KAWASAKI ENGINE REPAIR SO SIMPLE THAT IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND 

This video is precisely why RU-vid is so valuable. Thank you for sharing!

For 2 years I've been racking my brain trying to figure out this very problem. I've been to my local Toro dealer countless times describing this problem, only to be told "You'll have to bring it in." You summed up the problem, and fixed it in less than 5 minutes. I too had resorted to a battery tender. Thanks for the solution!

My old instructor from the 70's said over and over. Check you battery check your ground. No matter what technology it is ---that is still true today. Good video SIR

I love when a problem is so easily corrected. Sometimes you just can’t see the forest through the trees. Thank you

Good catch, I pickup a 2015 toro time master from this guy, no start, no spark condition, for 50 bucks, he thought he had blown the engine, turns out, and this had me stumped, so I thought I'd share it with you, incase you ever run into this problem, no start condition, was caused by no spark, I changed the coil after I did the coil unplug test, still no spark, so I went old school and grounded the sparkplug to the block, and got a bright blue spark, long story short, the head gasket blew, and was run that way for a week or two, and that caused oil to seep onto both sides of the gasket, and the head bolts, cause a no ground condition for the sparkplug, I clean everything up, new gasket, and she started right up, boy was the guy angry I got a 1500 dollar almost new time master for 50 bucks, the only reason I told him was I had to go back for the bag which his son found, and he asked if I ever got it running..... LMAO

Great video, exact problem with the Kawasaki engine on my toro zero turn mower, just fixed. Thanks.

Wow the onboard charger is a new one on me and i been mechanicing for 20 year's 😂🤣 thats unbelievable someone actually did that and excepted failure on simply charging the battery 😅👍👏🤯

Bro I got to hand it to you! My dumb behind has been chasing and electrical issue for about 4 hours now and lo and behold no ground wire on this Kawasaki voltage regulator. Made one up, put it on, everything's charging! Thanks again for keeping everything so damn simple for us overcomplicated fools lol

My 2016 Exmark vantage w the FX691V had this exact same prob; the strap was missing I added one and now it works as it should. Thx so much for this video! This saved me a lot of headache.

My Kawasaki FS600V would not charge above 12.6V at WOT. Stator output was 33 VAC, so I ASSUMED it was the voltage regulator and purchased a new one for $80. Once installed, no change to low charging voltage. Watched this video, and although my grounding jumper was present, I tried the screwdriver test - voltage instantly jumped to 14V. Thanks for your video; I was out of solutions.

Mind=Blown... Thank you Sir!! This just completely solved the charging issue I've had, never would've thought to check for this before. I owe ya one

Just had this issue on a Toro, customer bought used and said he's always had the no charge issue and finally decided to bring it into the shop for repair. A FX691V I have in the shop had a ground, his FS651V did not. Like you, I added a ground wire and simple as that, problem solved. Decided to search if anyone else had this issue, it's funny, some people just shouldn't work on mowers if they don't know what they're doing! I know it's been 4yrs, but good video MM1!

Great call on the ground strap. When working on Japanese motors, use JIS(Japanese Industrial Standard) Philips-type screwdrivers or hex bits. In JIS language, their Philips-appearing screws are called Crosshead screws and require Crosshead screwdrivers or hex bits to avoid stripping them out. Amazon sells them, and among several brands sold there, Vessel (a Japanese manufacturer) offers some affordable choices to try out. The angles and sizes of the Philips-type bits vary between SAE and JIS, and while an SAE Philips screwdriver of the correct size appears to fit Japanese screws, it doesn't fit properly and tends to strip out the Crosshead screws. Until I found out about JIS standards and the need for using JIS Crosshead screw drivers or JIS hex-bit drivers on Japanese machinery, I had always thought that Japanese manufacturers just used cheap screws. I was wrong. Most Americans who worked on Japanese motorcycles and cars, including me until a few years ago, were using the wrong tool for the job. Thanks for the quick, excellent video, and your advice to never overlook the obvious.

I just want to say thank you I had a Scag walk-behind that I put on electric start on I've got tired of pulling it lol and I could not figure out why my battery was draining it wasn't charging thanks to your video everything is working like it should and it's charging. Thank you again

Man this is gold, thanks for posting this video, first thing I'm going to check on the mower after I already replace wiring harness flywheel and some other parts that the mower repair guy already replaced, my deck is electric burn power like crazy full charge battery last around 4 hours on the mower, but this video makes a lot of sense now on my mower.

The previous mechanic just got out the parts cannon and fired away! Thank you for the great video.

LMBO.......Yes Sir, got to have a ground, that just might help when working with ELECTRICITY! Thanks for sharing!

I noticed the ground problem right away i run kawasaki's on a lot of my mowers and have replace voltage regulators before if they mount to a metal cowl i don't think the ground strap is necessary but if they mount to a plastic cowl as in this case then they must have a ground strap I can't believe a trained technician could not figure that out Great video!!! God Bless

Also to note on that repair that was the problem for that regulator but sometimes it's just the fuse just in case somebody's try every single thing and has same problem check fuse.

Been in the business for over 15 years had a Kawasaki that was not charging once, but it had the ground strap on the regulator. Got to looking and this one had the ground strap going from the regulator to the shroud bolt and a mouse had built a nest on that side of the motor and it had melted under the bolt head where the ground strap goes and it had insulated the ground strap. Cleaned out the mouse nest and scraped melted plastic from the bolt and got good connection and the motor started charging. The newer Kawasaki engines have the ground strap going to the starter bolt. The next time I had a motor with that problem I cleaned the original strap and ordered the later style strap and put it on too and had two straps but it made a good repair for a $4.00 part.

I’ve got the Kawasaki 801v that started surging today. It does it randomly. Sometimes it will die down completely, choke sometimes changes things too. It doesn’t surge every time.

I have the same problem. New everything.. I'm sure this will fix it. I can't wait to do this to my Kawasaki. I'll update.

Super Mechanic / Excelent Instructor A+++

You, sir are a BOSS mechanic!

Yep! No ground path, no circuit. Or in this case, no ground, no charge. Basic electricity! Seen many folks who are basically good mechanics, but are clueless with electrical systems.

Good heads up. Have to store this one in the memory bank, especially when I am not the first to work on it. Stay well, Joe Z.

All electrical power must have a ground, doesn't matter if it's a light or a charging system, great video!!

They taught us at the telephone company that there are only three things that can go wrong with an electrical circuit.......Shorts, grounds, and opens. The other guy had a classic open circuit which you promptly fixed.

Another great video. I see hack jobs in my shop frequently. Had a carburetor recently with the needle missing after someone tried to fix it. Keep up the video's. Really enjoy yours.

You sir are a true mechanic.

Great video👍 thank you sir!

It's a good idea to replace those regulator screws with a nut/bolt combo. Too often vibration doesn't keep that ground solid and batteries will not get that extra 1v or so to stay up. Kohlers are bad and kawasaki too.

The old Kawasaki screws into metal so that was a ground....good catch

This guy is the cream of the crop!

Learn something every day! (Thanks)

Well sir, I'm not charging you $125 for a simple ground wire...I'm charging you $125 for the 20+ years of troubleshooting knowledge. ;) Nice catch here.

Thank you. I sure you solved my problem!

as a OPE mechanic i have found grounding issues to many times. personally i have found the OEM's tend to use a short to the frame ground wire, this wire is even over paint not a bare.clean metal spot, making the frame to engine bolts the engines only ground. adding a 10 gauge wire from the negative battery post directly to the engine block and a short wire as shown from the regulator to the block helps stop many issues with charging and starting

Great repair 👍👍

This is a good video. Unless you work on Kawi's a lot you may not know that ground strap should be on there. I hope the customer gets his money back for the parts/time from the last repair.

What blows my mind is all the people that work on their own lawn mowers without any knowledge of how they work. Bought two Scag mowers that were filled with simple to fix problems. Can see the getting frustrated and just sale a good mower to replace with new.

Thank you so VERY much !!

I put a wire from the bolt on the cover(one you touched) to the screw on the regulator. I had this issues years ago when I thought I had a bad regulator.

Excellent video! Thanks😁👍.

Excelleent video.Thank you.

I have seen similar set-ups. 3 tabs on r/r regulator rectifier center was Bat+. yup lotsa plastic. A customer would have been made to take mower home with new parts an not have it charge, then have to bring back.

That's the cleanest floor buffer I've ever seen lol.

Thank you. Great diagnosis

A blind man could see what the problem was just by looking at it. That must have been some mechanic. And, I’m not a mechanic.👍😂🇬🇧

Hello I say basic 101 mechanics. Way to go

It ain't got no angry pixies. Mmhmm SlingGrass 2023

I had one with the sta8r going to the two outer lugs and BAT+ off the middle lug. . .

Got a pretty bad electrical burn on my arm from a vertical command twin once. Strap was there, but the customer stripped out the plastic shroud. The ground strap was so cooked it looked like it was in a microwave for 20 minutes. Never got hit with a regulator like that. Just grazed it with my inner forearm while digging sticks out from behind the motor. Warming the oil up and blowing the crap off it for its diagnostic. Sweating like mad. I grounded the negative side of the charging system with my right arm. The battery was very low. I potentially received the full 20 amp load from the negative side. My forearm skin was blistered like crazy and my teeth hurt for 2 days.

Now what happens if the regulator /engine has no ground strap, and mounts to iron engine cover for ground? Dc side is ziltch for dc output to battery.

For years I worked in car dealerships and one of the best mechanics I ever worked with hated to be called a technician. He said, "I'm not a technician, I'm a mechanic..............because I can fix things".

That's pretty clever I wouldn't if tried that because knowing my luck it would short it out

Excellent!!! Tx.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer just wanted to get your opinion on both engines, the 24hp in just a regular briggs not a vanguard.

Great vid - i have a countax tractor with this same engine so I will look out for this problem...

Very interesting. I had the same exact prob w my exmark vantage my solution was to simply run a wire from that single terminal on the regulator to the batt positive, but this would be a much better solution.

Great Job

I am pretty sure you just diagnosed a problem that I have been dealing with for over a year. Sure tired of having to charge the battery to use the mower. Mower is Toro Titan ZX4800 with a Kawasaki FR651V engine. Now to find out if this is my problem THANKS

So which wires would I tap into to add a battery and an LED flood to a pull start Kawasaki FC460v

Well my ground wire is there and it's still not charging after I replaced the voltage regulator and the battery should I replace the ground wire

Whoa ... BLOW MY MIND

2019 Kawasaki mule installed new battery still will not run the engine will turn over strong checked spark plug looked clean any advice thanks

You're the best!!

Gotta q for you, I'm picking up this John deere x304 for free, everything works on it, it looks brand new, the only issue, which is a big issue, is the steering brass bushing at the bottom of the steering shaft is messed up, so it doesn't steer, and he can't find anyone who wants to fix it, including me, it's a real pain in the butt to do, as I'm sure you know well, the whole steering assembly has to come out, and it's a pain, so he bought himself a Zero-Turn, and wants the jd gone, so I'm picking it up this weekend, q is, I have 2 big tractors as of this weekend, a 24hp briggs v twin, and this Kawasaki FH491V in the jd, if it was you, which engine would you keep? Both run great, and start on a dime, low hrs too?

great video, we have an old turf tracer, with a kawi FH451V,we'd like to swap the recoil start with an electric start do you have any video of something similar?

LOVE YOUR INTO!🤣🤣🤣

They must have been a parts changer. No investigation or testing, jut toss parts at it until it works... until it doesn't. *shakes head*

question- We have a Kawasaki 2013 mule. The DIF light stays on and it has loss of power. We had a new computer installed, it worked for a few weeks, not it is doing the same thing. The computer was $800 any suggestion?

I have a JD 170 with 14hp Kawasaki what baffles me is at cold start up volts show 12.6 maybe 12.7 at idle but as engine rpms increase volts go down to high 11 volt range.Tractor always starts up no problem. Has me stumped.

Ha.. hahahah.. hahahah. Simplicity. Nice catch man. An thank you for demonstrating. A lot of people don't understand how these systems work. An frankly it makes them look like an ass. An makes fellas like us look like geniuses.

Very good.

Great point.

LOL.. Some folks should give there tools away ! GREAT FIX MAN .. I have seen some of this stupid stuff to ..THUMBS UP!!

hm..i have the same problem except there's nothing plugged into that third prong on the regulator. I have two loose wires. one white and one red..not sure which goes where

experienced techs know these things

Good call medic

My battery was loosing its charge and going dead. Finally found a blown fuse hidden . Scag liberty z.

Hello, need some help on a kaasaki 708 cc lo vacume looks like a small oil leak at oil plate on bottom but anything else can you recomend ? I put my finger on the air pull on manifold and barely feel any pull ..any ideas please? barely pulls fuel up to carb..

I have a 1985 John Deere 160 and when it runs for a little bit it dies and then when I try to start it the battery is dead. Put a voltage regulator on it running and it charges to 12.99, then when I turn on the PTO it slowly starts discharging one number at a time. PTO? How easy is that to replace?

Hey thanks man! That was helpful !

Question.....oil coming out of exhaust no gas in oil ??????

I've had trouble diagnosing electrical gremlins before. But I'd be too goddamned embarrassed to strap a trickle charger to it and call it fixed. And then ask someone to pay me for doing that shit? No sir.

Wow the simplistic things

Good job!

Another great video Medic but to be very honest rather have a Kohler Engine than a Kawasaki Engine

Great !

What's the voltage limit on a 22 hp Kawasaki? I have an extreme clutch pto and they want it under 14. Mine is charging WOT a little under 14.5.

Not my issue but good instructions.

Very easy fix and every small engine mechanic should know this. I wouldn’t ever take my mower back to that place again!

The first few word you said before the music, could be heard in my shed, decades ago, so do my own.. part changers really pist me off !! so did ur firm give a refund on the parts that werent required? and the charger? hope so!! great vid btw,

50 cents worth of wire and a couple of terminals to correct the issue. Sounds like the other tech needs electrical 101 !!!!

Hey nice video .. I have Kawasaki .. but also a Trail Wagon ... 390cc.. Nice job. How did you know which ones of the wires fit on the starter. I have a green wire that isn't hooked up but I cant short the positive on the starter solenoid across and it will start .. but don't know which wire needs to be hooked up to starter so I can use the key. any thoughts on this .. I would appreciate your help. thanks much.. GD Tractor

I got the same engine , but it discharges at higher revs . WTF ?

Fantastic

Clever pick up