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[QUOTE=kthompson;196850] If a shop's mechanic could not answer the compression question think I would find another mechanic.

XXXX
Funny you should say that. I was talking to a fellow today who was saying that my town's JD dealer has a questionable reputation, though they are a large outfit w/ many branches (in different communities) all over Washington State.

Not sure the model number of our Gator but it is I will say about 14 years old. Think it has decal like 4 by 2 or it and only decal to indicate any model.But the transmission does sort of go clonk at lease sometimes when going into gear. The person who went over ours with me said it was a snow mobile transmission design and that is whey the engine must idle so low as if memory is correct you are engaging with no way to clutch. Hope have the reason correct.

XXXX
Yes, same as snow machines I ran in Alaska. Centrifugal where fly-weights squeeze sides of the pulley together. The belt and transmission shaft are always turning from the drag of the belt. My idle barely ticks over.

Yes the starter spins mine very well. I do have to use the choke to crank when cold.Do not use any gas with ethanol in it or it gums up the carb and has to be taken apart to be cleaned. Ran a good bit of sea form and other cleaners through ours with no success. We had a JD dealer that was also a lawnmower dealer (no longer a JD dealership, they wanted them to go only green and their red products was the money, JD made a bad call there) and they have been great on the Kawasaki engine. Then only issue we have had is with gummed up carb and normal maintenance.

XXXX
When I got the Gator, the carb was beyong gummed up. The gum had solidified into concrete that needed to be picked and scraped out, and even STRONG carb cleaner wouldn't budge it even a little. It LOOKS perfectly clean now, but disassembled still smells like varnish.
[/QUOTE]

What is Normal Compression
Utility Vehicles UTV/ATV
Replies 9 Post by bobinyelm

Thanks!

Very Noisy Rough Wet Brake on Gator CX
Utility Vehicles UTV/ATV
Replies 6 Post by bobinyelm

Yep-

I have a couple of cracked pieces down low (one near the gas fill, and one on the other side in about the same place).

And my Gator was just used to run plants around on paved paths in a plant nursery.

I suspect as they age, the plastic gets more brittle with sun exposure, too.

I had a Honda 4X4 atv that in Alaska I ran everywhere in the bush, and even at 30 below zero, and when I sold it after 15 years, the plastic had not a single crack despite flexing like a Gator never has to do.

I suspect John Deere just uses cheap grade plastic compared to Honda.

When I sold my Honda, I got almost twice what I paid new for it, whereas I bought the Gator for 1/3rd of its new cost, so for me, I guess the JD depreciation is a GOOD thing-I can live w/ a crack or two.

How to open Front Cowl Hood on Gator CX
Utility Vehicles UTV/ATV
Replies 5 Post by bobinyelm

You make some good points there.

When I do a car engine compression test I always make sure the throttle is held wide open. I completely neglected to do this in this situation and given how close d the butterfly is to get the idle speed down for smooth gear engagement, I'm sure the closed throttle restricted the intake air to produce good compression values.

I believe the horse power rating for the CX Kawasaki is like 8 or 9hp so It pretty much loafs along.

Given how little maintenance I believe my unit was given over at 640 hours, I guess I am looking for trouble. I am sure it never got a transmission fluid change, and I don't know when the order was changed.

I was willing to take a chance given the purchase price, and hopefully everything will be fine. It is a learning process.

Thanks, Bob

What is Normal Compression
Utility Vehicles UTV/ATV
Replies 4 Post by bobinyelm

Thanks.

Reassuring that at 650 hrs I should have plenty of hours left before any serious service is required.

I've put 10hrs on the machine now (I had a LOT of stuff to do on our property stacked up to do, and the Gator made easy work of it), and about to get into the machine a bit.

It makes rattly sounds at low rpm, kind of like loose sheet metal parts are rattling/banging around (NOT from the engine or transmission, maybe the CVT pulley mechanism). Once engaged in gear above idle, the sounds go away, and they are worse at idle in neutral. I've had snow machines that sometimes would make similar (though much less) noise from their centrifugal clutch mechanism.

I will do a valve adjust, since I don't think I have as much compression as I should (less rotational hesitation while cranking than I would expect), and if teh clearances have closed up, it could affect that, but the engine seems to have plenty of power- I barely need off-idle to move it around the place, though it's level and not much of a challenge. I will crank it w/ a compression gauge before I adjust the valves to see it it makes a difference.

Strangely, the engine requires absolutely no choke to start (if you dare pull it out even briefly, it appears to flood the engine), and you just have to crank several seconds until it starts, and then it runs smoothly as soon as it fires. There is no way to adjust the idle mixture I can find. The idle screw isn't slotted, nor does it have a proprietary profile as do my various 2-cycle carbs for which I have tools to fit. It's a smooth disk with no visible way to get a hold of it to adjust.

I don't think my CX was "well-loved" by its nursery shop owners given that the plastic body is dead-dull (zero shine), one black fender trim is missing, and both seats were destroyed (by sun it would appear), so I ordered a set of after-market seats (the local JD dealer wanted almost $500 w/ tax for a pair), not to mention it was left unserviced for at least a year or two to where the varnish deposits in the fuel pump and carb were solid (to where they had to be picked at and scraped to loosen them to where carb cleaner would start to dissolve them even a little).

On the valve adjustment, is there an easy view-able timing mark to set the crankshaft at when adjusting the valves, or do you just find TDC on the compression stroke (say, w/ a screw driver inserted in the spark plug hole to locate TDC)?

I don't have any manuals (yet) so do you happen to remember the intake and exhaust valve clearances for setting (cold, I assume)?

My parking brake handle is frozen tight, which I assume is the inner cable rusted/corroded tightly to the outer sheath since the handle won't pull out even 1/16th", though our property is pretty level. The foot brake is effective though makes a horrible screech which I attribute to a rusted friction surface until I find otherwise.

BTW, does the front cowl/hood lift up? Between the cup holders there is what appears to be a hand-hold, and it appears that is how one accesses the headlights. One is loaded with dead bug carcasses (I suspect one or more got in and had a LARGE family in there), and I'd like to remove them.

Thanks,
Bob

New Gator 4X2 CX with Questions
Utility Vehicles UTV/ATV
Replies 3 Post by bobinyelm