I just upgraded to a new 2009 Mule 4010 Trans 4x4. I am impressed with the way it's built. It is a little slower than I had hoped, but my main concern is that new out of the box it surges like it's running out of gas. I was told by Kawasaki that it is the governor and that after a few hours use, it should self-adjust. It only has about 10 hours on it at the moment, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem with the new fuel injected Mule?
Thanks,
Jim

 

Update: I transported my new Trans 4X4 Mule to Lubbock Family PowerSports on Tuesday, 09/30/08, where I have had great prior service and have a high level of confidence in their integrity. The service rep and I drove my unit and a new single seat Mule. Both surged, though my heavier unit was more noticable. On contact with the Kawasaki Factory, they advised there is no governor on the fuel injected 2009 Mule and that the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) is merely providing a governing function where it accelerates, then corrects.

I intend to continue pursuit of a cure. The surge is noticable and aggravating. Other brands that I have been able to test drive do not exhibit the problem that I am experiencing. Kawasaki will eventually receive enough complaints that it will be forced to remedy the problem. I am concerned that once out from under warranty, they will refuse to honor the repair. (This post is intended to document the problem on a new 4010 Trans 4x4 Mule with 8 hours of service.

More to come..... Jim

 

I bought a new trans 4 4010 in early october.....it does the samething when you push the pedal all the way down....I was kinda disappointed that it done that, however, I love the everything else about it. I just wish it had a fuel gauge on it.

 

I agree about the fuel guage. The guage under the seat is inconvenient and I ran out of gas soon after I bought the Mule. I've learned to fill the tank when the hour guage hits a 5 hour mark. Mine will generally run about 8 hours before running out of gas.

I contacted Kawasaki Motors, who said the governor causes the surge and that it's normal. They told me if it was really bad to work with the dealership... The dealership says, "Sorry, but that's the way it's designed"!

Jim

 

me and my wife purchased a 2009 mule 4010 trans and i noticed it was surging when pressing the pedal to the floor.im gonna send kawasaki an email.im kinda mad about it.

 

I have not had the same problem with the fuel injection. But I do have a problem similar to that. I did not buy my mule for speed but it is slower than I expected. Top speed is 24 MPH downhill with a tail wind. As with most of you, I was told it was a built in factory problem that was electronicly set. I am sure the engine is capabile of higher speeds without changing the gearing, but I have no idea of how to adjust it. I would like to get approximately 35 MPH. If anyone could help, I would appreciate it.

 

Yeah I know this is a 10 year old thread, but google searching found it...and it needs to be updated.

The federal government mandates that certain things be done to vehicles (including Mules) that go faster than 25mph. So, in order for the "little" mules to get around these mandates is to govern the speed back to 24mph or less, which is easily achieved electronically (EFI) or with a mechanical governor (carburetor models). Bypassing them is on you. If you would like to do it, figure out how and post it up--especially the EFI models, of which to my knowledge do not have any sort of aftermarket support to my knowledge (chips, etc). Besides, on the 4010's there's no sense in doing it as the engine will only support about 4500 RPM before it goes into valve float. That's 500 RPM higher than the factory EFI governed speed. 500 RPM will get you about 2 mph more with the way the gearing is set up. 2mph is nothing.

The top speed surge is normal. It is the ECU compensating for speed changes. It is inconvenient and makes you question it, but they all do it and it IS considered normal operation for this engine.