kawasaki mule 550 shift lever

[laurencen]

hi, just revisiting the old mule 550, it served for many years and been replaced with a newer 610, now the grandkids are wanting to drive the old faithful, problem is more times than some it will be hard engaging forward or reverse instead grinding gears, it will go into drive just not well and other times no problem

what I noticed is when the motor idles down it will make a click sound at idle, when this happens it will engage fine but if not it grinds, it makes no difference if you wait for the click (I assume its the disengaging of the clutch) if it does not click then it wont go in gear

anyone have any ideas or had similar issues? when it runs its fine and this is the reason I replaced it to let the wife use it around the property

thanks in advance

 

[Zebrafive]

I would try lowering the idle speed and see if that helps.

 

[Trails2004]

This sounds like your primary clutch is sticking, try throughly cleaning with hot soapy water and or non chlorinated brake cleaner, use a toothbrush to get into all the nooks and crannies, followed by compressed air.

 

[laurencen]

took a closer look this weekend, when cold it engages fine, rev up in neutral and when it drops to idle there is a audible clunk when the clutch releases, after it warms up the rpm stays above the release speed, tried turning the idle screw but does nothing, was going to take the cover plate off the idle screw to get to linkage but its riveted, need to see a schematic for next weekend

 

[laurencen]

should have explained, cold rpm is close to stalling, comparing the 550 to 610 the rpm is lower, when warmed up the rpm is way faster than the 610 and clutch is not able to disengage, the idle screw is out and no longer contacting the throttle lever, the throttle cable has slack, did not check choke possibly that is holding idle up, the battery was shot so this weekend coming will head out with a new battery.

have to round up a service manual for the lever assembly to the carb, there is possibly another idle screw

 

[laurencen]

purchased the service manual, not a lot of help but only 8 dollars downloaded so not a great expense and will help on future issues, anyway the idle screw will increase the rpm when screwed in but only reduce the rpm so much and it visibly leaves a gap between the screw end and the linkage, does not look like the choke will help it has free play so anyone know if there is a idle screw on the carb itself? there is a cover that requires a rivet to be drilled out to access linkage but is this where I may find a second idle screw, anyone ever removed this cover?

thanks

 

[laurencen]

well here is the update, never did figure the rpm out, the adjuster the manual refers to is the first picture, it was not touching the lever so basically doing nothing it goes on to say remove the rivet and cover to access the governor, tried this and totally useless nothing there to see, now the cabin is closed I figured take another look.

under the large cover under the seat sits the carb and low and behold is a second adjuster for rpm, turned it half turn and problem is gone, its like new down side the rpm is real low when cold but a bit of choke takes care of that. before anyone comments this machine spends its years at the lake on gravel roads, its dirty and plan on cleaning it with the pressure washer tonight, last time it was clean was the day it came from the dealer

thanks for all input and enjoy pictures, they are worth a thousand words