Anyone work on a Kaw 4010 mule?

Mine has 700 hrs on it. Recently it's been driving me nuts. The idle is critical. Can't be less than 950 and can't be more 1050. I would set idle to 1000 move throttle linkage and return it to idle and sure bet it would go all over. Sometimes so low engine would almost die. Sometimes 2600 rpms. Nothing was consistent at an idle. It would love to idle at 1300, but that was too fast to put it in gear and if you did you might do a burnout.

RPM's are very critical.

So I decided to take throttle plate off and clean it. No sea foam or anything in the world would clean the two throttle plates. First one is mechanical and the second one is computer controlled. The two fuel injectors are very close to intake valves. So no fuel even gets close to throttle plates. I Got throttle plate apart and full of crap. I thought I had found my problem until I got it back together. Same problem, couldn't set the idle. Everytime I let off the gas the idle could be all over the place.

That's when I decided to attach a rubber band and keep a tension on mechanical throttle to make sure it would returns to idle position.

Eurica.

Going to let mule cool off and see how it works when cold.
I love the mule when she is running right and want to shoot her when she is having spells. If rubber band works, I'll be looking for a spring.

Have you had issues with your mule or gator idling correctly? Some gators used the kawasaki fuel injected twin cylinder engine?

When you put the throttle plates back in, did you close them completely as they were tightened to center them in the bore?

The link with the rubber band, could you add some bend to shorten it slightly? Looks like the spring on the throttle shaft is supposed to close it.

I will add checking for vacuum leaks. I have run into this one engines with lose throttle body mounting bolts and this type of thing. It causes erratic fuel air mixtures at low speeds. So the fuel injection is getting faulty information to work with.

I worked on a neighbors Mule with the same exact problem as you describe! It was driving me NUTS! The problem was in the linkage. A little arm in the linkage that changes the direction 90 degrees had a nylon bushing and a shim washer for the pivot. when i disconnected that from the rest of the linkage i could feel drag. I ended up taking the shim washer out and it now returns to idle every time! She told me the other day that it runs like it should now! I was getting ready to put a spring on to make a more powerful return to idle but decided to try other possibilities first as there are springs pulling both ways in that linkage.

Andy,
Thanks for your reply. I thought I was on the right track
Where is the shim washer you are talking about. Is the shim located on the throttle body where the bent rod attaches to the mechanical throttle and the coil spring is located. Or is the shim under the large 13mm nut on top that connects the throttle cable from gas pedal?

Thanks again. It's nice to talk to someone with experience working on the mule.

Years ago I had a 1985 1200 goldwing. It was honda's first attempt at fuel injection. I had similar issues. Had to attach a spring to make sure the 4 throttle plates returned to the idle position. And frequently I had to use carb cleaner to clean throttle plates. Honda had 4 screws you would remove to clean plates. I also had to use vacuum gauges to insure both sides of engine had the same intake vacuum.

It's sad to say that the mechanics at my local dealer are just kids that have little experience, yet they charge $150 an hour for the kids to learn how to repair your problems. The kids are parts hangers.

Solved some of that problem gots a '06 RTV 900 K'bota.