# Trouble shooting a Kawasaki FD440V



## 666K9 (Jul 10, 2006)

A guy brought me a John Deere lawn tractor with a Kawasaki FD440V liquid cooled V-twin. He had run it an entire summer on one cylinder. Put in the new rods, checked the compression..good to go. Will not start due to a dirty/ bad carb I'm pretty sure. Pulled it off, cleaned it up (do not have a dip tank, just carb cleaner and comp air), and remounted it (did not use a rebuild kit). It will not fire at all (good spark to both plugs) just by choking it and will run very briefly (approx. 5 secs) when I prime both cylinders. It has a mechanical fuel pump and is getting fuel to the bowl. My assumption is that because I'm getting fuel to the bowl, the fuel system to the carb is ok (can the fuel pump not push enough pressure though to start?) To check the fuel pump, do you just pull the fuel line off the carb, crank it, and look for fuel? The carb is a royal pain to remove so want to check everything else before doing so. How can you check the carb before remounting to see if it's working properly...can you?


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

You don't need a lot of pressure from the fuel pump for the carburetor to operate. If it's filling up the float bowl then thats good enough. If the float bowl is full of fuel and the engine won't run without a prime or the choke on, the there is still a problem with the carburetor.

Good Luck...


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## 666K9 (Jul 10, 2006)

Tech, How do you clean carbs? I'm new to the business and am using strong carb cleaner and compressed air....works most of the time. Is there a better and more effctive way to do this? Very much appreciate the input.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

For most carburetors that will work just fine. If it's been sitting a long time and has a lot of build up then I use a carburetor dip. (I use chemtool, but everyone seems to have their own favorite). The thing that is most important when cleaning a carburetor out is to make sure all the passage ways and orifices are clean and open. If you don't use a kit, then you need to be sure that the inlet metering needle and seat are in real good shape as well as the bowl gaskets and carburetor mounting gaskets/seals so you don't have any problems with the carburetor after cleaning.

Every now and then I miss something and have to go back in and double check my work (usually from taking too many shortcuts) and many times it seems that it happens on units that the carburetor are a PIA to get to.

Best of Luck... :thumbsup:


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## co1615 (Jan 15, 2008)

Try closing the choke plate with your finger. Kawasaki's need the vacuum.


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