12.5 hosepower kawasaki

[lawnworker]

Has anyone else had cold starting problems from this engine mine will not start at all below 45 at higher temp at start easy have a 14 kawi that always starts any body got any ideas?

[columbiaplower]

have had the same problem. what kind of mower is it?<p>-Nick<p>

[lawnworker]

36 exmark walkbehind

[columbiaplower]

me too. how old is it?<br>

[Evan528]

i have that engine on my gravely 36...its not bad though.... takes 1or two pulls normally and 3,4 or five when its unusually cold, once it has ran one that day it takes 1 pull for the rest of the day...its no big deal

[cjcland]

if its going to be real cold that night put an electric blanket over it at a very low setting and it should do fine you could even get up real early and turn it on then go back to bed by the time you get up and get all your equipment loaded it should be easier to start<p>----------<br>CJC Landscape Management<br>Winter Haven, Florida

[Richard Martin]

Actually the problem with the Kawasaki is not the engine, it's the oil. If you look in your owners manual/huge-fold-out-sheet you will see that you can switch the 30 weight oil for 10w30 oil during cold weather. It makes all the difference in the world when trying to pull start Kawasakis in cold weather.

[little green guy]

I have that engine on my 48&quot; bobcat and i started it this winter when it was like -10 on the third pull in the summer it is usually on the first or second pull. I also use 10w30 in the fall and winter in all my equip and sae 30 hd in the spring and summer

[lawnworker]

not the oil on this one the 14 kawi always starts in the cold its something else i just dont know suspect caberation are electrical<br>i useally run 5/30 castrol gtx.pretty thin oil i will never by another new 12.5 kawasaki the 14 overhead valve is a much better engine for smoothness and easy starting.

[paddy]

<br>i have a 12.5 kawi too. i normally lazily crank over the engine 2 or three times before i give it two hard pulls, that normally starts it up. i think those first two pulls help distribute the oil, and it helps me find the compression stroke.

[ZYAL8R]

i had a 12.5 kawi on an old 36&quot; kees back when i started mowing in high school. which wasnt that long ago, so the thing had a #$%@ load of hours on it. it ran great as i remember. it can withstand catching on fire too. did that once, it actually cleaned it up a bit, burnt most of the oil and crap off the engine deck. it was a little scarry though. i was using it to plow leaves and there were way too many leaves the thing was pushing a 5 foot pile. some of the leaves got wedged between the exhaust and the deck and started a little Bar-B-Que for me. was a little worried about the whole pile going up in smoke, but we took care of it. put it out with the back pack blower. that poor thing went through a lot.