Backfire and shut down

Need assistance in troubleshooting please. 25+ year old simplicity lawn tractor with a kohler engine. Never given me much trouble.

Yesterday, I was cutting the lawn and it backfired once, and died. Couldn't get it started again.

My plan is to replace carburetor, plug and air filter today. Hoping this will fix the problem.

Any thoughts?

I guess you can throw parts at it until you find the one that fixes it. I would find out why it won't start. Does it have compression fire fuel at the right time? Model type and code of the engine.

Remove the plug to check compression and spin over to clear excessive fuel. Doesn't sound like a carb problem, more like valves or sheared key, though that's rare on a rider. Check valve adjustment before replacing carb, but spray cleaner in carb throat, if it starts with spray, replace carb.

Teostena said:

Need assistance in troubleshooting please. 25+ year old simplicity lawn tractor with a kohler engine. Never given me much trouble.

Yesterday, I was cutting the lawn and it backfired once, and died. Couldn't get it started again.

My plan is to replace carburetor, plug and air filter today. Hoping this will fix the problem.

Any thoughts?

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Hello Teostena,

Welcome to the forum.

We need the engine label information to determine what design the engine is. Kohler is just a brand. The rider manufacturer label information is also important so we can better assist you.

Slow down, put the "parts cannon" aside for the moment. Work smarter and not harder. I do not recommend any parts until you can perform some basic checks. At 25 years old, it may be a simple problem or open up a whole new world of possibilities. Throwing new parts at a problem like this often creates confusion and frustration.

Three basics all engines need to run: Air, Fuel and spark. The trick is to figure out which is missing.

Does the engine crank over good and sound normal?

Begin with the air cleaner, is it choked up full of dust and dirt?

Is it out of fuel? (Sounds silly, but it does happen)

Remove the spark plug(s) and inspect it/them for condition. A picture would help if you can take one of the threaded end(s) where the electrode is and attach the photo with your reply.