MULE 3010 GRINDING

desertmike345 · Sep 3, 2009

I have an 2006 3010 Trans 4x4. I have a hard time shifting into gear without grinding. Reverse is a little better. I think it is an idle problem. When cold it tends to slow idle and stall 50/50% of the time if you can't get back to gas quick enough. But when warm it idles to fast. Cannot get a constant idle speed. If you tap on the gas pedel enough times it slows down enough to get into gear. Iv'e been to the dealer several times with no luck. They replaced the carburator and looked everything over but could not fix. When tapping on gas and looking at carb there is slack, movement or hangup in the cable that I can see or feel. I played with the cable, carb adj, clean air filter, adjust valve, etc with no luck. Been like this since day one. Anybody else have this problem???

Thanks
Mike

Will_C · Sep 3, 2009

Mike,

My brother has had a Mule for 5-6 years. It has had the exact symptoms you described from day one. The good news is that he has never had a problem. It sure seems like a poor design.

Will

franklinute · Sep 5, 2009

I have a 2510 mule with the same problem and seems to be getting worse. My solution is to turn off the key and 1 second later back on and the idle speed slows to where there is no grind going in gear. I have owned this mule for 4+ years and it has gotten a little worse over the years. Kawaski has a good site for the mule with lots of info from the posters. The carb system of these machines is not easy to adjust.

desertmike345 · Sep 5, 2009

Thanks for the comeback. Since my original post I've searched a lot of forums and posts. Seems that this is a very common problem with the Mules and Kawasaki either can't or won't fix the problem. I'm going to see if I can find a replacement/upgrade carburator that has some adjustments. The original is a MIKUNI # BW26-18.

Mike

jinman · Sep 11, 2009

I have a 2004 3010 Mule and my neighbor has a 2004 3000 Mule. I've adjusted both idle speeds on these machines. It's a balance between too slow and too fast. I'm not sure about the newer Mules, but I have to choke mine all the way and feather it a bit until it is warmed up. Then, I can remove my foot from the accel pedal and it will idle down enough to go into gear without jerking. Actually, now-and-then I do have the engine die as I apply gas, but this is just the nature of a manually choked engine with warmup delay. On a CVT transmission, high-speed idle and shifting is not a good match. Grinding/rough shifting will occur.

BTW: The idle adjustment for our 3010 Mule is a two-step process. You have to adjust the accelerator stop screw over the top of the rear axle (near the frame cross-tube where there is a black sheetmetal cover similar to the one over the carburetor). This screw is loosened to allow slack in the accelerator and then the idle is adjusted on the carb for 850-950 rpm. I prefer the lowest rpm that smooth operation occurs. Once the idle is adjusted, the accelerator stop screw is adjusted to take out any slack in the accelerator cable (until the stop screw just touches the accelerator lever). You can actually slightly vary your idle speed with this screw too. These are the instructions right out of the Kawasaki Mule Utility Vehicle Service Manual, 7th addition of July 2006.

RavensRoost · Sep 17, 2009

I also have a 3010 Mule (2005). Way back at about 50 hrs on clock, it got hard to start and the idle was not dependable. Once I adjusted the valves, it was very easy to start (as long as choked fully) and idle is now very dependable. As Jinman said, you have to find an idle speed that balances dependable idle with smooth gear engagement.

RavensRoost

Happyman · Sep 28, 2009

Count me in. I have a 2007 3010 trans 4x4 that would not idle worth a darn. Finally found the right balance between idling enough not to stall and too much idle that grinds when you shift. That has been my only complaint with the Mule. Other than that, she has done everything I have asked. I installed a Warn 3000 lb winch, hydraulic bed lift and full skid plates. I work the ***** hard and she keeps coming back for more.
I like that

.

desertmike345 · Oct 23, 2009

After years of gear grinding I found someone who could fix it. The mixture screws were modified so that it could idle. There were several other things also changed. He also had a transmission apart and showed me what causes the grinding. Basically its two cogs being pushed together with the gear selector. When idleing to fast the tips of the cogs grind and wear the tips off. After to much gringing it starts jumping out of gear. Several hundred $$ which included filters, spark plugs etc the MULE runs great. Has about 4 hrs on it. Has more power than it ever had and the govenor is still on.

Mike

dennis darling · Mar 21, 2012

i have a 2008 3010 trans mule bought used it pops out of forward cable is adjusted all the way out it has 800 hours it had rusty drive clutch and ground gears going in forward when i got it ive fixed clutch

jinman · Mar 22, 2012

I'm not sure about the shifter jumping out of forward. Does it do it in both Hi and Lo? The grinding is normally nothing more than the idle speed set too high. Some people adjust up the idle so the engine won't stall when cold, but that causes grinding. You have to have idle at the right speed and let the engine warm up before shifting into gear.

garci · Jun 9, 2014

desertmike345 said:
I have an 2006 3010 Trans 4x4. I have a hard time shifting into gear without grinding. Reverse is a little better. I think it is an idle problem. When cold it tends to slow idle and stall 50/50% of the time if you can't get back to gas quick enough. But when warm it idles to fast. Cannot get a constant idle speed. If you tap on the gas pedel enough times it slows down enough to get into gear. Iv'e been to the dealer several times with no luck. They replaced the carburator and looked everything over but could not fix. When tapping on gas and looking at carb there is slack, movement or hangup in the cable that I can see or feel. I played with the cable, carb adj, clean air filter, adjust valve, etc with no luck. Been like this since day one. Anybody else have this problem???

Thanks
Mike[/QUOTE

Mike my Kawasaki wont idle what do I do

Maverill · Jun 11, 2014

I had issues with the idle running high when it warmed up (didn't want to idle down when slowing down once it warmed up) and someone recommended putting in some stabil gas treatment and that fixed it. I am going to try doing that every couple tanks or so and see if it keeps things running well. Worth shot for your first try and a lot simpler than tearing into the carburetor. I like to try the simple approach first

Maverill · Jun 11, 2014

Also a while back I had to replace my fuel pump when it was running erratically at high temps found out the wires to the pump were heating up and melting over time so the pump would act up only when warm. Replaced the $300 Kawasaki pump with a $60 third party equivalent and has run great for about 2 years. The gas mules are finicky in my opinion I have the same year and model as yours but its all good right now just learning what works and what doesn't. I am hoping running stabil regularly takes care of things. I immediately saw my issues go away with idling after mixing it in so that's a good sign. Ethanol gas does collect moisture and the Mule doesn't seem to like that. I would do the stabil and then have someone look at the fuel pump if that doesn't fix things.

franklinute · Jun 17, 2014

We have an old 2310 Mule and has done the same grinding when shifting problem. When the rpms won't go down we turn the key off,
shift the selector and quickly turn the key back on. I can't stand to hear the sound of the hard shift. There is no adjustment on the carb.
We have just learned to live with it the way it is. It seems to come and go. Has to be something in the idle circiut of the carb.

Maverill · Jun 17, 2014

Ya mine used to do that a lot and then we had the coils replaced and fuel pump and all was well for awhile until recently. Never really found a connection to the carburetor oddly enough. In the case above I think I may have gotten water in my gas and the Stabil took care of that. Its been running great for about a week now.

Maverill · Jun 17, 2014

Garci,

Check the wires on your fuel pump. If they feel really warm when its hot or the rubber is melting around them that may be your issue. If that's it let me know and I can give you the part # for a good third party replace for $60 instead of the $300 Kawasaki one. The pump on mine is running strong for about 2 years now and even if I had to replace it again I could buy 5 of these for the price of one Kawasaki pump. If you notice over time your mule stops running when it gets hot them you are more than likely looking at a bad pump. Mine started out doing what yours is doing and later on it would only run for short distances and quit and the fuel pump resolved that. I agree the turn it off solution and back on has worked for me as well a few times but that drives me crazy after a while. I like things to work how they are supposed to

Maverill · Jun 17, 2014

desertmike345,

In regard to:

"After years of gear grinding I found someone who could fix it. The mixture screws were modified so that it could idle. There were several other things also changed. He also had a transmission apart and showed me what causes the grinding. Basically its two cogs being pushed together with the gear selector. When idleing to fast the tips of the cogs grind and wear the tips off. After to much gringing it starts jumping out of gear. Several hundred $$ which included filters, spark plugs etc the MULE runs great. Has about 4 hrs on it. Has more power than it ever had and the govenor is still on."

I had the same work done on mine. Wish I hadn't put up with the fast idle so long. I would recommend getting to the bottom of the idle issue ASAP or you will end up paying a lot more for other issues. See my 2014 posts for other things such as the fuel pump and coils that were probably related to idling issues. If you grind the gears you will end up having transmission work done

I have never really found any issues with the Carb itself but my mechanic did modify the screws as well a few years back. Regular maintenance helps as well and use Stabil in the winter if storing. Water in your gas can mess with the idle a well. Well enough said on this issue I will move on to other things.

motodude4 · Aug 25, 2015

I had the same problem With my mule 3010 4X4. When I bought it, it had been sitting for over 2 years. The previous owner was an elderly man, bought a new one and let this one sit. Anyways I replaced the front differential with a used unit from ebay for 175 dollars. The original unit had a hole in the bottom and the input bearing was gone. The shaft was just slinging around. Who knows what happened. I replaced the fluids in the front diff, rear diff, and engine. I also put a brand new carb on it.

This is when I noticed the grinding that everyone is mentioning here. After a lot of frustration, I finally figured out what the problem was. Its a quick fix and only will cost you about 10 dollars to fix it. What you have to do, is get a can of dry lubricant. Comet makes some but is like 25-30 dollars. No thanks, I went to oriellys and got a 5 dollar can of dry lube. Now, you need to take of the CVT cover, and expose the belt drive system. Simply spray the dry lube on all of the contact patches on the clutch, as well as the shaft that the clutches drive on. (mine had a tad bit of rust.) now the key to this is, don't get it on the belt, or the surface where the belt touches, only on the backside and internal parts of the clutch.

After I did this, let it sit, cranked it up and reved it a few times, then repeated 4 times, my mule switches gears without any grinding what so ever. just make sure that you let it dry before you start it, and be careful where you spray.

The problem was that the clutch would not fully disengage when you slowed the engine down to an idle. This lubrication fixed the problem, and a lot of headaches.