26 HP Kohler Courage on Craftsman DGS 6500, intermittent surging

[GPB]

But my "kneejerk" opinion on your problem, makes me think that you have some moisture/dirty water slinking around in your fuel system. I would run some fuel dry and
mow until something serious may happen, otherwise, just burn that moisture through the system.

I think you are correct with this being a fuel issue. I ran it near empty on fuel at the end of the week, drained the rest out and purged some fresh gas through the lines up to the carb. Then refueled and ran it for 6+ hours this weekend (with hood on), and had only one short episode of power loss right at the start. Maybe getting that first few gallons of new fuel thorugh it and/or seafoam purged the 'funk' out of the fuel system. I think I am going to put the guts back into the solenoid and keep running. Plenty of leaves/pine needles to pick up with the lawn vac pull behind attachment.

Also replaced the brake pucks so no more roller coaster rides down the hill!

Thanks all for the advice and Fish for the info on the ignition update.

 

[Fish]

Yeah, those little pockets of water/moisture can haunt for quite a while. I usually add the gas dry liberally, and just mow, and hit the choke when the thing starts running "squirrelly"... After a few mowings of doing that, all of the moisture is burned through, and the mower runs good for the rest of the year.....

 

[cambre]

Yeah, those little pockets of water/moisture can haunt for quite a while. I usually add the gas dry liberally, and just mow, and hit the choke when the thing starts running "squirrelly"... After a few mowings of doing that, all of the moisture is burned through, and the mower runs good for the rest of the year.....

Not my thread Fish:Cambre

 

[Fish]

But my "kneejerk" opinion on your problem, makes me think that you have some moisture/dirty water slinking around in your fuel system. I would run some fuel dry and
mow until something serious may happen, otherwise, just burn that moisture through the system.

Yeah, but it was "our" thread...

 

[Fish]

For better results, start your own thread. Makes more sense, and a whole lot less confusing, eh?

 

[cambre]

Yeah, but it was "our" thread...

OK, my mistake, sorry:Cambre

 

[Fish]

No problem, This site is so huge and dozens of nooks and crannies to make posts, I find it hard to keep up with them all. Way too many different categories. and way too
much overlapping.

 

[GPB]

Your ignition system looks to be getting into new, expensive territory........

http://www.smallenginesuppliers.com/html/engine-specs/kohler/PB-259_DSAI_MDI_IGNITION.pdf

Well, the surging came back after a good while of working fine. Now its just low power and I see The right side has no spark. I've cleaned the leads/contacts on the ignition and nothing. Upon closer look, the sealant on the top of the failed ignition is cracked a bit. That's enough of a cause to me. Looks like I should convert to the MDI ignition at this point unless anyone has other direction.

 

[GPB]

Well the MDI conversion kit came yesterday, installed in a few minutes and its running like a charm. Looking at the DSMI that I removed on the side that was firing intermittently, it was more cracked than it appeared and the coating material would actually flap open so quite exposed. I have the other side DSMI that is working if anyone doesn't want to convert quite yet, let me know:smile: