Gravely w/ Kawasaki FD731D, pistons not moving

[gbugh]

I'm trying to fix a Gravely with a Kawasaki FD731D liquid cooled engine. One of its radiator connections broke and it lost a lot of coolant. The person riding it said it started revving to twice the normal rpm for awhile and then died.

With the spark plugs out, I can see the pistons, touch them with a screw driver and they look in great clean condition. They don't look warped or over heated or anything. When I turn over the starter, the crank shaft turns but the pistons don't move! It is blowing my mind. I see the engine turning at the top and I see the crank shaft and pulley at the bottom turning.

It has not and does not make any sound like the piston arms have broken and yet the pistons don't move even though the crank shaft does move.

Does anyone have any idea what could be happening?

I thought maybe some other repair person took the engine out, took the bottom off and took out the piston arms. But it doesn't look like it has been taken out.

I ran out of time last weekend else I would have taken the engine out and opened it up. Now I have to wait until I'm down there again.

Thanks, George

[piston slapper]

George...I believe the word we are looking for is Scattered...
Not good..the rods are broken...and the block is probably damaged...
As well as many of the other internal parts....
Try to push the pistons back into the cylinders with a long screwdriver...
I have a feeling that they're gonna push pretty easy...
Only a complete teardown will expose all the damaged parts....
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[Floridalandcare]

No doubt about it , Shes blown. The rods broke and left the piston in the cylinder.If you push the piston all the way down and turn the starter over you will hear the crank hit the piston . Get a new motor.

[Patriot Services]

Yea it fragged. My question is why the operator was clueless to a overheat/overspeed condition. No lights, buzzers on the machine?
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[dutch1]

Most likely the plastic/composite guide plate in the governor failed causing the over revving, then the obvious occurred.

[gbugh]

Thanks all for your wisdom.

Does anyone know an air cooled engine with the same mounting bolt pattern and that will mate with the same muffler size and shape as a Kawasaki FD731V liquid cooled engine?

George

[dutch1]

Bolt mounting patterns are all pretty much the same for the major manufacturers. With the model from your Gravely, go to the link below--you may or may not find the answer you're looking for.

http://smallenginewarehouse.com/Repo...?Brand=Gravely

You may also want to check out tulsaenginewarehouse.com

Your Gravely dealer could likely provide some answers on fit as well.