23 horse kawi not right!!!!!

[97Stroker]

guys, anyone else out there having any problems with there 23 horse kawi's??? I have one on a ferris 61" wb, it starts like crap, smokes bad, backfires, starts to feel like the valve is stickin then it looses power, and then eventually regains power. The guy at my ferris dealer said they all belch out the smoke when they start up. I don't know about that it seems weird, anyone else hear anything???
thanks

[John DiMartino]

To me ,it sounds like you have a Carb problem,the one Kawi 23 I drove kicked grass big time,so i dont think all of them do it.Maybe your carb is leaking down when you shut it off.

[Jason Pallas]

That backfire seems like it could be a timing problem - check the keyway on the crank. It may be sheared or semi-sheared - that would cause a lot of the problems that you described. Good luck.

[Greens Keeper]

Have a tech look at the coil and ignition wiring. The bobcat zt 200 i have we had to replace both ignition coils at about 200 hours because the wires began to chafe. good luck. I seen one of those 23hp walk behinds at expo 99 very tough grass eating machines. I have a 94 17hp dd61 that we have had awesome luck with.

[Cutter1]

I have a 23 Kaw on my Laser. I haven't had any problems with mine. It has run very strong and has a lot of power. One thing it does do when its idling for awhile and then you turn up the throttle it seems to hesitate. Its just for a split second and after that it runs perfect.

[65hoss]

I have had several guys from this site email me about the same type of problems. If mine stays at idle for a few seconds and you throttle up it will hesitate. When I crank it up 1st thing in the morning it does put out a small puff of smoke. And it always backfires. This is typical on kawis. The more hours you put on them the less they backfire. My 14 kawi never backfires anymore, my 12.5 rarely does anymore, and my 23 still does all the time but its not as loud anymore.

[Cutter1]

Hoss.....I was the one who emailed you about it :)

[65hoss]

Yep cutter you did. Several others have too. Seems like the idle to full is something many people are dealing with. My service guy blames it on the cheap gas that is being put out now. Whatever.

[Cutter1]

I complained about it too, he didn't use that laim excuse that yours did. He just said its something with the carb!! All dealers are the same.

[65hoss]

Thats probably why I told my dealer to take a hike and am going to use someone else from now on. I'll mention it to the new service center next time.

[awm]

Sometime you have to take the smile off and squeak
to get the dealers attention.He is probably covered up right now.In any case should crank better.I guess you have already checked the choke linkage for free action.
What you descibed sounds like a hanging choke to me.
LUCK TO YA

[aklscape]

Had the same thing on my Tiger Cub. New carb fixed it. Runs like a million.

[LWNMWRMN]

97stroker

your problem is in the fuel delivery system, Kawi has had an update to fix that problem. first, your dealer should in stall a new insulater plate between the carb and manifold, they came out with a different shape to that plate that prevents puddling in the manifold. if that dosn't fix the problem there is a kit that replaces the carb and insulater.

[mountain]

is the carb update new? I had my 17hp kaw at the dealer 4 or 5 times last summer for this same problem , they keep telling me dirty gas, yeah right!! put same gas in other 8 mowers with out any trouble what's up with that?

[LWNMWRMN]

I was just at a kawi update school on monday and found out about it.

[bababooie]

dealers are the best,there your best damn friend up until you buy their freakin machine?

[LWNMWRMN]

as a dealer i resent that! i'm a dealer for alot of reasons, but getting my pockets fat is not one of them. remember small engines = small profits. i'm a dealer because i have an addiction to power equipment, i love to use, work on and yes, even sell them. my biggest thrill is to find the problems and fix it right while be as efficient as possible. i'm here to help you guys, if you got a problem, bounce it of me, if i don't have a solution for you, i'll find out for you somehow.

[DAN NELSON]

My dealer tells me that when a kaw is new and you are breaking it in to run it at full throtle.This will help seat the valves quicker and prevent back firing and smoking
at start up. I have a 23 hp Lazer L - cooled and this is what I did when breaking it in. runs like a $#^&*%# _ssed ape!!!! No smoke no back fires.....
Love my lazer L/C

[aklscape]

Is that the 22hp exmark is overspeeding the rpm's on and calling it a 23hp? Maybe just a rumor? I heard from a pretty good source that they were adding different decals and cranking the engines up to 3900 or 4000. Overspeed the rpm's on these little engines and watch the life run right out of em.....runs great now but maybe not in a year???
Kaw model FD661 is the 22hp and FD671 is the real 23hp. You might want to check it out?

[RyanCanMow]

The best solution to backfiring is to let the engine warm up slpwly in the morning and then let it cool down by letting it idle for a while before you shut it down each time. After each yard, we let our Kaw's idle for about 1 minute while we pull up the gate, we have never had a problem with backfiring. If you are talking about backfiring while running, then you might have another problem. Hope it works! Have a good one!

[LWNMWRMN]

aklscape

that is the liquid cooled he's talking about the air cooled FH series. There is some differences in the 22 and 23 liquid cooled and yes one of them is rpm but i think it is 3750 not 4000

[LWNMWRMN]

sorry aklscape, didn' know you were talking to DAN NELSON about liquid cooled ( not orriginal post )

[yorkpaddy]

i was at kawasaki's website a couple days ago and i noticed something funny, ( i forget the address at the moment) the 19 hp, 21hp, 23hp, and 25hp air cooled engines all have the same displacement. what differentiates the engines internally? a cam or a carb. if its a carb, i'd buy a machine with the 19 hp, and order a 25 hp carb. a cam would be a little harder to change

i might be wrong, but i think dixie runs its engines a little faster, but they have all sorts of wiz-bang filtering and cooling on them

i'd like to see the 25 hp kawasaki used more often, i would buy that way before I bought a 25 hp kohler. kawasaki's are reliable engines, without all the recalls of kohlers

[Dave]

Originally posted by Cutter1
I complained about it too, he didn't use that laim excuse that yours did. He just said its something with the carb!! All dealers are the same.
No Cutter1,your'e wrong, not all dealers are the same as with the landscapers not all are the same,as being a self employed fisherman for years, I can see what a dealer can do.He can determine if you will work this week or will you be stuck in the shop,I believe its on on dedication the landscaper has for the dealer and the dealer has for the landscaper, and yes some dealers take it to far,as do some landscapers,A being a small dealer myself now I can see where everybody is coming from ,as the landscaper you have to deal with the dealer,as a dealer you have to deal with the dist,and the manufacture,as a landscaper you have to deal with your machines,as a dealer you have to deal with everybodys machines,I hope this changes your feelings on dealers as all are not the same

[LWNMWRMN]

yorkpaddy

the difference is in the carb, but you don't even have to change the carb to get the extra hp.I'll let you all in on a little secret, the carbs are the same except the throttle stop. the lesser hp engines stop the throw of the throttle plate sooner, to get more hp all you have to do is file a little off the stop. your power comes from the govener opening the throttle plate, if it can only open so far , it restricts the hp. the engine dosn't overspeed becase the throttle only opens under load.

[yorkpaddy]

thats pretty sweet, i'll definetly look for a 19 hp engine on whatever mower i buy next

[MikeGA]

I noticed the same thing about the IDENTICAL components in the Kohler motors. When I bought my craftsman it had a 24hp. My brother bought a Scott/Deere with a 25 hp and sears offered a 26 hp for $300 more than the 24hp,but it did have an 18 dollar set of plastic fender extensions on it. I bought a 26hp craftsman manual and the fender extensions, compared the 24 and 26 hp manuals (which had a comlpete break down of the motor and would you believe it, EVERY PART in the two were identical. Go figure.