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View File Kawasaki Mule 550,520,500 Complete service manual This is a complete service manual for the Kawasaki Mule 500,520 and 550 models. Topics covered include Brakes, Steering, Electrical system, suspension and fuel system. As well as engine repair procedures and Transmission/Final Drive procedures. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** If you need more information about the engine this manual linked below is chock full of information. Thanks goes to @cliffyk for getting these files all into one PDF format for uploading. Submitter Travis Submitted 04/18/2021 Category Kawasaki  

Recently acquired a 21 year old Mule. The previous owner let the brake master cylinder run dry, and when I flushed the brakes, one wheel's brakes locked up. I took the wheel off, but cannot get the axle nut off, and there is not enough space to get my gear puller behind the drum anyway. Anybody had an issue with seized brakes? How can I get this thing off to replace it or rebuild it?

Hi folks, I have a Mule 550 (FE290D engine) that sat for several years and would not start. A few years ago I replaced the fuel filter and carburetor, at which point it started right up and developed full power. More recently, I've changed the air filter, fuel pump, ignition coil (gapped to spec), and spark plug, and adjusted the valves. The engine still has a lope/surge at part throttle and at idle. Rather than idling at a stable speed, it speeds up and slows down until it quits. It snaps to life right away if I open the throttle, so I don't think it's starved of fuel. I can always get it to restart immediately if I choke it while cranking, then it will die after several seconds again. It takes some cranking to start hot when not choked. I've tried adjusting the idle mixture, but no setting seems to make it stable. It won't idle at all with the throttle fully closed; I have to turn the stop screw to hold it slightly open. I suspect it's getting idle air, since the passages are open, but that the idle jet isn't providing adequate fuel, such that I am having to hold the throttle open and idle it off the main jet which isn't stable. This is just speculation. I've cleaned the idle jet and tried a larger size, but it made zero difference. The carburetor seems to be clean. It's been doing this since I installed the new carb. The gas tank seems to be clean, although it's hard to see inside. I posted a video of what it's doing: What's next? Try another carburetor? Thanks.

Hello all. I'm new to the forum and have read all the posts I could find concerning the 550 Mule, so far no one with my problem. So, I'll give it a go and hopefully get an answer. I got this mule about three years ago, had to do some minor repairs, and it's been a great machine. Last fall, I noticed an oil leak coming from the left side around the crankcase cover. I was able to slow the leak considerably, but it still leaked. I never had the time to tear it down due to work. I retire in March of this year and decided to fix it with a new cover gasket. I ordered a new gasket and crankshaft seal and while waiting for them to arrive, I began the tear down and cleaning of the mating surfaces. Got the seal and gasket installed and the cover back on and torqued. Decided to crank it up and let it idle a bit to check for any oil leaks before I put the converters back on. Fired right up, let it idle for about 10 minutes, no leaks. I'm happy at this point... Next day, installed the inside converter cover, new belt and converters, not the outside cover though. I wanted to see how the new belt was going to work out. I still had the rear end jacked up so it wouldn't move. Guess what, it wouldn't start up. Cranked over like always, just wouldn't start... Now I'm bummed. So I start checking gas, spark and everything is good. Even tried a squirt of starting fluid, and it did fire a couple of times but no start. Now I'm even more bummed. Time for a break. Now I've worked on everything from small engines to tractors and have never had this problem. After a little thought I decided to run a compression test. The repair manual lists 115 - 178 psi as the correct range, I had 30 psi!!!!! What in the world happened over night. I did spray a light oil into the cylinder and it came up to about 60 psi but that was all I could get. I checked the valve clearances, their good. Sorry for the long post, but I hope someone can point me in the right direction cause I really like this little machine. Thanks for your help, Roger

The cables are sort of seized up on the emergency brake, they still work but i have to wiggle and pull on em to get them to release, i pulled the drum off but cant see a way to remove the cable. It is kind of dirty inside the drum where it was leaking so i need to run to the parts store and buy some parts cleaner so i can see everything better. The shop manual i have does not cover parking brake cable removal, well.... it does kind of. it says "Remove parking brake cable at both ends" 🙄 We'll see EDIT: ARRR! Looks like my rear axle seal is leaking, there is a small puddle on a machined step below the seal and it smells like Trans oil. felt around the wheel cylinder and it isn't coming from their..... I guess my weekend is planned for me LOL

I'm embarrassed to say but I'm 58 years old and I never changed drum brakes before lol. I have my mule that won't hold fluid. when I drive at top speed my brakes don't work. I can let off the gas and stop ok so that is all that I have been doing. There doesn't seem to be any leaks around maser cylinder. I'm dreading that I will screw something up trying to change the brakes. They have never been serviced. Only oil, fuel and air filter maintenance. I looked on youtube but no videos of this model online. I feel capable to do the job based on videos that I have seen with other drum changes. My question here is what advice can you give me on this job? What to look for and is it just a drum replacement kit that I need? Do the cylinders come with it? I'm assuming that's where they are leaking at although I see no evidence of leaking from the OUTSIDE of the hub. My Kawasaki dealer estimates 7-800 dollars to repair without having seen it. I can't pay that but I'd like to try it myself. What I DON'T want to have happen is that I pull the hubs and screw it all up and not be able to put it back together. Thanks in advance. And don't laugh Jeff

Hey y'all, just finished replacing my rear right axle on my 99 mule 550. The old one teeth rounded out where the brake drum grabs it. But now i can't get the drum to seat on the new axle far enough, yes i put axles side by side, identical, i can reverse the drum and it slides right on the axle so i know it goes on fine. It's a really bad design anyways with such a tiny line of teeth to rely on to drive the wheel. Does anyone know if the new brake drums have deeper teeth to grab more of the axle?? Or any ideas why im having a hard time with this damn thing?

Got some Camo seat covers for the Mule. Got them from Greenemountain ATV.com, they have alot of Kawasaki seat covers, and cab tops. and other for other UTV's. Made to order!