Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): kawasaki engine sieze, small engines kawasaki parts lawn mower parts discountonlineparts lawnmower

Question
Jon, I agreed to work on a John Deere 345 mower for a small cemetary board that wasnt to fond of our local dealers 77.00 dollar per hour rate. Kawasaki 20hp water cooled twin cylinder model FD611VAS02 was running fine they shut it off went to start it and the engine was locked solid. Rods, crank, nor cylinders show any galling. Crank was siezed in flywheel side of block, once again no metal pulling or galling. Polished crank, removed some metal from block with fine emery seems to turn free now. Everything seems round and in perfect shape, do I tell them run it or am I missing something,ever hear of this before? looking at a cheap replacement engine has been frustrating guess deere has their own model and cant find a direct replacement. If they do run this how much crank clearance would you recomend. Thanks for your time Jerry

Answer
Hi Jerry, the engine should be ready to run, but keep it under close scrutiny. Evidently something, a stick, gravel or foreign matter got stuck in the flywheel. This happens more than you realize. If you check everything over and eveything turns o.k. Try to run the engine, it should be o.k. As for the replacement, John Deere has what is known as Captive OEM engines. While it is possible to replace them, the only true bolt on and go engines would have to be acquired through the John Deere dealer. Any other options would involve some jury rigging on your part.  Whenever you need lawn mower parts visit us at http://www.discountonlineparts.com/

Jon
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