I wish my mower was fuel injected.

kcg795 · 06-05-2006, 06:05 AM

I have a John Deere SRX 95 with that crappy Kawasaki engine. Biggest mistake John Deere made right there. It runs like ass. If I run a poor quality gas in it, it'll run like ass and continue to run like ass even though I drained the tank and refueled it with fresh. Then I'd remove the carburetor and clean it and it'd run like an angel until I end up putting shitty gas in it again. So, I got fresh gas in it now and it's still running like shit. It'll run good for about a minute, then start to miss and die. Sometimes, it'll run better with the choke on. NOW!!! If this was a fuel injected engine, I wouldn't have this fucking problem!!! Fuel injection is much more capable of tolorating shitty fuel and is less likely to clog up since it's a higher pressure system. It also pops and backfires a lot. Guess I gotta take apart the carburetor again and figure this out, AGAIN!!! If only the government would mandate fuel injection for lawn equipment too, we wouldn't have these problems that carburetors often have. Not only that, but fuel injection uses less fuel, creates more power, and pollutes less. CARBURETORS SUCK!!!!!

2.2 Straight six · 06-05-2006, 06:22 AM

can't you get a fuel-injected kawasaki engine that fits?

mike@af · 06-05-2006, 09:13 AM

Just get a Chevy Big Block 502 EFI Ram Jet. You will mow your lawn in a fraction of the time.

Sounds like your engine doesnt like old gas, or low grade. It doesnt sound like a huge problem with the carb, rather the quality of gas introduced in it. Is this 83 octane? Has it been sitting around for a month or so?

Have you ever tried running it on 87 or 93? Perhaps used a little octane booster?

kcg795 · 06-05-2006, 07:11 PM

Our lowest grade her is 87. I'm using Shell. I finally found the problem. I took apart the carburetor and cleaned it out. Everything looked ok. I put it back together only to run like shit again and stall every 10 seconds. Then I removed the fuel line from the fuel tank and attached another one on it and tried to blow through it, but I couldn't blow. Barely at all. So I removed the shutoff valve, which the hose attaches to, only to find out that it was clogged. So I washed it in hot water while picking it out with a toothpick until I could easily blow through it. I put it back together and it's running much better now. I was able to get a patch of lawn done without stalling.

I still hate carburetors though.

2.2 Straight six · 06-05-2006, 08:05 PM

i'd say get a supercharged fuel injected 854ci V8, that would get the job done pretty quick.

kcg795 · 06-05-2006, 08:40 PM

Well, I broke the damn belt again. John Deere just lost a customer. I'm getting a Poulan with the 20 HP Briggs and Stratton engine. Too bad it's still carbureted. But Briggs and Stratton engines are 1,000,000 times more reliable than Kawasaki engines.

mike@af · 06-05-2006, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcg795

Well, I broke the damn belt again. John Deere just lost a customer. I'm getting a Poulan with the 20 HP Briggs and Stratton engine. Too bad it's still carbureted. But Briggs and Stratton engines are 1,000,000 times more reliable than Kawasaki engines.

B&S engines are amazingly durable. I've actually seen a B&S Push mower withstand a 60shot of nitrous for several minutes and never killed the engine.

kcg795 · 06-05-2006, 09:36 PM

I had a Briggs and Stratton that had almost no compression. Had to mix oil with the gas just to restore some lost compression so I could mow. This was a push mower by the way. I finally decided to finish it off by draining all the oil out and running it at full throttle, without the governor. It lasted for 45 minutes before seizing. Then I broke it loose and got it to run again. I was hoping something inside would blow, but it didn't. Then I took it apart and the piston and cylinder were all scuffed to shit.

beef_bourito · 06-11-2006, 05:13 PM

another solution is to get an old lawn boy push mower. my family has had one for over 25 years and it's starting to go now. that thing lasted so long and i'm sure i could get a few more years out of it if i fiddled with it for a while.

kcg795 · 06-12-2006, 12:22 AM

I decided to take the old belt into the John Deere dealer and they were able to inspect it and give me an idea why it failed. There's a guard by the engine pulley that needs to be adjusted just right. It has to be 30/1000th away from the pulley. They said to either use a feeler gauge or the cardboard that the belt comes with would work just fine. So my Dad paid for a new belt. I installed it and adjusted that guard just like they suggested. I finished the yard and the belt still looks pretty new. I can still see the writing. I think the other belt lost the writing after one mowing.

I did look at the other mowers while I was there. I saw some of the engines say "Hemispherical cylinder head." I say to my Dad, "Hey, this one's gotta Hemi!" Kinda funny if you ask me. My engine has been running a lot better. I think this is the first time I've mowed and still had gas leftover.

GaryFenza · 09-03-2006, 09:38 PM

dude, i have a older Johna deere witha Kalawsoki, and the engine is GREAT< never had a SECOND of trouble with it, and we got the tractor back in 1988 before i was born, and i love that tractor, thing still cuts like a charm, wouldnt trade it in for any modern mower out no adays!!!

jimbob3 · 09-18-2006, 05:19 PM

is there any way i can drill a hole in my riding lawn mowers exhaust and make it sound deep and throaty, if not can i do anything to make it sound different?

beef_bourito · 09-20-2006, 06:18 PM

well yes there is, you said it. if you WANT your lawn mower to be louder you can cut a hole in the exhaust, the question is why would you want to? it's going to be loud, annoy your neighbours, and it's not going to improve the performance at all, not that you really need a boost in performance. also, you could just remove the muffler, or the whole exhaust, then it would be really loud and it would be "alot faster" lol.

haul0348 · 09-21-2006, 07:21 PM

Higher than 87 % octane will burn the valve train out on a small engine. You may could retro fit it with a diesel this would be a way to get away from the carb setup. Mine has a 24 hp twin cylinder Briggs 54" deck briggs truly is the best engine i have ever used and i really beat the crap out of it and it takes it. Has anyone saw the new 35hp they put out this year?

kcg795 · 09-27-2006, 03:06 AM

Well, so far, my mower's been running great.

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