold something in like fuel in a carb passage but in most cases they are there to keep you from adjusting mixture screws or some other setting. Manufacturers don't trust the general public to make those adjustments.....and sometimes I don't blame them.


This is a Welch plug, core plug, and several other names. A slightly concave disk of thin brass or sometimes aluminum placed into a hole and then the edges of the disk are driven into the hole sides by hitting the top of the curve with a punch to slightly expand the disk edge into the hole perimeter. The used these on car, truck, heavy equipment engines to block off water passages. The goal was if you ever rebuilt the engine you could remove the plug and really get the passages clean then replace the plug with a new one. They're not reuseable generally.

If the welch plugs are on the carburetor they are most likely not your problem.

 

[RevB]

It wouldn't be so funny if you are in the middle of a rush job and had to special order one with a $16 freight charge and had to eat the freight charge. And most the Kawasaki IPLs don't even list the PN for these small welch plugs. Just certain IPLs.

Since I have the PN I keep at least 4 of them in stock so I can order replacements on stock orders.

View attachment 71780

Their emergency should not be your emergency. Yeah, I know. My Dad was an IA level aircraft mechanic for over 60 years. He once said "I can't figure out whether they bring me all their planes because I'm good or I'm cheap.". He ate costs too. But it didn't matter......

 

[StarTech]

Their emergency should not be your emergency. Yeah, I know. My Dad was an IA level aircraft mechanic for over 60 years. He once said "I can't figure out whether they bring me all their planes because I'm good or I'm cheap.". He ate costs too. But it didn't matter......

I know but when it is my best commercial customer I do extra to please them and I also get a lot referrals from him. Which more than offset the write-off of the shc.

 

[txmowman]

It wouldn't be so funny if you are in the middle of a rush job and had to special order one with a $16 freight charge and had to eat the freight charge. And most the Kawasaki IPLs don't even list the PN for these small welch plugs. Just certain IPLs.

Since I have the PN I keep at least 4 of them in stock so I can order replacements on stock orders.

View attachment 71780

Kawasaki published a bulletin in 2016 listing all of the available welch plugs. If you only paid a $16 freight charge, that is a deal as the rest of us pay $25 for an order under $200.

 

[StarTech]

Kawasaki published a bulletin in 2016 listing all of the available welch plugs. If you only paid a $16 freight charge, that is a deal as the rest of us pay $25 for an order under $200.

Well they did go up here to $16.94 on orders under $250 in May. Normally I do order at free freight level and I still pay a $1.99 handling charge.

And as a non dealer I don't normally have access to the bulletins; unless, they in the public domain. But I did find ENG 15-01 bulletin titled "CARBURETOR WELCH PLUG REPLACEMENT" and downloaded it.

Thanks for the tip about the bulletin.

 

[sgkent]

Manufacturers don't trust the general public to make those adjustments

it is an EPA and CalEPA (California Air Resources Board) thing. The carbs are supposed to be tamper proof. That was then. Now the Dem super majority here just wants to get rid of gasoline all together. FWIW not well reported in the news this week, but Chevron, who wants to stay in California, says they are probably going to be forced to close their two California refineries because the negotiations are not going well. Private sources in the family who work for Chevron in the NorCal refinery say they have been told the same but that they should prepare to move out of state to other Chevron refineries, because it does not look good. That will be over 50% of California's gasoline announced as lost this year, unless it is brought in from sources in Asia. So adjustable carbs may be the smallest concern if one can't get the gasoline to run them. California refineries help fuel the whole west coast, Nevada, and SW USA. California is also short on electricity and will have to import even more expensive power from out of area coal fired power plants to fuel the Ev's and battery powered mowers etc., which reminds me, I need to check all my batteries to be sure they are topped off. No welch plugs on those to fall out, just batteries to die.

 

[StarTech]

There is one problem with fossil fuels. Its a limited resource; therefore, we need a mix of fossil fuels and renewables. But we can't depend only on one type solely.

One of our main problems is population growth. Now that DJT is moving Space Command to Huntsville, AL it is going to nearly double the population there. And traffic is bad enough that weekday morning is backed up for over 1-1/2 hours. All those sitting in traffic jams is not helping the pollution levels at all, not to mention how nerve racking it is. Just went to Walmart today and even Sunday the traffic was terrible. Just think what another 100K+ people is going to cause.

On the carbs it is also OEMs not allowing independent shops have access to necessary tools, just so their dealers can charge a large fee for doing it. And they are also making out like we are idiots that can't read and follow instructions. Without being able to tune an engine, it can be place in service and pollute even more.

I know some techs that work for dealers that can't even figure out how to get out of a wet paper bag with both ends open.

 

[ILENGINE]

There is one problem with fossil fuels. Its a limited resource; therefore, we need a mix of fossil fuels and renewables. But we can't depend only on one type solely.

One of our main problems is population growth. Now that DJT is moving Space Command to Huntsville, AL it is going to nearly double the population there. And traffic is bad enough that weekday morning is backed up for over 1-1/2 hours. All those sitting in traffic jams is not helping the pollution levels at all, not to mention how nerve racking it is. Just went to Walmart today and even Sunday the traffic was terrible. Just think what another 100K+ people is going to cause.

On the carbs it is also OEMs not allowing independent shops have access to necessary tools, just so their dealers can charge a large fee for doing it. And they are also making out like we are idiots that can't read and follow instructions. Without being able to tune an engine, it can be place in service and pollute even more.

I know some techs that work for dealers that can't even figure out how to get out of a wet paper bag with both ends open.

Heck, even some of the OEM's won't sell their authorized dealers the tools to adjust them.