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Kawasaki builds a number of F-series V-twin engines for the lawn care segment. These engines can be found on lawn and garden tractors and mowers including zero turn, wide-area walk-behind, and stand-on varieties. In addition, Kawasaki F-series engines support everything from the light residential market, to every-day-use commercial lawn care use. If buying American-made products is important to you, Kawasaki builds lawn mower engines in the central U.S. state of Missouri. Kawasaki began its Missouri-based production efforts in Maryville, MO, in 1989 with the FC150V walk-behind mower engine. Kawasaki opened another engine facility in Boonville, MO, roughly 150 miles to the southeast, to keep up with demand.
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Kawasaki FR engines are designed and marketed for the residential market, a segment largely powered by Kawasaki and Kohler lawn mower engines. With that in mind, some concessions to quality are likely made in an attempt to keep costs down. Overall, for the price point, owners report satisfaction with the Kawasaki FR engines found on the lawn mowers they’ve purchased. Although, like most things with tires, both Kohler and Kawasaki lawn mower engines have fans and haters.
Personal opinions aside, the Kawasaki FR engines are not without flaws. Kawasaki Engines issued Recall Notice RP230415 on October 26, 2023, for “about 949” of its 2023 model year FR engines. The recall includes FR651V, FR691V, and FR730V V-twin engines used by Ariens, Gravely, Husqvarna, John Deere, and Redmax brand mowers. The issue — a potentially damaged fuel tube that could lead to a fire — should be repaired before further use.
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What are the most common Kawasaki FR engine issues?
Red, a self-proclaimed “small engine tech” on the My Tractor Forum with 8,690 posts since joining the page in 2006, prefers the 7000-series Kohler to the Kawasaki FR engine. Red’s summation is that the Kawasaki FR air filter design, easily broken plastic covers, loosening rocker arms, valve guide problems, and failed starters are among the worst problems.
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Reddit user Rotor100 experienced problems with the starter gear and found a replacement on a Kawasaki FR691V engine with 200 hours on it. While Rotor100 had to buy a new complete starter rather than just the gear, another Redditor, ExistingIdea5, found a replacement starter for the same engine on Amazon. A quick Amazon search returned a complete FR691V starter priced at $37.99 with free shipping and returns for Prime members.
Bubbatime, an “armchair quarterback,” joined the Bob is the Oil Guy forum in 2008 and has 6,638 messages posted there. While Bubbatime doesn’t think opting for the Kawasaki FR provides a significant advantage over the 7000-series Kohler for a mower used sparingly, given the choice, they’d still choose “Kawasaki over Kohler 100% of the time.”
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How many different FR engines does Kawasaki make?
Kawasaki lists four different FR engines online with model names, including the FR730V, FR691V, FR651V, and FR600V. Kawasaki FR engines are best suited for use on lawn and garden tractors and zero-turn mowers. While they are all air-cooled vertical-shaft 90-degree V-twin designs suitable for residential usage totaling one to three hours per week, they vary in power output from 18 horsepower up to 24. For reference, the FX1000V EFI is the most powerful Kawasaki F-series V-twin with its 32.9 horsepower rating.
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The smallest Kawasaki FR engine, the FR600V, tips the scales at 80.9 pounds dry and provides 18.0 horsepower at 3,600 rpm and 32.3 pound-feet of torque at 2,200 rpm from its 603 cubic-centimeter displacement. The other three FR engines weigh in at 88.2 pounds dry and use the same 726 cc displacement. Only 2.5 horsepower separates the 21.5-hp FR651V, 23.0-hp FR691V, and 24.0-hp FR730V Kawasaki FR engines.
Why Kawasaki FR engines?
We chose to explore Kawasaki FR engine reliability because they are frequently used to power some of the most popular riding lawn mowers on the market. We looked into applicable recalls and scoured message boards for pertinent information to bring you the opinions of owners and small engine technicians to help anyone shopping for a new mower make an informed decision.
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