Kawasaki Mule 3010 project

Rat

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Head gaskets were fine, had to be where the water pump was leaking. The water pump is attached to the case cover and driven off the cam gear so idk.

I tore it all down and threw it a piece at a time into a utility sink half full of hot water with a scoop of oxi-clean and scrubbed it with fast orange on stainless steel soft bristle brushes.

It got every seal and gasket replaced...

Valve covers,
Heads,
Valve guide seals
Oil pump port oring behind the case cover
Case cover,
Waterpump base,
Water pump impeller cover,
Shaft seals,
Intake manifold,
Intake plenum,
Dipstick oring,
Thermostat cover,
Coolant sensor crush washer,
Oil temp sensor crush washer,
Oil drain crush washer,
Crank case vent baffle cover,
Exhaust manifolds,
And header flange/tail pipe joints
 

Rat

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Anything warped or misshaped? If not look it over real good for wierd cracks in strange places.
No signs of warping, not even when sat on a sheet of glass and trying to wobble things. No cracks, unless you count the thermostat cover I broke after all that work... thermostat moved on me and that was the end of that (pretty sure it had a hairline already started near the bottom eyelet) replacement is already ordered.

I will say that most of the cover bolts were severely under torqued especially towards the top.

That could have been the entire issue simply because of how the waterpump is set up. There's a 2" hole through the side cover that allows the WP spur gear to ride the cam gear. I also don't know how much of that oil discoloration may have occurred when the original spur gear let go of the impeller shaft... no pressure on the spring loaded seal may have allowed coolant to blow into the crankcase.

Had to replace the 3/16" flywheel key, it was not steel and had been sheared flush with the shaft and ironically shifted 4° advance... no wonder it was cold blooded but ran the way it did once the engine temp came up.

I might go back to Ace and see if I can get a wide enough key to cut it advanced, I've got to grab some bolts anyhow since a couple didn't exactly come out in one piece.

This is also one of those engines that the pressurized oil is forced into the crank end sleeve bearings, then into the crankshaft, and out into the conecting rods...which is why there's an oil port just under the cover at one edge that takes an oring.
 
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Rat

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Seems like that is the norm now.
Can't get what you want. Get what you can and make it work.
I've always lived by that methodology.

What do I want?
Can I make it?
Can I make something else work instead?

Hold on while I check the spool in my welder let's FAFO what happens!
 

Rat

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It's in and It still runs. Runs way better now actually so I'm not going to horse around making any offset key for it. Put a new belt on so that alone should put 5-10 on the top speed (yeah the belt was that bad, think maybe it might have been 2006 original factory)

2qts of oil and cold lash set to 010 but with the cooling system being offline for now I didn't run it any longer than I needed to get up to full running temp and tweak the mixture screws on the carb.

Idles lower, responds to throttle input a lot more readily... no hesitation or half second stumble and then go.
 
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Rat

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I got the thermostat cover on, topped up the coolant, locked the axle and threw it in 4wD, backed it into the deep end if the ditch in my front yard, and turned the idle screw in to hold the rpm above 2k in neutral and burped the radiator.

Then I spend all afternoon flogging the hell out of her making small tweaks here and there as needed (tire pressure, steering wheel alignment on the splines, etc) and then retorqued the waterpump cover where it had began to weep a little.

Im going to pull the valve covers and check the head bolt torque and maybe tighten up the valve lash since 0.010 isn't by the book and I'd rather have it at the bare minimum if it's not going to be by the book
 

Rat

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I also now know that if I want heavier valve springs the answer is GX Big Block springs. I'll probably get some 50's to toss in since I'm fairly certain it has the same stock 30's as most big block GX's.

I know they're a bit soft with age and wheat having pulled them all to do the valve guide seals.
 
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