Kawasaki FD620D running poorly. Help?!

[fmints]

Nice, thanks JohnF for the link - was wondering about which bolt size I would need to cap it. For now, it's installed with a snipped solenoid. I gravity fed a little fuel Saturday night and fired her up. She sounds sweet, much much smoother than before. I'd attribute the success to the correct plugs more-so than the carb clean.

My biggest issue right now is the throttle cable. It's in a bind. It looks like there is a bend in the cable around the handle that's causing it to hang up. I understand I can get this cable anywhere but I was more concerned with the pieces on each end. One connects to the handle, like a small sphere that fits in the hole in the handle, the other is a flat metal with the S shaped or whatever that fits on the control panel by the carb. Maybe this is an easy fab? I'm not sure..

I also took the control panel? (the piece with springs and arms connecting the throttle cable and choke cable to the carb) apart and cleaned all the grime and lubed it real good. The springs seem loose. They may need replacement.

The "new" shiny carb.


I hardly had an opportunity to work on her yesterday, we threw (my wife's idea) a gender reveal party with friends and family. We are having a GIRL! I'm pumped and already wrapped around her finger.

Congrats on the good news,,,, It's a Girl!!!!! Now for sure, you have a valid excuse to buy another gun!! I bought two when my daughter was born!! Congrats

Man,,,that carbs looks like you went down to the Kawasaki factory and picked up it up off the shelf!! Good work!!

Glad that you got it fired up!!

RD is soo right about that spring. I just replaced my governor spring on my 23hp Kohler. Made a world of difference in response, idle, and rpm's. $4 at www.partstree.com

[gimmegreens336]

You can probably push the throttle linkage back to where it contacts your idle set screw with your finger, and your engine will idle down.

RD

See, this concerns me too. I cannot push the throttle linkage back to where it contacts the idle set screw. Even if I fully tighten the idle set screw the throttle linkage is still about a mm or so away from the idle set screw. When "fully closed" the throttle valve in the carb is still at a small angle, it doesn't become perpendicular to the carb bottom.

I can take pics or videos to better explain myself if this doesn't make sense.

Congrats on the good news,,,, It's a Girl!!!!! Now for sure, you have a valid excuse to buy another gun!! I bought two when my daughter was born!! Congrats

Man,,,that carbs looks like you went down to the Kawasaki factory and picked up it up off the shelf!! Good work!!

Glad that you got it fired up!!

RD is soo right about that spring. I just replaced my governor spring on my 23hp Kohler. Made a world of difference in response, idle, and rpm's. $4 at www.partstree.com

Thanks on the congrats! I do need to add to the inventory, I only own a Colt M4 .22 and a little conceal carry .32 - some punk stole my .380 from my glove-box in my driveway a few months ago. I def need to use this as an excuse to arm up!!

Thanks for the link - I am ordering springs now!

[gimmegreens336]

I have 4 springs (all of them on my control panel) ordered, as well as the foam element around the air filter. My machine never had the foam element but all the manuals are showing one so I guess I'll get one.

I've read threads saying Walmart or Kmart have a $6 bike cable repair kit that comes with most everything I'll need to fix my throttle cable. I'm going to stop by and pick one up on the way to the garage this evening.

I didn't get to touch her last night but I'm definitely working on it tonight.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[Rock Doctor]

You should have said that earlier, I have 4 or 5 of those foam Outers for the Air Filters kicking around here. I don't use them on mine.

Tks for the tip on the repair kit, I'll look for one of those, next time I'm in a place with aWall Mart.

RD

[gimmegreens336]

I spent a good amount of time with her running yesterday, not driving just tuning. One thing that seems weird to me is the idle mixture screw. If I seat it (tighten it) fully, it runs the best. It will run within a 2 full turn from tight but runs best seated fully. I figured, for good measure, I would open it 1 full turn just to keep it honest.

Also, I have to push pretty hard on the governor arm to get it to idle down low enough to shift gears. It doesn't naturally seat back to a low idle, I have to push hard on the governor arm to close the throttle valve on the carb to make her idle slow. I ordered all new arms and springs for the control panel to rule out crappy parts, best case they'll be in Friday.

The throttle is still an issue. The handle is binding up for some reason. I have free movement of the cable when it's disassembled. I guess I'll take it apart and clean it again. Talked to an Argo dealer about a new throttle assembly, worst case I guess I'll just order a new one.

Thanks for keeping up,

Appreciate everyone's help.

[Rock Doctor]

[QUOTE=gimmegreens336;130281]The throttle is still an issue. The handle is binding up for some reason. I have free movement of the cable when it's disassembled. I guess I'll take it apart and clean it again. Talked to an Argo dealer about a new throttle assembly, worst case I guess I'll just order a new one.

QUOTE]

Maybe try some Dry Graphite in the handle assembly

As for the idle problem........... If you remove the spring that goes from the Gov Arm to the Throttle Arm, can you then get the engine to idle down? I'm wondering if it's a throttle/Carb issue or if the Gov is pulling the idle RPM up. If you can get it to idle down without the Gov Connected, you might not have that spring bent back to where it's supposed to be, or the Gov assembly is set up wrong.

RD

[gimmegreens336]

I feel like the gov must be pulling the idle RPM up.

When I disconnect the control panel, so the only thing connected to the throttle valve in the carb is the governor arm, it's the same issue. The governor arm doesn't want to fully close the throttle valve in the carb. The result is a high RPM idle. A fix on the bench is to press the governor arm firmly towards the carb, using pressure to close that throttle valve more. This bring the idle RPMs down to an acceptable level.

Has anyone ever had to file the throttle valve in the carb? (I see people talking about a butterfly valve, is this same thing that I'm calling a throttle valve?) I was wondering if it should be filed to seat more fully. It seems like I have resistance in the butterfly/throttle valve prematurely when closing, is this possible? It's like the "vertical milled tube" in the carb is slightly too tight down there, or the valve is slightly too large.

[gimmegreens336]

Can I loosen the bolt attaching the governor arm to the pivot arm, rotate the governor arm clockwise slightly, then re-tighten? Will that hurt anything? It may or may not help.

[JohnF]

File? Slow down. You haven't tried the hammer and the torch yet...

Once you get your new springs on we'll be able to tell if you need to adjust your governor. (I hope not! That adjustment is super touchy)

Yeah, butterfly is a common name for the throttle valve. Butterfly is actually a type of valve and the choke is a butterfly valve too. The throttle valve in this carburetor is slightly off center (I think) and isn't supposed to be perfectly horizontal across the tube. If disconnected from all controls (so you can feel it) it should move open to close smoothly.

[JohnF]

Can I loosen the bolt attaching the governor arm to the pivot arm, rotate the governor arm clockwise slightly, then re-tighten? Will that hurt anything? It may or may not help.

Assuming you mean the small bolt used in the clamp that clamps the governor arm to the governor shaft, that is how you adjust it. It is super touchy. A teensy bit goes a super long way. (look at the length of the arm - a small degree barely perceptible change at the shaft equates to obvious movement at the other end.)

Oh, let's wait for the new springs first...

And again I edit - it is so much easier to adjust this with the springs.

[Rock Doctor]

Good posts, good advise

RD

File? Slow down. You haven't tried the hammer and the torch yet...

Once you get your new springs on we'll be able to tell if you need to adjust your governor. (I hope not! That adjustment is super touchy)

Yeah, butterfly is a common name for the throttle valve. Butterfly is actually a type of valve and the choke is a butterfly valve too. The throttle valve in this carburetor is slightly off center (I think) and isn't supposed to be perfectly horizontal across the tube. If disconnected from all controls (so you can feel it) it should move open to close smoothly.

Assuming you mean the small bolt used in the clamp that clamps the governor arm to the governor shaft, that is how you adjust it. It is super touchy. A teensy bit goes a super long way. (look at the length of the arm - a small degree barely perceptible change at the shaft equates to obvious movement at the other end.)

Oh, let's wait for the new springs first...

And again I edit - it is so much easier to adjust this with the springs.

[gimmegreens336]

I'm a crappy thread host I should have been staking pics today but I was in the zone and in a hurry! On the phone right now but basically the throttle valve was right side down, but rotated 180 degrees the wrong way. It closes smoothly now. It idles with the correct RPM now. Crazy, the manual said install with numbers down but didn't specify the direction. I'm still excited to replace the springs, I massacred a few of them. I used a router to make a bigger groove in the throttle cable/handle assembly. It gets pulled back by the spring again. Took a few turns around the house today and she ran like a top. Couple more issues and still need to followup on everyone's recommendations, will check back!!

[fmints]

I'm glad that you got her running again, and that you didn't come out of pocket too bad.

[gimmegreens336]

Thanks Fred!

So I went out last night for a ride - and she didn't do well.. lol

Ok, first thing I noticed is that for the first time ever, she doesn't require choke or revs to start. I turn her over and she almost immediately starts a good low RPM idle.

I let her run for at least 10 minutes before I got in for a drive. She seems to do perfect at half-load or below. When I try and give her some work she likes to die. It takes a minute to start her back after turning off. Wonder if I'm flooding her? What are the symptoms of flooding?

Thanks!

[spookum]

Tand run it HARD and then STOP and pull the spark plugs. Wet/ black spark plugs mean your running too rich (tak a picture of them, and the gurus here will help). Also, black smoke from the exhaust is a sighn of too rich.