Kawasaki Mule 4010 won't start

[Complete Turf Care]

I have a 2016 Mule that won't start. It was just fine yesterday when I parked it in the shop. It turns over just fine, but won't start.

I pulled one of the plug wires off and got a good spark when cranking.

I pulled a fuel line off where it connects to the injectors and it pumped lots of fuel when I turned the key on.

I even gave it a small shot of starting fluid at the air filter and nothing happened.

I'm thinking that something electronic is not letting it start. Anyone have any ideas? I'm headed to the deer camp first thing in the morning, and I sure would like to have my mule with me.

 

[ruffdog]

Hmmm. It ran fine yesterday, it is in your shop, now it doesn't even try to start although it does crank over. At least a mouse nest plugged intake/exhaust would run a short time. You have spark and fuel getting to injectors. About the only thing would be a safety switch...maybe...that is keeping the injectors from squirting? Is there something that won't let it start like being in gear? oil level? overheat?

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Hmmm. It ran fine yesterday, it is in your shop, now it doesn't even try to start although it does crank over. At least a mouse nest plugged intake/exhaust would run a short time. You have spark and fuel getting to injectors. About the only thing would be a safety switch...maybe...that is keeping the injectors from squirting? Is there something that won't let it start like being in gear? oil level? overheat?

I'm thinking the same thing that you are thinking. Something is not letting fuel to the injectors. I did pull one of the spark plugs and poured a few drops of gas into the cylinder, and it did fire a bit. That tells me that no fuel is getting into the cylinders.

It has to be something electronic. But I just don't know where to look. I couldn't find anything on YouTube or a Google search. I don't have a shop manual for this machine either.

It's not in gear or anything, and the oil is full. I don't know of any other safety switches, but there may be something.

 

[ruffdog]

Maybe disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes to reset the ECU?

 

[grsthegreat]

Is there a fuse out? I have a 2012 4010 and there are a few fuse assemblies on mine

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I went out to the shop and disconnected the battery. That didn't change anything.

I'm thinking it may be a relay. I'll try to change it next week.

Looking at the parts diagram, this is the relay that controls the injectors.

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[jwmorris]

Sounds like a “noid light” for that injector plug would be handy.

 

[ruffdog]

I remember testing injector signal way back in the 80s on kawasakis but that was a long time ago.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Just to update everyone on this, it is fixed.

It ended up being a broken wire between the ECM (electronic control module) and the injectors.

I thought it would be the injector relay, so we pushed it on to my trailer and I stopped at a Kawasaki shop on my way to the deer camp. We changed the relay and nothing. So I asked their mechanic to look at it and he was puzzled for a good while. He did use a 'noid tool' to find out that there was no power to the injectors.

He found that there was power going into the ECM but no power getting to the injectors. He had a used ECM at his house and would fix it Saturday morning, so I left the mule at the shop and headed to the camp. Later Friday afternoon, the shop called and said it was fixed and ready.

I headed back to get it and the mechanic had decided to do more testing. He found that the wire going to the injectors was broken somewhere in the wiring harness. So, he spliced the wire close to the ECM, and re-spliced it close to the injectors and it worked!

So, my cost for this repair was about $360 for 3 hours of mechanic plus about $60 for the relay that didn't work.

This mechanic was good. It could have cost a lot more if we would have had to change the ECM or the wiring harness.

 

[jwmorris]

It could have cost a lot more if we would have had to change the ECM or the wiring harness.

Not to mention, at some point the ECM will be obsolete...at least it’s new enough that obtaining a new one is possible.