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Mule 3010 Valve Adjustment

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26K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  lwmcguir  
Z
#1 ·
Hello,I'm new to the list and have some questions. I work for Tony Stewart Racing and we have 4 3010 Mules that were transformed into Pit Carts. 3 of our Mules seem to be very "cold natured" in that they have very poor low throttle response. General consensus is that they need valve adjusment. Here is the problem. The cabinetry that is mounted to these Mules renders it impossible to get to the valve train. Anyone here have any experience adjusting the valves from underneath the vehicle? What are the specifications for clearance on the 3010 valves? The Mules are awsome vehicles for our application, but now 3 of the 4 don't run real well at low throttle. Seems to take forever for them to "warm" up. Possibly the carbs need to be disassembled and cleaned? Any good advise is appreciated.
 
R
#2 ·
Never tried to adjust one from the bottom up, someone would have to be pretty small to reach up and be able to do the job.

The settings are "cold" and .25 mm for both exhaust and intake valves.

These engines are very sensitive to valve clearance and pretty much require annual valve adjustment because of the length of the push rods, and cylinder design, and how they react to expansion and contraction as they are started and stopped.

However, low end stumbling and being very cold natured is almost always a combination of dirty pilot fuel circuits and a need to richen the pilot jets. The EPA approval process has resulted in OEM installation of lean pilot jets, and they become very hard starting and cold blooded once they get a bit of fuel gum buildup.
 
Z
#4 ·
Found the panel that give access to the top of the engine. Have rebuilt the carb and opened up the pilot jets which were 80%-90% blocked. Runs much better now but still is somewhat cold natured. After it is warmed up, it runs pretty good. The stock pilot jet had a .016 inch opening. I opened them up to .018 inch. Engine seems to like the mod. I'm going to try the next Mule with .020 pilot jets and see how well they work.
Started working on the second Mule which also runs like crap only to find that the pilot jets had no blockage. Thoroughly cleaned and blew air through the pilot circuit and all seems AOK. Also checked the valve lash which seems to be very close the the .25 mm spec. Actually they are within .04 mm on the tight side. I wouldn't think that the valves being tight (.001 inch) would make a big difference in idle quality?
 
Z
#5 ·
UPDATE. Opened up the pilot jets to .020 from .016. Readjusted the valves from their tight condition. (Tight by .001-.002 inch) Put it all back together and the crew chief says the thing didn't run this good when brand new. Idles smoothly and goes into gear with no stall. Going to go back to the first unit I modified and modify it again to include the .020 pilot jets and readjust the valves.
 
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