The Mule is Done! Toasty bearing! Engine Swap Next?

Hey guys! The Mule finally gave up the ghost. I had noticed a massive oil leak shortly after I made the oil seal repair video and had to park it until now. I priced the new 620 for this Mule, but it is pretty expensive for what it is. We are debating either a 459 predator or a 670 predator. I'll watch for another 620, but it looks like a swap is coming!
(I meant 3010 Mule, but they share the same engine as the 4000 series)

[@takeshi1702]

Aloha, I finally finished my 4010 rebuild and everything is running good except the cooling system, it did the same thing as yours leaking into the block. Changed all the gaskets and now it’s holding coolant but it’s not cooling the engine, doesn’t seem to be flowing through the engine? Radiator is still cold after I take it for a spin. Do you think it’s air locked? I haven’t pressurized the system yet. But it holds coolant with no leaks. Water pump is spinning freely. Any idea what it could be? Mahalo for your time 🤙

[@greenhillgarage]

That's a tough one, I had an ATV that I did for a customer who had rebuilt their own engine but had no coolant flow. I found that they had left their coolant lines open during the rebuild, and a mouse had crawed into one of the lines to drink the sweet antifreeze and had died in the line. The customer couldn't see it, so they put everything together and had no flow. Aside from rodents, a rag or thermostat could be clogging the system. These engines don't flow a lot of coolant, so you might not be able to tell just by looking in the radiator. If you have a temp gun, you can see what the engine block temperature is. Anything under 200 degrees is normal. Another easy way to tell if you have flow is to touch the hose going to the radiator and see if it is hot. If it doesn't seem hot, but the engine is, then it's plugged. There is a bleed screw on the line coming to the engine from the radiator, unscrew this, and make sure coolant comes out. Let me know if any of these options work, and I can dig my motor out to find anything else that might be a problem. Mahalo, brother!

[@barntech2291]

Have you considered a jet ski motor?

[@greenhillgarage]

😂 Honestly, I would take any motor that would fit! I was thinking how much power a snowmobile engine would have, but I don't think the Mule has a strong enough transmission.

[@billysantiesteban4199]

Just polish the crank and press in a new bearing with some loctite. Fd620 Kawasaki motor definitely superior to any predator trash you can find at your local Hobo Freight. Don’t give up.

[@palpinter4204]

I had a similar issue with my mule. But with the other side case . And that side dont even have a bearing.... terrible design

[@greenhillgarage]

It could have been a lot better! You can definitely tell that some aspects of this engine were built for cost reduction rather than durability.