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I bought a TX for my wife this year and it has 32.8 hours on the clock. She started complaining about a week ago that the Gator was getting hard to start and the engine was miss-firing. So, I pulled the plugs and found them fouled…the rear plug was wet with gas and causing the miss-fire. I checked the oil level and noticed it smelled heavily from gas contamination and even noticed the level was higher on the dipstick than after the 8 hour break-in oil change. Since the Gator is still in warranty, I contacted my selling JD dealer and he said fouled plugs were common when the Gator is not run hard enough to keep them clean. Well, my wife doesn't baby her TX and never had a problem like this with her previous Gators ( a CX and TS over the last 7 years). Today, the Gator didn't want to start at all. So, I pulled the plugs again, after only 1 hour of use, and found them fouled again.
Anticipating the run-around from my dealer, I decided to call a friend who retired from the OEM engine manufacturer to see if he was familiar with the problem…he indicated that it is more common than most realize. He said JD won't let Kawasaki address any concerns with consumers even though it is "their" engine. My only recourse is to work it out with my dealer. Since we are friends, he did say to consider using a different spark plug manufacturer since the NGK standard plug JD uses is prone to fouling in the Gator…his advice: pay particular attention to the design of the center electrode (Autolite and Denso were suggested). He also thought the problem with the wife's TX is probably high fuel levels in the 2bbl carb that is "washing" into the intake. The dealer may need to replace the carb or at least replace the needle and float. Lastly, he recommended checking the coils to ensure their output is up to spec for firing the plugs, but doubts that they have failed.
Now that I have done some homework on the problem, I want to see if any others on this forum have had a similar experience and how (or if) the problem was solved? I suspect this issue would exist on any JD Gator with a Kaw engine (w/carb). Thanks.
Anticipating the run-around from my dealer, I decided to call a friend who retired from the OEM engine manufacturer to see if he was familiar with the problem…he indicated that it is more common than most realize. He said JD won't let Kawasaki address any concerns with consumers even though it is "their" engine. My only recourse is to work it out with my dealer. Since we are friends, he did say to consider using a different spark plug manufacturer since the NGK standard plug JD uses is prone to fouling in the Gator…his advice: pay particular attention to the design of the center electrode (Autolite and Denso were suggested). He also thought the problem with the wife's TX is probably high fuel levels in the 2bbl carb that is "washing" into the intake. The dealer may need to replace the carb or at least replace the needle and float. Lastly, he recommended checking the coils to ensure their output is up to spec for firing the plugs, but doubts that they have failed.
Now that I have done some homework on the problem, I want to see if any others on this forum have had a similar experience and how (or if) the problem was solved? I suspect this issue would exist on any JD Gator with a Kaw engine (w/carb). Thanks.
