Amongst my construction work, semi-truck work, drill sergeant work, and performance work (the official name is now Acceleration Works), I also do general repair on ATVs and dirt bikes.
I charge $50/hr at the lower range of what the local full time shop charges. For example, if they quote a job as 6-8 hours, I go with 6 off the bat. I also guarantee that I can fix what I work on or the customer doesn't have to pay.
Recently, I had a cousin of a friend of mine bring in a Prairie 650. Naturally, it had mud tires and a snorkel setup installed. He claimed that it had a cracked head that he and his dad diagnosed. He wanted the head inspected and or repaired/replaced if necessary. He also stated that he'd never submerged it in mud or water since he's had it.
I pulled the dipstick and it did have coolant in the oil. The airbox was filthy (probably had a bit to do with the K&N filter), but there was oil and coolant mixed together in the bottom of the airbox because the drain was blocked off to make it "air-tight". Yeah, whatever. I look at the carbs and they are really clean. I mean spotless.
He started the quad with the filter off and it starts backfiring out of the rear carb, which leads me to believe that the valves are out of adjustment or are bent, the cam has jumped a gear or two, or the head is in fact warped or cracked pretty badly. I initially leaned away from a rich running condition because the carbs were so clean. It didn't run that bad, so I assumed a small crack was the culprit.
I checked the coolant level and it was absolutely full, so I was leery about the head being cracked. There was also no vacuum when I cracked the cap, and I started second guessing my mechanical abilities. Generally, air bubbles from combustion will make their way into the coolant passages, causing air bubbles to float up top. If they don't make their way up top and the leak is only while the engine is warm, the thermostat will crack open and let some coolant out when the combusting gasses force their way into the passages. After it cools, the pressure is relieved and the crack closes up a bit, pulling a vacuum on the cooling system because of constriction when the coolant cools.
So I check compression, to which Kawasaki specifies as 47-80 something. It also has the compression release system, which wasn't working on the rear cylinder because it read 191 psi. So now, I have no real way of determining the compression difference between the front and rear cylinders.
I call the guy to ask him if he wants me to proceed with the tear down, to which he agreed.
I got the rear half disassembled and then received a call from a family member who had a lawnmower that had trouble running. I went to work on the lawnmower and when I arrived, his son was there as well. His son is a good friend of the owner of the Prairie. I asked him about it and the story was a drastically new direction from what the owner told me.
What I was told was that the owner completely submerged the 4 wheeler and sucked a significant portion of water and mud into the snorkel. He then pulled it back to his house and sprayed the snorkel out with a water hose, changed the oil, and added coolant to the oil. This was in a attempt to lead his parents to believe that it had cracked the head and was leaking coolant into the oil because he didn't want to admit to sinking it when they told him it would happen. Then, he wiped the carbs out and sprayed them down with carb cleaner to make the mud disappear.
That's when he inquired about his cousin fixing it. He saw straight through it and said that he wouldn't fix it and referred him to me. Then, the owner lied to me because he knew that I would tell his cousin who would in turn tell the owner's parents, which I plan to do.
I tore the carbs down and as I expected, they were full of mud. The belt drive assembly was out of spec because of the mud gargling through it, causing the sensor to throw a code for the ECU, putting it in safe mode, dumping gas (backfiring through carb? Bingo.).
Up to this point, he's sitting on a $200 bill, and that's only because I told him I'd do a diagnostic for free as a high school graduation present. I haven't even started re-assembling the engine. He's going to be sitting on a $500 bill IF he doesn't want me to clean the belt. That's a lot of money to pay to cover a story up.
The mind boggles...
I charge $50/hr at the lower range of what the local full time shop charges. For example, if they quote a job as 6-8 hours, I go with 6 off the bat. I also guarantee that I can fix what I work on or the customer doesn't have to pay.
Recently, I had a cousin of a friend of mine bring in a Prairie 650. Naturally, it had mud tires and a snorkel setup installed. He claimed that it had a cracked head that he and his dad diagnosed. He wanted the head inspected and or repaired/replaced if necessary. He also stated that he'd never submerged it in mud or water since he's had it.
I pulled the dipstick and it did have coolant in the oil. The airbox was filthy (probably had a bit to do with the K&N filter), but there was oil and coolant mixed together in the bottom of the airbox because the drain was blocked off to make it "air-tight". Yeah, whatever. I look at the carbs and they are really clean. I mean spotless.
He started the quad with the filter off and it starts backfiring out of the rear carb, which leads me to believe that the valves are out of adjustment or are bent, the cam has jumped a gear or two, or the head is in fact warped or cracked pretty badly. I initially leaned away from a rich running condition because the carbs were so clean. It didn't run that bad, so I assumed a small crack was the culprit.
I checked the coolant level and it was absolutely full, so I was leery about the head being cracked. There was also no vacuum when I cracked the cap, and I started second guessing my mechanical abilities. Generally, air bubbles from combustion will make their way into the coolant passages, causing air bubbles to float up top. If they don't make their way up top and the leak is only while the engine is warm, the thermostat will crack open and let some coolant out when the combusting gasses force their way into the passages. After it cools, the pressure is relieved and the crack closes up a bit, pulling a vacuum on the cooling system because of constriction when the coolant cools.
So I check compression, to which Kawasaki specifies as 47-80 something. It also has the compression release system, which wasn't working on the rear cylinder because it read 191 psi. So now, I have no real way of determining the compression difference between the front and rear cylinders.
I call the guy to ask him if he wants me to proceed with the tear down, to which he agreed.
I got the rear half disassembled and then received a call from a family member who had a lawnmower that had trouble running. I went to work on the lawnmower and when I arrived, his son was there as well. His son is a good friend of the owner of the Prairie. I asked him about it and the story was a drastically new direction from what the owner told me.
What I was told was that the owner completely submerged the 4 wheeler and sucked a significant portion of water and mud into the snorkel. He then pulled it back to his house and sprayed the snorkel out with a water hose, changed the oil, and added coolant to the oil. This was in a attempt to lead his parents to believe that it had cracked the head and was leaking coolant into the oil because he didn't want to admit to sinking it when they told him it would happen. Then, he wiped the carbs out and sprayed them down with carb cleaner to make the mud disappear.
That's when he inquired about his cousin fixing it. He saw straight through it and said that he wouldn't fix it and referred him to me. Then, the owner lied to me because he knew that I would tell his cousin who would in turn tell the owner's parents, which I plan to do.
I tore the carbs down and as I expected, they were full of mud. The belt drive assembly was out of spec because of the mud gargling through it, causing the sensor to throw a code for the ECU, putting it in safe mode, dumping gas (backfiring through carb? Bingo.).
Up to this point, he's sitting on a $200 bill, and that's only because I told him I'd do a diagnostic for free as a high school graduation present. I haven't even started re-assembling the engine. He's going to be sitting on a $500 bill IF he doesn't want me to clean the belt. That's a lot of money to pay to cover a story up.
The mind boggles...
