engine replacement on Gravely

16 years ago

Have an old Gravely 1238H 38"deck Hydro (looks like new and built like a tank). It came with a Kaw 460v 12.5 Hp engine. The integral valve seats burned and the engine is useless. I was able to get a Kaw FC420V-HS17-01 which is a 14HP complete replacement engine. It has the same mounting dimensions and shaft. The muffler placement is slightly different and the physical size is a little different but it will physically fit. Can I use the 14HP engine with the same electrical system that came with the original 12.5HP. I.E. just carefully reconnect to new engine. . . or are ignition systems, etc., different on engines and unique to their own specific electrical system. This 14 Hp Kaw was used on the JD 170 and LX176 and may have been used on some gravely models. Are there universal wiring diagrams? I have the Gravely wiring diagram for the old engine. I want to use this smaller tractor as a back up and especially to scoot around heavy treed or landscaped areas. Your help would be appreciated.

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Comments (5)

bill_kapaun
16 years ago
I would go to the link below and then compare your 2 engines re: electrical.

You can see if they are equipped with the same componants-(maybe even the same part#'s???)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link Below
richard48367
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Bill . . . I tried to cross reference the parts for both engines FB460V BS16 and FC420V S17 and in comparing the main items like voltage regulator, coil ignition . . they have different item numbers and noticed the FB460V has an IGNITER. . . which is not shown on the FC420V. So I would say they are not the same parts platform. I wonder if JD shows an electrical diagram for the L170 and LX176 which have the FC420V engine? Hate to have to design an electical system for this engine. Don't know if I can do that. A lot of commonality in design though.
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richard48367
Original Author
16 years ago
Ugggg Looked in the dusty box that the engine was in and there was a owners manual for the engine which includes a wiring diagram for the engine. I can figure out the lighting circuit. Totally different from the old engine. Guess I wasted about 3 hours learning the Kawasaki, Gravely sites. The John Deere site is dealer oriented, so you really can't look up anything there except filters, etc. Totally different from the Consumer friendly sites.
bill_kapaun
16 years ago
I'm not seeing that-
I'm looking at
FB460V-S16
and
FC420V-S17

Am I looking at the wrong "old" engine?
If so, paste the link
richard48367
Original Author
16 years ago
Bill . . . Right after you sent the posting, I went to the KAWA site and pulled up the parts diagrams for the 2 models. At first glance, they had the same "reference" number on the diagram for both. But when I scrolled down to the actual item numbers, they had added a 4 digit number on the reference number for the complete part. These item numbers were different for the 2 engine model numbers. However, if you compared engine models of the same generation like a 420 and a 541 (15Hp) then there was some commonality between those item part numbers. So when Kawa introduced a new engine line, they redesigned and upgraded the discrete components. I think the electrical components on the 2 engines are completely different. By the way, that Kawa website is the best I've seen. They know how to do it.

engine replacement on Gravely

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engine replacement on Gravely

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