Newbie with T1760 starting problem,help

[Aron]

I just acquired a 96 T1760 with 442 hours. I picked it up for a great price, it ran last year before it was parked but the owner said it would just stop after cutting for 40 minutes. He would let it sit and it would fire back up and run for another 30-40.
Now, here is the kicker, it has never seen ethanol free gas...
So, I realized I'm looking at flushing the tank, replacing the lines, two inline filters and cleaning the carburetor.
I'm also wondering if it could be a fuel pump issue, yet being a mechanical I kind of doubt it yet maybe the diaphram is disintegrated due to the ethanol.
I can see gas about a 1/4 of the way up on the plastic inline filter and there was gas when I pulled out the Fuel Solenoid but that may have been left over from some I poured down the throat.
I also thought it was the solenoid b/c it would not retract when the key was on but when turned off it pushed out and stayed out.. I even tested it out of the tractor hooked up to a 12v source and it would not actuate. I cut off the stem that slides so it would stay in the retracted position thinking it would then start but still no go. When I applied power and gave it a little nudge with my finger it would retract fine but not on it's own. Figured I need a new one anyway.
Any previous experience with these motors would be appreciated to maybe save me some time. Again, will run great if I put gas or carb cleaner down the throat but once I stop feeding it, it stalls.
I have not repair manual or owners manuals.

 

[D2Cat]

Remove the fuel line from the gas tank to be sure is running freely. Next, remove the shut off valve and plug the line from the tank with a bolt/plug of some kind. Remove the bottom portion of the valve. Inside is a screen about the diameter of your small finger nail. Remove that screen and spray it with carb cleaner on both sides. Reinstall and see what happens.

 

[Aron]

Remove the fuel line from the gas tank to be sure is running freely. Next, remove the shut off valve and plug the line from the tank with a bolt/plug of some kind. Remove the bottom portion of the valve. Inside is a screen about the diameter of your small finger nail. Remove that screen and spray it with carb cleaner on both sides. Reinstall and see what happens.

Sorry..

Not sure what you mean by the shut off valve? Fuel solenoid...? Bottom portion of the valve..?
Sorry never worked on a Kawasaki... From what I can see the order on this machine
Tank > Filter under the seat >a second filter next to engine>Mechanical FP > Carburetor.

I'm planning on cleaning out tank, changing all lines and filters, taking the carb off, cleaning it out, replacing fuel solenoid, maybe changing the Fuel Pump.
Would I be missing something if I did all that? Not sure if these mech. fuel pumps go out much.. They do on my Kohler Commands but these look quite a bit more stout, at least on the outside.

On a side note are you familiar with this machine? I have no manuals and
cannot find one.
If you are, can you answer me this, I have one cable coming off the handle which controls the throttle and I'm assuming choke when it's at full throttle. There are two other cables, one that seems to be attached to the throttle linkage, goes straight down but does nothing when I move the throttle. The second mystery housing has a cable that looks like it's just sitting in the housing(right where the housing screws to the bar) but is not connected to the linkage at all...does not look like it's been cut either. I tried to grab the cable with some needle nose but I couldn't get enough bite to try to actuate it...?
No clue yet as I have not begun to take the body of this tractor.
I'm hoping to give this to my father but I need to make it dependable. Not sure how problematic these liquid cooled Kawasaki motors are but I'm also waiting for another Kubota T1870(2006) with 400 hours to pick up in October. It has the air cooled 18hp Kubota motor. That was the original tractor I was going to send to my dad. Not sure which one to send to him...

 

[thepumpguysc]

I think what he saying is the solenoid comes apart & theres a filter inside..
IF the solenoid only has 1 wire to it.. it must be grounded by the engine block.. maybe that's why its not working when u took it out? OR u didn't have enough voltage in your battery to make it work?? OR its just gummed up.
IF you can make it run by "squirting it" down the carb.. you def. have a supply problem.. Either the carb is gummed up or the solenoid is faulty..
Just take off the line GOING TO the carb & spin the motor.. that'll tell you if the supply pump is working & your getting fuel UP TO the carb.
You think this "gasser" is givin u fits?? Just wait till u get ahold of the diesel..

 

[MilkyWay]

Hi Aron and welcome to the forum! I have a early 90's T1560 with a 14-horse Kawi that has never had ethanol free fuel in it either! The only thing I do religiously is to put common Stable fuel additive in my 6 gal cans of fuel when I first get them home.
A loooong time ago my fuel shut-off solenoid failed as well, as was evident when I went down to the garage and had gas in the floor from overflowing the carb. I did something then that I DO NOT RECOMMEND! , but I'm going to tell you anyway. I took the solenoid off and fiddled with it first, just as you did but then, figuring I had nothing to lose, I made a lamp-cord type jumper and flashed the solenoid with 120vac! And I do mean flashed, like what you do with battery jumpers to assure you are connected. I put it back on and it has never failed again. It is probably too scared to.
It is the one machine I can not kill, because I have tried! I just got mine going again yesterday. Last weekend or so, I ramped it up and was underneath it checking something else when I noticed that three of my four engine mounting "bolts" were nowhere to be seen! Kubota made a bad decision imho by using threaded studs into the block with nuts affixed to clamp the engine down! I went to the hardware store and bought four grade 8, 8mm ***8211; 1.25 X 35mm hex bolts and put them down through the top of the block and the frame, then put lock washers and nuts on to clamp the engine down. I bet I won't loose another one! Congrats on your new acquisition!

 

[Aron]

Okay, got it running. Turned out not only the solenoid was bad but the carb was really gummed up. I know it was the reason it would not start but the solenoid was probably why it was quitting after it ran awhile (according to last owner).
Put it all back together and now it runs but....
it's surging. Checked for leaks around the carb and the carb spray didn't reveal anything. When I put my hand over the intake it dies out so I'm assuming no vacuum leaks around the gaskets.
I do think the carb has been off before so I'm wondering if I need new gaskets. I also noticed no matter what I did the needle valve did not seem to slide easily up and down in the cylinder even though I cleaned it out well.
Not sure if now I just have some fouled plugs from trying to start it with gas/carb cleaner so many times or the carb is fouled up.
I may change out the plugs first, if that doesn't do anything maybe just replace the carb with a new one and go from there. Not sure how the aftermarket carbs work, I've heard some good and bad but it sure is less expensive than the OEM or trying to rebuild the one I have.
Thanks for the input fellas!

 

[Aron]

Looks like my last post didn't "take".

Got it running. Carb was loaded with the sticky crap from ethanol. The needle didn't seem to slide as easily as I would have liked it to and the gaskets probably need to be changed.
It runs but now it's surging. I'm going to take it back off later this week and see if the welch cap is gone on it as I think I remember spraying carb cleaner down it...of course not knowing it there should be something there.
The linkages for the governor and the choke are a total pain to remove. I had to remove the whole linkage plate and the governor arm to pull the assembly off the front.
Is there an easy way to remove the housing under the radiator? I'm assuming I have to drain the coolant to remove the grey housing but then how do I run it and adjust the carb if necessary? Cannot get a screwdriver in on to the air/fuel mix from the side...?
My air cooled K Commands are so much easier to work on... Yikes

 

[MilkyWay]

Looks like my last post didn't "take"....

That is because you don't yet have 5 posts. 5 Is a mystical, magical number for weird things to stop happening with your posts.

....It runs but now it's surging. I'm going to take it back off later this week and see if the welch cap is gone on it as I think I remember spraying carb cleaner down it....My air cooled K Commands are so much easier to work on... Yikes

I can't really help you as I have no expertise on your machine. What I can tell you is that a idle "searching" and/or surging engine will wear out the throttle shaft and/or bushings in the carb in 1 season!

Again, welcome to the forum!

 

[lugbolt]

E-10 fuel does not hurt them, and I don't see the need to go out of the way to buy non-ethanol.

E-10 doesn't have be labeled at the pump unless it's 7% Ethanol content but not more than 11%. If it's below 5% it can be labeled "non-ethanol"-and I guarantee you that most stations that sell "non-ethanol" aren't truly 100% pure gasoline. I have to keep a test kit on hand at work and I have tested where we get our fuel from...supposed to be 100% pure...guess what...always tests 2-5%. I called them on the issue and they said there's nothing they can do about it...it's a supplier issue, so I called supplier, they gave me the rundown, then I called the state and they said the same thing.

Your issue if running that long before it begins to give problems tells me that the fuel could be boiling in either the lines or carburetor. That was a common issue with them. I just re-routed the fuel line away from the cylinder head and exhaust and that seems to help the problem immensely; if not cure it. From the factory, the fuel line/filter is routed kind of close to the cylinder head and the exhaust pipe on the left side of the engine. I just moved it around a little to get it away from the heat sources.

The air fuel mixture screw won't help the surging. That's idle speed air/fuel adjustment only, will not affect anything beyond about 1/8 throttle, and usually below 2000 RPM (and they idle at 2000-ish usually). Normally a surging kawi v-twin is due to the pilot air jet being clogged....and no the orifice doesn't go all the way through so don't grab your #80 drill bit and make it go all the way through. It goes about halfway and intersects another passage in the jet. It's got to be squeaky clean-and they're really easy to forget about them since they're not in the bowl. It's in the top of the carb body, inaccessible without removing the carb from the intake manifold. And if you attempt to tackle it, grab some new gaskets since the originals almost always tear. Removal is easy but I find it easier to almost remove the two bolts that hold the linkage control assembly (where the throttle cable is bolted to) from the block, which'll give you just enough wiggle room to get the governor link and choke link off. Kind of a pain, IMO, but once you've done it a couple times it becomes pretty easy.

Nonetheless, keep at it...those engines aren't made anymore (I don't think)-and they were EXCELLENT engines. OH, by the way make sure to adjust the valves and if you haven't yet, replace the fuel pump with a new one. The old pump had a weep hole and when the diaphragm failed, fuel would weep out. The weep hole is DIRECTLY above the muffler. Hot muffler + gasoline=a source of many burned up Kawi V-twin mowers (JD LX178/LX188/LX280 and Kubota T1760 and TG1860G to name just a couple). New pump has a nipple on the weep hole and comes with a hose that is supposed to be routed down the frame away from the muffler, so if it leaks, it just kills your grass instead of burning you and the mower up.

 

[MilkyWay]

E-10 fuel does not hurt them, and I don't see the need to go out of the way to buy non-ethanol....

Boy, LugNut you may start a war of words with that statement! I hear non-stop chatter about all manner of evil ethanol related damage but I guess I have just been lucky so far. I put it in my precious Harley Baby, both my Toyotas, my lawn mowers, tillers, electric hair drier and I am even thinking about mixing some in my '95 Power Stroke diesel just to see if anything good happens!