new mule owner

[smgchandler]

i just purchased a low hours 2003 mule 3010 gas - i swear its the best thing i have purchased in a long time - i realized that after hauling wood with it yesterday - i purchased it from the original owners sons - owner passed - it had been sitting for a long time and bad gas wouldnt run very well - it had been back to kawasaki shop earlier for the same problem bad gas - they put new tank on it and i assume cleaned carbs and it ran fine after that but again they left it sitting - then i got it - i emptied tank out and the tank looks brand new inside - so i put new high grade fuel in it with some sea foam and its getting better - it will idle now without cutting off - it has 160 hours on it and i have run 1/4 of this tank of fuel out and the only problem i notice now is it has a lag at first throttle - if you tap the gas it will go on but it may even cut off with you if you dont tap it or pull the choke out and push it back in real quick to get going - i think this will clear up with time or i hope it will but if it doesnt i can live with it but would consider working on it if i have to - i looked for the right section to put my questions in on this couldnt really decide on which so someone make a suggestion for service or maintenance area to post - good to be here and look forward to reading smg if my picture doesnt show with my name i will post a pic of it on its first day at work with me !!

[Alex]

Welcome to UTVBOARD!

[kawzak]

Welcome. the hesitation is from a restricted slow speed running jet partially clogged. it probably won't get better. Just get a manual,disconnect the battery, pull the carb, remove the float bowl carefully,pour out the gas from inside the carb into a clean pan (don't smoke), unscrew (1) brass jet a ta time, and blow with compressed air-or- a brass wire strand from a wire brush (pull one strand out with needle nose plier) run this wire strand through the tiny hole in the jet, use an aerosol can of compressed air for computer/cleaning if you don't have access to an air compressor. It is usually the smallest dia. brass jet inside the lower cavity of the carb. re-assemble. I assume no responsibility, but if you take your time, use the manual, you should be running good again. This should take about 1-1/2 hrs time to do.

[smgchandler]

so far its no better - i will wait until i finish this tank of gas out and will do it on a weekend when i have time to get it all done at one sitting --- thanks for the info too - one more thing i wanted input on -- the battery - i plan to put a bigger battery in it but i want to do it different - i bet there is 4 or 5 wires connected to the battery for different things like the dump bed lift and i would like to put a master cut off switch on for the battery and one for a winch that i want to put on at a later date - what i want is something i cant find exactly - i want some type of covered or waterproof maybe type of bar busbar but without fuses - a bar of some type that i can connect all the positive and negative wires to - a block of some sort that makes it all neat and tidy - does such a thing exist and if so i sure would like to know where to find one thanks

[smgchandler]

well i cleaned and blew the carb out really well and the only difference now that i can tell is i have a really clean carb - it even looked clean inside when i took bowl off and i did catch all the jets holes cracks crevices that i saw - when i sprayed the carb cleaner in everything i saw it come out other places so i feel pretty good about it - my problem now is -------- well i actually cleaned carb twice because i didnt think i got rid of the problem the first time so in the mean time it started idling up or even revving up on its on - it would do this in gear or in neutral and woudl just keep going higher and higher unless i turned the switch off - that was the only way to get it to idle down - not a safe situatioin either let me tell ya - im glad it has good brakes on it - if i do get it to idle it will spit a little and sputter then idle up sometimes going out of control after spitting -----once you give it gas it just keeps going up and up - if in gear it wont go wide open but it will stay high enough to move the mule up a hill without me touching the pedal ------- any suggestions now ?? thanks for the help

[smgchandler]

i took it out today after putting cleaned carb on and same thing - it starts out trying to rev up on its own - i disconnected the arm coming from the governor and it made no difference at all - it still revs up so i drove it around a little and no change - reconnected the governor and parked it - after revving up if i turn the key off several times just before it cuts off and turn the key back on it may idle down but i have to do it several times for it to work and sometimes it backfires a little - but thats the only way to get it to idle down --- if the engine is idling and you give it gas --- it sitll has the dead spot in the mid part of the pedal pretty bad but if you floor it for a second it picks up great but doesnt come back down - its like once its gets the gas going to it the engine itself sucks the fuel from somewhere and just keeps going up from there - if its under no load it will run wide open but i try not to let it do that as i have read this will damage the valve rods or break the connecting rod and i have enough problems already without that - i need to find out where its getting the fuel from if the throttle is closed

[ricksrb]

i took it out today after putting cleaned carb on and same thing - it starts out trying to rev up on its own - i disconnected the arm coming from the governor and it made no difference at all - it still revs up so i drove it around a little and no change - reconnected the governor and parked it - after revving up if i turn the key off several times just before it cuts off and turn the key back on it may idle down but i have to do it several times for it to work and sometimes it backfires a little - but thats the only way to get it to idle down --- if the engine is idling and you give it gas --- it sitll has the dead spot in the mid part of the pedal pretty bad but if you floor it for a second it picks up great but doesnt come back down - its like once its gets the gas going to it the engine itself sucks the fuel from somewhere and just keeps going up from there - if its under no load it will run wide open but i try not to let it do that as i have read this will damage the valve rods or break the connecting rod and i have enough problems already without that - i need to find out where its getting the fuel from if the throttle is closed

Does it have an electric idle valve?

[smgchandler]

Does it have an electric idle valve?

rick i dont think so but it does have a bypass of some sort to keep the fuel pump pressure from building up - a valve that allows the fuel to bypass and go back to the tank - it keeps the fuel pressure low enough to the float valve can prevent fuel from flooding the bowl - i dont have a guage yet to check that but i have ordered one that goes inline - the only idle adjustment is on the fuel/governor linkage and its ok - before i started messing with the carb it idle just right so i have really stirred something up in the carb and just dont have it all out is where i am leaning right now unless someone convinces me otherwise- i just need to do more cleaning and the pilot circuit is where i need to focus on - i just need to figure out hwo to clean it and exactly where its at and where it goes

[smgchandler]

Eureka -- well good news bad news -- instead of using wd40 i used the carb cleaner to spray around the carb because after cleaning the carb inside and out removing jets - all looked clean but i still had the problem of idling up - so i sprayed the carb cleaner around and there it was - around the throttle shaft where the spring is and the black plastic rod that actuates the throttle shaft it idled right up - did it several times to make sure that is where the problem was - now i dont understand this because the mule has very few hours on it and i cant imagine it being worn out - regardless i dont know of a way to get rid of the vacuum leak so i plan to order a new carb adn get rid of this problem that has bugged me for too long - any suggestions on where to get a carb replacement and thanks for all the help

[ricksrb]

Eureka -- well good news bad news -- instead of using wd40 i used the carb cleaner to spray around the carb because after cleaning the carb inside and out removing jets - all looked clean but i still had the problem of idling up - so i sprayed the carb cleaner around and there it was - around the throttle shaft where the spring is and the black plastic rod that actuates the throttle shaft it idled right up - did it several times to make sure that is where the problem was - now i dont understand this because the mule has very few hours on it and i cant imagine it being worn out - regardless i dont know of a way to get rid of the vacuum leak so i plan to order a new carb adn get rid of this problem that has bugged me for too long - any suggestions on where to get a carb replacement and thanks for all the help

ebay mule carbs

[smgchandler]

thanks rick - i spent all day looking and wanted to order it before the day was too far gone to help with shipping time - i oredered if from cheap cycle parts - they were not the cheapest but they had all the gaskets i needed and i wanted to save on shipping by getting everything from one place - well if i had it to do over i would have ordered from one of the ebay guys - seemed very nice and helpful and his price was by far the best but at the time i didnt know he had the gaskets as well - if i would have gotten his email soon enough i would got everything from him - and i think i will do some business with him in the future because he was so helpful and if something is out of stock like the carb then i will cancel and order from him - give him a shot if you need something ----louispowersports.com

he has other stuff on ebay as well