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Z246 Zero Turn with FR651V Kawasaki Using Oil?

#1

T

twernicke

So I bought this mower new in 2015 and it has less than 200 hours on it. I’ve been very consistent with regular maintenance. Last fall I noticed a little smoke on startup and it goes through a lot of oil. Is there any other adjustments for valves or something that I’m missing?


#2

M

MParr

Kawasaki says that you can run 20w50 oil in an engine that’s using oil.
By all means check and adjust the valve lash.
Make sure that the engine cooling fins are clean.


#3

Tiger Small Engine

Tiger Small Engine

twernicke said:
So I bought this mower new in 2015 and it has less than 200 hours on it. I’ve been very consistent with regular maintenance. Last fall I noticed a little smoke on startup and it goes through a lot of oil. Is there any other adjustments for valves or something that I’m missing?
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Valve adjustment has nothing to do with an engine using oil. Need to monitor the amount of oil you are using. How many ounces per hour? You have two choices, run it and keep adding oil, or have it checked out and be prepared to potentially spend a lot of money. Only 200 hours on a Kawasaki that is using oil is unusual for sure.


#4

M

MParr

Kawasaki says that you can run 20w50 oil
Tiger Small Engine said:
Valve adjustment has nothing to do with an engine using oil. Need to monitor the amount of oil you are using. How many ounces per hour? You have two choices, run it and keep adding oil, or have it checked out and be prepared to potentially spend a lot of money. Only 200 hours on a Kawasaki that is using oil is unusual for sure.
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Yes, not normal for 200 hours.
“Bought new in 2015 and has less than 200 hours.” That’s a little over 22 hours a year on average.
I wonder if it was broken in correctly? Has been operated at full throttle?
It’s out of warranty.


#5

T

twernicke

MParr said:
Kawasaki says that you can run 20w50 oil in an engine that’s using oil.
By all means check and adjust the valve lash.
Make sure that the engine cooling fins are clean.
Click to expand...
Excellent, thanks for the tips! I’ll give these a try.


#6

G

gearz

If your seeing smoke on startup and not while it's running it's possible valve guides or a manufacturing defect. I have a 2016 FS730V and it doesn't burn a drop of oil and I use 5W-30 full synthetic Mobil 1 and a JD oil filter and change it every 9 months because I use it year round. All car manufacturers also give a oil usage chart they go by but that's a cop out! Check your spark plug for signs of oil deposits and maybe do a compression test? I assume there are no oil leaks and the engine runs on both cylinders? Also check the crank case vent and see if it is connected to the air filter housing and the hose is in good shape. How often do you change the oil?


#7

T

twernicke

gearz said:
If your seeing smoke on startup and not while it's running it's possible valve guides or a manufacturing defect. I have a 2016 FS730V and it doesn't burn a drop of oil and I use 5W-30 full synthetic Mobil 1 and a JD oil filter and change it every 9 months because I use it year round. All car manufacturers also give an oil usage chart they go by but that's a cop out! Check your spark plug for signs of oil deposits and maybe do a compression test? I assume there are no oil leaks and the engine runs on both cylinders? Also check the crank case vent and see if it is connected to the air filter housing and the hose is in good shape. How often do you change the oil?
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No visible oil leaks. Runs as expected but I’ll check the crankcase vent. Plugs look good. I change the oil and filer once a year since I only run it maybe 10x a season.


#8

M

MParr

twernicke said:
Excellent, thanks for the tips! I’ll give these a try.
Click to expand...
See 10-5 of the service manual.

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#9

B

bertsmobile1

The air filters on the FR series are rubbish and can often leak
Now if you are using a bagger then good chance you have excessive wear in the rings
You cay you do maintenance on it yearly doe that include removing the blower housing & cleaning the fins ?
Ofyrn smoke on start up is because the oil was too hot on shut down
You can also cause the engine to overheat if you throttle down for excessive amounts of time or even throttle down when you stop.


#10

S

slomo

MParr said:
Kawasaki says that you can run 20w50 oil

Yes, not normal for 200 hours.
“Bought new in 2015 and has less than 200 hours.” That’s a little over 22 hours a year on average.
I wonder if it was broken in correctly? Has been operated at full throttle?
It’s out of warranty.
Click to expand...
What about how it was stored over winter? Parked in a wide open field or cozy garage? Sitting pretty with Turtle Wax on the deck. Most say pour oil in the cyl bore over winter.


#11

H

hlw49

Cylinder leak down test is probably the best test you can run to determin the problem.


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