23hp Kawasaki bending push rods!! WHAT TO DO NEXT??

[rjtlawncare]

Originally Posted by Restrorob

And you were wanting to replace the whole head ???

Deere's Kawi parts cheaper ? BAAAHAHAHA !!!!

The place I linked (TEW) sells that valve cheaper than I can as a Kawi dealer.....

That's all good, I just didn't want to buy all new gaskets and valve stems and then come to find that the guide in the head has moved and THEN BUY A HEAD AND GO THROUGH THE HOLE PROCESS OVER. Just Sayin. Aren't these Kawasaki's know to overheat and move GUIDES??

Also when installing new valves do you have to lap them to the seat/head??OR are they set/lapped and ready to go?? If you do lap them to a head and that head is no good can you then lap them to another head OR DO YOU NEED to get new valves?

Once again thanks to restro and all he does for people on this site. Without your time and commitment alot of people in this industry would left in the dark. You are a great American

[Restrorob]

Originally Posted by rjtlawncare

then come to find that the guide in the head has moved

I'm very observant in most cases, Your pics show the guide is in the proper location and hasn't moved.

One valve, One head gasket and two each intake and exhaust gaskets should get this back together. That's if you didn't pull the other head, Kawi doesn't offer gasket "sets" to my knowledge, Yes you can lightly lap the new valve in......

[BigFish]

Originally Posted by rjtlawncare

That's all good, I just didn't want to buy all new gaskets and valve stems and then come to find that the guide in the head has moved and THEN BUY A HEAD AND GO THROUGH THE HOLE PROCESS OVER. Just Sayin. Aren't these Kawasaki's know to overheat and move GUIDES??

Also when installing new valves do you have to lap them to the seat/head??OR are they set/lapped and ready to go?? If you do lap them to a head and that head is no good can you then lap them to another head OR DO YOU NEED to get new valves?

Once again thanks to restro and all he does for people on this site. Without your time and commitment alot of people in this industry would left in the dark. You are a great American

You can re-use the lapped valves, no problem! You can use a red magic marker( I use machinist's blue dye) to color the lapped in band and just lightly lap again. I don't think I would re-use the valve stem seal though.

[rjtlawncare]

Originally Posted by Restrorob

I'm very observant in most cases, Your pics show the guide is in the proper location and hasn't moved.

Well I took the complete valve train off and clean the Head(almost looks new). Got the new parts in today and will start the assembly later. Just have a few questions before I begin.

1. When looking at the guides from the topside(with the valves out so you can both sides), the exhaust valve looks like it is pushed into the head alittle bit more then the intake valve. When you turn it around and look at the guides from the rock arm side you can see that the exhaust valve has moved (millimeter movement) from the different color on the guides(heat marks/rings around the guide). Is this normal? Can I use this head?

2. Just so I understand, The new valves just need to be lapped and their ready to go? I only say this b/c I read or saw somewhere that people grind the ends down?? If this needs to be done, please explain how and why?

3. Head Gaskets only go on one way or is there a topside and bottom side??
Do you guys put any oil on the gasket to mate it to the head before installing??

Thanks for the help, and I'll keep you posted on work.

[piston slapper]

1...a few millimeters shouldn't harm anything...make sure the valve slides easily in the guide..
2..lap the valves..it should leave a dull area on the valve faces and seats..
You don't want to grind the valve stem. ...that's only done on non adjustable valvetrains..L head engines.
3...Make sure the block and head are clean and dry...Never grease a gasket..they'll never seal..

[rjtlawncare]

Originally Posted by piston slapper

1...a few millimeters shouldn't harm anything...make sure the valve slides easily in the guide..
2..lap the valves..it should leave a dull area on the valve faces and seats..
You don't want to grind the valve stem. ...that's only done on non adjustable valvetrains..L head engines.
3...Make sure the block and head are clean and dry...Never grease a gasket..they'll never seal..

Thanks slapper I'm off to get this thing running. I hope it purrrrrrsssss

[rjtlawncare]

Well it's all back together and running, BUT HERE'S WHAT IT'S DOING:::

1.The head I replaced sounds alot louder than the other head. What I mean is you can hear the valves as they come back down onto their seats. It's like a knocking noise and not a clanging noise that you would hear if the rockers where loose. When I gapped the valves at .004 the gauge was very tight maybe to tight. Questions: Should the gauge slide through or be hard to pass through when checking the lash? If you hear a knocking noise is that a sign of the rocker arms being on to tight?

2. When I got it all back together, the side that I replaced was firing and the other side would not fire. So I switch coils from one side to the other. It now fires on both sides, but the the side I replaced is alot stronger. What I mean is if I would take the boot off of the new side you can here the engine start to run on one cylinder(and it will die if it's at low trottle). It sounds very weak/like it running on one cylinder. Now if I take off the old side and let it run on the new side, there is really no difference in sound and the engine doesn't die at low throttle. This is when I can really hear the knocking of the valves hitting their seats.Questions: Should I replace coils? Should I pull the other head and do a valve job?

3. When it's running the new side get's hotter faster than the old side. LIke when I touch the rocker covers the new side is hot after about 30 seconds and the old side takes about 2 mins to get to the temp of the new side.

4. It surges a little bit to, but I think that the fuel pump is on it's way out. There's alittle fuel in the filter but it not full. If I pull the choke about 1/4 of the way it will smooth out alittle, but you can still hear the surge. New fuel pump? Gov. Adjustment? Clean carb?

As a side note, this was all done with the top cover off. Also I notices that the cover screw(the screw that attaches the cover to the metal side cover) just above the regulator would spark like something was not grounded.

[DaveyBlue32]

Originally Posted by Restrorob

And you were wanting to replace the whole head ???

Deere's Kawi parts cheaper ? BAAAHAHAHA !!!!

The place I linked (TEW) sells that valve cheaper than I can as a Kawi dealer.....

thanks for the tewarehouse hook-up...man