Kawasaki 17 hp Vibration

[BillyDay]

I have scag rider with a 17 hp Kawasaki. It would kill while cutting is warm weather. The dealer replaced both coils. Still had same problem. Dealer then cleaned both gas tanks and fuel lines, replaced fuel filter and cut a vent line in the gas caps threads. The problem is fixed, however, the engine vibrates excessively now. It still works and has plenty of power but the vibration is uncomfortableand has me concerned as the engine used to run very smoothly. Any ideas would be appreciated. Also, anyone had any success obtaining service manual for this engine?

[roket77]

I went to a place called sohar's or also known as rcpw.com and the had several manuals. I was going to purchase the 17hp that includes the fh500v but has more that that particular model. it's located 20 minutes s.e. of cleveland,ohio. go to their website and they should have a phone# there too. hope it helps,,,mark

[fixer67]

This may sound crazy but check to see if the one of or both the coils are not on upside down. I seen a Kohler run so bad it would just about tear its self a part. One of the coils had been changed and put on upside down. I would not have though it would have even ran but it did. The coil was firing out of time it being on upside down it turns out.

[LynyrdSkynyrd]

If your engine model has one.

Could the counter blancer be out of whack or going bad?

[Mr Dane]

Does the 17hp kaw have an electric clutch on it could check that too i have seen them cause a vibration

[ztrx]

Remove the plastic flywheel shroud and Grab the top of the engine(the flywheel end) and see if it has any play from side to side or front to back. Also with it running at idle look to see if the flywheel is running true. It is possible that if the engine was ran low on oil,the upper main is worn and causing your vibration.
Good luck

[Dave]

Question is ,did it do it as soon as you got it back from the dealer
or did you mow with it for a while??If you had mowed with it for a while chk all the pullies looking for a piece of debri jambed under the belt,it would be just enough to knock everything out of ballance,other than that I would take it back to the dealer and ask him to look at it as it did not do it before he fixed it,any dealer is only as good as there mechanic,and you would be surprised to some things that gets pushed off to the customer ,after a mechanic screw up

[fixer67]

While you are checking the pullies check the belts from end to end. If you have a 'bit' taken out of a belt that will cause it to act like it is going to fly apart.

[jrainw]

I'm a comm. equipment dealer and I have replaced alot of pushrods in the FH series of engines. If you don't adjust the valves at least once after break-in they loosen up enough to cause pushrods to bend. This is much more common than coil failures on these engines. These engines are fantastic and will take lots of abuse if you don't mind burning alot of oil. None of my customers have killed one that had any oil in it.

[metro-hp_48]

What might they need to be adjusted to jrainw, on a FH500V?
(have my allen head, feeler gauge, & wrench here ready to do it)

Interesting you see more pushrods getting bent than coils going out. My first coil just went out around 200 hrs., doubt my valves are much out of adjustment, but want to make sure.

[jrainw]

I believe the settings are .004-.006 intake and exhaust, set cold. The only time I see coil failures is when the engine has been overheated. The housing is so easy to remove on these everyone should be cleaning under them often.

[metro-hp_48]

Thanks. Has never ran hot. Check for debre several times a year (very little I have ever seen at any one time)

Glad I had a spare coil handy. (knew I better, after all the coil probs. that others have had with them here. [average 500 hrs].

Guess, I'll do a search on "pushrods", and see what I can learn.
(as far as the probs. any others have had here)

Do you subscribe to the notion that both coils need to be replaced at the same time? Have had several say that if you change one, you need to change the other. Always hear the same about head lights, too.

[metro-hp_48]

*Just for the record, (as far as ways it could get hotter in general)
I always let it cool down for 3 mins. before shutting it off.(although, they say to let it cool for 1 min.) Always let it warm up 3-5 before putting it to work, too.
Only sees about 50 hrs. a year, as I just use this mower on my own yard.

Other new coil should be here today, and will change it out, and keep the old one for a spare.

[jrainw]

If the customer is a pain I will replace both just in case, on my own equipment I only replace whats bad. I am on both sides also, I started mowing grass 13 years ago, didn't care for any of the local equipment dealers so I became a dealer. I still have 3 crews mowing. We have 4 walk behinds, 3 with kaws, and 5 ztr's, 3 with kaws.

[BillyDay]

And the answer is: Bad Clutch caused the vibration. Thanks for all of the helpful tips.