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Bad boy outlaw extreme with the 850 Kawasaki engine shuts off after 60 seconds of engaging the PTO. Replaced battery, replaced fuel filter, cleaned air filter. Replaced a bad PTO switch. Jumped out all the switches, does not matter if jumped out. Ran the mower in idle for several hours and its runs fine. As soon as the PTO is engaged I can mow for about 1 minute before it dies. Also popped off the gas vents, still dies. This is repeatable

Also, the mower is slow to start. Takes 20 plus second of cranking before it starts

Beyond my expertise, any help would be great. I just ordered new plugs, and genuine Kawasaki fuel filter, and air filter, and will replace those when they arrive.

It isn't the plugs. I think you have a fuel problem. Clean the carb and make sure the choke is working, your problem should go away.

Joed756 said:

It isn't the plugs. I think you have a fuel problem. Clean the carb and make sure the choke is working, your problem should go away.

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I will replace the fuel and take the carb out and clean it to see if it makes a different. Very odd to me that it seems to run for about the same time before cutting off

Likely the needle valve is stuck open causing the engine to flood over time. Fix that carb and life will be flowers and rainbows.

I also think it may be a fuel problem, but disagree about a rich running condition. More like a lean running condition where the carb cannot supply enough fuel when the PTO is engaged. A good cleaning and rebuild may help you out.

I agree with @Rivets I am suspecting a fuel restriction between the tank and carb or possibly a bad fuel pump that is just not allowing enough fuel to keep up with higher engine loads, but enough to maintain fuel for idle/no load. basically the carb bowl is running out of fuel with the deck engaged.

ILENGINE said:

I agree with @Rivets I am suspecting a fuel restriction between the tank and carb or possibly a bad fuel pump that is just not allowing enough fuel to keep up with higher engine loads, but enough to maintain fuel for idle/no load. basically the carb bowl is running out of fuel with the deck engaged.

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Thank you.
How can I test my Fuel pump on Kawasaki FD731 26HP ?

The simpliest method for you would be to disconnect the fuel line at the carb, or at the pump and then put a piece of fuel line in its place. Stick the open end into a container and have somebody crank the engine while you observe the fuel being pumped You should have a pulsating stream coming out of the hose that is the fuel diameter of the hose. If it trinkles out or otherwise seems slow it could be suspect providing you are getting fuel flow from the tank and not have a restriction.

If you have good flow then it is time to go into the carb. Pay special attention to the float valve seat. I have had several over the years were garbage builds up above the seat causing an inflow restriction.

ILENGINE said:

The simpliest method for you would be to disconnect the fuel line at the carb, or at the pump and then put a piece of fuel line in its place. Stick the open end into a container and have somebody crank the engine while you observe the fuel being pumped You should have a pulsating stream coming out of the hose that is the fuel diameter of the hose. If it trinkles out or otherwise seems slow it could be suspect providing you are getting fuel flow from the tank and not have a restriction.

If you have good flow then it is time to go into the carb. Pay special attention to the float valve seat. I have had several over the years were garbage builds up above the seat causing an inflow restriction.

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Thank you. Sometimes I just can't see the dollar for the dime. Lol if you know what I'm saying .

Took the carb apart and cleaned everything out. I will try to run the mower tomorrow and see if it improves. Refilled gas tanks with non ethanol fuel. I did not see any obvious obstructions in the carb but we will see what happens when i try it tomorrow.

ILENGINE said:

The simpliest method for you would be to disconnect the fuel line at the carb, or at the pump and then put a piece of fuel line in its place. Stick the open end into a container and have somebody crank the engine while you observe the fuel being pumped You should have a pulsating stream coming out of the hose that is the fuel diameter of the hose. If it trinkles out or otherwise seems slow it could be suspect providing you are getting fuel flow from the tank and not have a restriction.

If you have good flow then it is time to go into the carb. Pay special attention to the float valve seat. I have had several over the years were garbage builds up above the seat causing an inflow restriction.

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I will try this if the carb cleaning failed to resolve the issue when testing tomorrow

Cleaning the carb was not the solution. I did pull the fuel hose off and cranked the engine. The fuel flow seemed very slow but I don't know what it is supposed to be.

Replace fuel pump?

Sweatdog said:

Cleaning the carb was not the solution. I did pull the fuel hose off and cranked the engine. The fuel flow seemed very slow but I don't know what it is supposed to be.

Replace fuel pump?

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Should be a fairly consistent 1/4 inch stream coming out of the fuel pump when cranking. Dribbling out or very irratic could signal either a fuel pump problem, or an issue with the vacuum pulse line that moves the pump diaphragm or a fuel flow restriction from any place from the fuel pump intake to the outlet of the fuel tank.

Also check for any fuel restrictions as mentioned above, such as: fuel pickup in tank clogged, fuel filter clogged, pinched fuel line, fuel tank cap vent plugged, etc.

Sometimes it's the simplest things that go wrong. Look for the most obvious solution again. Does your mower have a second fuel filter? My JD mower has a line filter near the tank and a canister-type filter near the engine. My line filter clogs (grass and dirt - don't know how that got in the tank) and the engine lugs down or dies when I start mowing - especially if I am going uphill. A new line filter always fixes it.

ghielscher said:

Sometimes it's the simplest things that go wrong. Look for the most obvious solution again. Does your mower have a second fuel filter? My JD mower has a line filter near the tank and a canister-type filter near the engine. My line filter clogs (grass and dirt - don't know how that got in the tank) and the engine lugs down or dies when I start mowing - especially if I am going uphill. A new line filter always fixes it.

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I don't believe it does. I will take a closer look. The fuel pump should be in today so i will update progress tonight

Check the tip of the anti-fire solenoid. I've seen a couple rubber tips get soft and swell. Blocks fuel past it. You can cut tip off for troubleshooting.

appears to have some success. Changed the fuel, pump and the rate of fuel increased significantly. Mowed for about 5 minutes without issues before the mosquitos got the best of me. Will be running it for several hours tomorrow hopefully. Thank you everyone for the help.

It is a shame you bought all those parts, at least i hope you saved the old ones. Sure, you have a fuel problem of gas starvation under load. Hope cleaning and not replacing fixed it. I assume new fresh gas and that hoses and old gas were removed and hoses blown out so that gas is not a consideration any more.

the fuel system has a supply side (everything from tank to pump) and the pressure side (pump to engine). Often we forget to look at the supply side. I've seen a ton of mowers with dirt/grass inside the tank which plugs the pickup tube, have seen a bunch of bad boys that had trash from the tank plug up the little tee between the tanks too. And quite a few with the old "liner" fuel line which disintegrates and plugs up everything (first gen epa compatible fuel line....JUNK). So don't forget fuel restrictions pre-pump.

on some of the outlaws i had issues with the relays under the RH side control panel. Again, whoever bad boy contracts with for the wiring harnesses, needs to have their head examined. That relay center is nonserviceable on a lot of them so if one relay goes south, you have to buy an entire harness. Dumb! But it makes it less expensive for them to build mowers, so....