Help on a 425 mower

[IH Guy]

Question. I appear to be getting oil in my radiator on my Kawasaki liquid cooled motor. Not antifreeze in the oil, oil in the antifreeze. It was also running on the hot side. I had a mechanic put new head gaskets on it thinking that was the problem. Flushed the system with water. Started it up and it runs fine but there is still what appears to be oil in the radiator, making me question if it is fixed and just dealing with residue or is it still leaking. Is there anywhere else oil could be getting in? No oil cooler on this model. Is there something I could use to Get a better flush on the system? Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[J Hamilton]

Just using water won't get the oil residue out. There are products out there to flush with. Or just use a solution with either dish soap, simple green or vinegar. Fill the system and run it for a while, get it up to normal temp, then drain and rinse with plain water a few times until it runs out clean.

 

[4520BW]

It will take several times flushing to get the oil out. Try some dish washer soap, it does not foam up like regular soap.

 

[matthies]

CAT recommends Dawn dishwasher soap to clean their engines when this happens. BUT make sure it is dissolved before putting in the radiator/engine, as it with cake up and cause blockage if just pouring the powder in.

 

[LarrySTN]

I have repaired several of the Kawasaki FD (liquid cooled) Kawasaki's and have yet to see the head gasket cause oil in the coolant. The water pump has been at fault in the engines I have repaired. There is an o-ring in the water pump impeller that fails. The water pump seal should also be replaced. These engines have all been higher hour units. The cap screw holding the impeller to the shaft is left hand thread. I have a Kawasaki engine certified repair shop.