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My mower has a 27hp kohler engine. The problem is that it will not start when it is cold. "Unless," I shoot starting fluid into the carb a number of times, then it will finally start and seems to run normally. When I turn it off and let it sit overnight it does the same thing, I crank it over till the cows come home and it will not start until I use starting fluid. Not good for the engine I know!
Any ideas?

Remove the air filter or whatever else is in the way and look at the choke plate as you move the choke lever. The choke plate should close completely. Most engines provide for an adjustable cable. Sometimes the choke looks like it is closing all the way when it actually is still slightly open. Check your engine manual first, but the usual procedure is to move the choke lever to the applied position and hold it there while loosening the cable housing pinch bolt and pulling the housing so the choke closes all the way. I hope that makes sense and if not, ask more questions. This is just a starting point and you may have to dig deeper.

This only applies if it has a fuel pump and a float-type carburetor:

Check to see if the float bowl is leaking. If the float bowl leaks, there is no fuel in the carb for the engine to run on until it's cranked long enough to pump enough fuel to at least partially fill the float chamber.

Lawnranger said:

Remove the air filter or whatever else is in the way and look at the choke plate as you move the choke lever. The choke plate should close completely. Most engines provide for an adjustable cable. Sometimes the choke looks like it is closing all the way when it actually is still slightly open. Check your engine manual first, but the usual procedure is to move the choke lever to the applied position and hold it there while loosening the cable housing pinch bolt and pulling the housing so the choke closes all the way. I hope that makes sense and if not, ask more questions. This is just a starting point and you may have to dig deeper.

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Done! The choke closes fully. Thanks for the response.

cpurvis said:

This only applies if it has a fuel pump and a float-type carburetor:

Check to see if the float bowl is leaking. If the float bowl leaks, there is no fuel in the carb for the engine to run on until it's cranked long enough to pump enough fuel to at least partially fill the float chamber.

Click to expand...

Nope, No leak in the carb. I did disconnect the fuel line and it does seem to be getting fuel to the carb. I also noticed that there seems to be an electric solenoid at the bottom of the carb. do you know anything about that?

Robertt43 said:

Done! The choke closes fully. Thanks for the response.

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P.S. the filter is new, and the fuel was drained and replaced with fresh.

You need to check that out and here's a video to help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr6UayxyVwU

Please post the engine model and spec numbers so we can get a better idea of what fuel system you have.

If the engine runs normally after the cold start like you mentioned in your first post then the anti-afterfire solenoid must be working properly in the first place but go ahead and check it out to make sure it is not sticking intermittently. The symptom you describe leads me to believe that the engine is not getting enough fuel for the initial cold start but enough to run properly when warmed up. Next time the engine is cold, place your hand over the carburetor intake and try starting.

If you remove the carburetor make sure to check the float level.

Robertt43 said:

Nope, No leak in the carb. I did disconnect the fuel line and it does seem to be getting fuel to the carb. I also noticed that there seems to be an electric solenoid at the bottom of the carb. do you know anything about that?

Click to expand...

Nope, I was not aware that it had a solenoid valve. As logan 01 said, it's the prime suspect now.

It must be gummed up and the pull of the solenoid is not strong enough to pull the plunger down without help from the vibration of the engine.

dirty carb? when I bought my Yamaha three wheeler the person who had it before me changed the carb with a Chinese direct replacement one off the internet... the thing would start on one pull every day but only once. if it stalled or I shut it off it would not start again.... even using the electric starter. so I took the carb off and took the jets out and replaced them with the jets from the old carb (glad he kept it and gave it too me) and she fired right up and ran great!

the moral of all this is, if your carb is dirty, it may be restricting gas flow but not enough to keep it running when you finally GET it running... But restricting it enough and making it hard to start the next day because the gas in the carb has evaporated over night? Maybe?

cpurvis said:

Nope, I was not aware that it had a solenoid valve. As logan 01 said, it's the prime suspect now.

It must be gummed up and the pull of the solenoid is not strong enough to pull the plunger down without help from the vibration of the engine.

Click to expand...

Bingo!! Twas the solenoid.. I took it off and cleaned it, tested it , put it back on and Yreka!!! That baby fired right up and runs like a top..

Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction..

Best regards to you all.

Good job. Glad to see you got it squared away.