Problems with Kawisaki V-Twin?

[LAWNGODFATHER]

What are the problems with Kaw. v-twin you endure?

What about parts availability to fix probels?

Also how many hours do you have on your engines now?

And do you have the after market air filter for it? (If it's available)

[dlandscaping]

the kawaski vtwins airfilters are in the front of the machine on walkbehinds, so whatever blowout you have, it all goes right into the airfilter causing you to have to clean it all the time. i have 30hrs on a 15 twin kawi and i have cleaned the air filter 4 times and it needs replacing. It was always caked with dirt, by the way this was on a 48 lesco which has the most blowout of any mower on the market imo.

[mdb landscaping]

yeh, ive noticed the same thing of my 17 hp kawi scag. the air filter gets really dirty. other than that though, i havent had one problem with the motor. the only other thing that bugs me is that the oil drain plug is in a crappy position and it has a plastic extender on it which gets everything all covered with oil.

[dlandscaping]

when draining the oil on the 48 lesco with 15 kawi the oil covers the side of the machine and just misses getting all over the wheels and belts what a pain. This mower is leavin me soon thank god.

[Mark]

Godfather ive got a new scag with the 17hp Kaw,,this is my first experience with this engine. I sure hope your don't have to clean the air filter every 3 to 4 hrs. Im sold on the Vanguards ive got a 9yr old thats still going strong. My dealer asured me that parts would be no problem. I purchased three extra air filters and oil filters that should do me for a few months i hope. That engine replaced the Vanguards in 2000 because of volume price,i hope ill see atleast 3000hrs on it,my Vanguard is at 4876hrs. It does seem to run as quiet as the Guards, atleast ive got a 2yr warranty if problems arive. Ill keep you abreast on how it doe compared to my other engines, Suz, Kohler,Vanguard and Robin. Marks Mowing Service

[danzig]

Lesco is becoming the wal-mart of mowers. It only takes a bad mower design to ruin your opinion of the entire machine components. I have had kawis on a few of my machines and they work great and last. Never had one with an hour meter until last year. My kohler powered exmark turf tracer is a good machine but the filter on it gets dirty quick. Dump the lesco and get a better machine with a kawi.

[mklawnman]

I have a 17hp Kawisaki V-Twin on my JD F-525. The engine has 425hrs on it and with no problems. The air filter seems to collect grass once in a while on the foam around the paper filter but i just clean that every so often. The engine doesnt use alot of oil or anything. Just hard to change the oil on it cause they put the drain screw under the machine, behind the tire. Otherwise it's the best thing about the piece of Junk :mad: F-525.
Great engine, thinking of buying a Scag WB Hydro with the 17HP Kaw V-Twin on it to replace the JD.
Matt (Lawnman)

[PAPS]

We have (2) 52'' Ferris's with Kawasaki's. Both of these mowers have 3 full seasons on them with NO major engine problems to report yet (knock on wood for (1) more season) . Hours on the machines... there is a TON. Figure 100+ lawns a week for 3 years straight... thats a ton of hours. I love the Kawasaki, I think its the best mower engine going...

[65hoss]

Only problem I had was finding a muffler when mine needed it. Other than that, its been good so far.

[Richard Martin]

It is amazing what some people will put up with just because that is the way the machine came. For those of you with oil drain problems a search would have come up with a cure for this problem. Here is a quote from a message I started a long time ago.

"Since my Kawasaki 17 has a plastic drain plug and I recall a few other people discussing this I contacted my local Kawasaki dealer and got the parts to replace the plastic screw-in plug with a metal valve and adapter. The part numbers from Kawasaki are:

161267003 Valve $17.88
590717004 Joint $3.08
670D2016 O Ring $0.80

For those of you who are wondering why I didn't just go to the hardware store and buy these items there is a reason. The joint above has an O ring on the shoulder of it and it is metric threaded. Since the joint is metric threaded then the valve had to be the same way."

A hose can be put on the end of the valve and presto, no more messy oil changes.

[Turfdude]

Originally posted by dlandscaping
when draining the oil on the 48 lesco with 15 kawi the oil covers the side of the machine and just misses getting all over the wheels and belts what a pain. This mower is leavin me soon thank god.
I'm not sure what they're called, but they have a replacement plug that you push in and twist counter clockwise to drain your oil. The end will adapt to a small hose - no mess. I also have other machines where I have used threaded galvanized pipe to extend oil plug past deck - again no mess.

Bob

[TGCummings]

Hey Richard,

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to look into that myself.

Aside from the problems with changing the oil on my Kawi V, the sucker is just too hard to start on cold mornings. During the chill over the last month or so I've left it at home and run my 21s. We cut year around out here, so there's no break from the cold, but the 21s handle everything during dormant season since there's so much less to cut.

If I could solve the cold start problem and the horror of the oil change, maybe owning a 36" mower wouldn't be so bad... ;)

[SLS]

My 23hp Kawi came with the 'twist and pull' drain fitting already installed. Just stick a piece of plastic tubing on it and drain the oil rignt into the bucket. Very tidy! :)

[ow man]

Kawasaki's new air cleaner should be out sometime in 2002. Only problem is, I've been told they will only fit 2002 production engines. I do know however, many mower companies are requesting this option on their new units. BUT STILL HAVE NOT SEEN THEM! I did see this new canister style filter at Louisville show last July. It will be a nice unit when available. Until that time, I guess keep on cleaning them!!!

[LawnCrafters]

I love the Kawasaki's I have on my Ferris mowers. They have the air filter in front, but I haven't had any problems with it getting really dirty. I have actually been really surprised at how long they stay clean. I wonder if it has something to do with the different brands of mowers that they're on?

By the way, thanks for the tip on the oil drain, Richard.

[AL Inc]

LGF- I have two, one 15 hp on a 52" Ferris and one 17 hp on a 52" Wright Stander. The Ferris had about a season and a half on it and blew a head gasket. Motor still ran but leaked a bit of oil. It had built up a lot of dust and debris in intake/flywheel causing overheat. This was the only problem and was our fault. Both engines have been great otherwise, I don't think you can go wrong with Kawi. Mike