Craftsman Y4000

[Anna_T]

My Craftsman riding mower is a Y4000, and it is about 2 years old. Within the past three weeks, when I mow, I can only mow for about 25 minutes before the engine starts sputtering, ultimately dying if I try to engage the blades. Today I changed the oil, the oil filter, the air filter, the fuel filter, and one of the spark plugs (my fault, I only bought one, so I did what I could until I can get the second one). I started mowing again, and after about 25-30 minutes, it did the same thing.

What else do I need to check or replace?

 

[X-man]

My Craftsman riding mower is a Y4000, and it is about 2 years old. Within the past three weeks, when I mow, I can only mow for about 25 minutes before the engine starts sputtering, ultimately dying if I try to engage the blades. Today I changed the oil, the oil filter, the air filter, the fuel filter, and one of the spark plugs (my fault, I only bought one, so I did what I could until I can get the second one). I started mowing again, and after about 25-30 minutes, it did the same thing.

What else do I need to check or replace?

I believe you mean it's a YT4000

Could be possible that you're using stale gas or your carburetor needs to be cleaned. Just a guess.

 

[Anna_T]

I believe you mean it's a YT4000

Could be possible that you're using stale gas or your carburetor needs to be cleaned. Just a guess.

Yes, good catch X-Man. It is a YT4000 since it is a riding mower. I thought about the carburetor, but I'll be honest...I'm not sure where it is. I was prepared to clean it today, too, (had WD40 ready, a soft toothbrush, and everything), but the close I looked, the more nervous I got. When I followed the fuel line back towards the engine, I saw two things I thought it could be: (1) a small disk-shaped housing that (2) ran through a small metal box. I wasn't sure if the carburetor was in the plastic-looking black circular housing, or the metal box. And, I was running out of daylight.

I'm not sure if the gas is 100% gas, but I'm not doing anything different than I have in the last two years. So...I'm liking your carburetor idea a bit better than the gas. Any idea about which of those two things is the carburetor??

 

[X-man]

Yes, good catch X-Man. It is a YT4000 since it is a riding mower. I thought about the carburetor, but I'll be honest...I'm not sure where it is. I was prepared to clean it today, too, (had WD40 ready, a soft toothbrush, and everything), but the close I looked, the more nervous I got. When I followed the fuel line back towards the engine, I saw two things I thought it could be: (1) a small disk-shaped housing that (2) ran through a small metal box. I wasn't sure if the carburetor was in the plastic-looking black circular housing, or the metal box. And, I was running out of daylight.

I'm not sure if the gas is 100% gas, but I'm not doing anything different than I have in the last two years. So...I'm liking your carburetor idea a bit better than the gas. Any idea about which of those two things is the carburetor??

Typically the carburetor is under or behind the air filter so I would suggest looking around there. Now when it comes to cleaning the carburetor you wanna use carburetor/throttle body cleaner because WD40 is just a lubricant, plus WD40 is water-based. I'm not sure how hard it is to remove the carburetor because I've never cleaned my carburetor before, but my guess it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[taxidermist]

I think you are losing spark from one of your coils. Usually a heat related problem like you are having.

Rob

 

[X-man]

I think you are losing spark from one of your coils. Usually a heat related problem like you are having.

Rob

That's another thing I was thinking was the spark. Maybe the heat from the engine is causing it to mess up?

 

[Anna_T]

That's another thing I was thinking was the spark. Maybe the heat from the engine is causing it to mess up?

I think I'll try replacing the other spark plug first, then. I still can't believe I only got one. What you're saying makes sense because if it were the carburetor, wouldn't that cause problems the whole time? (But it will also be easier to change out the last plug before I have to start taking real things apart!) I'll keep you updated on this saga!

 

[motoman]

Anna, It seems the carburetor gets blamed on cars and other engines first while on cars it was usually something else. Before you remove things look at the troubleshooting tips this forum has generated and at least step through the easy ones if you can. Good luck. motoman

 

[Anna_T]

Anna, It seems the carburetor gets blamed on cars and other engines first while on cars it was usually something else. Before you remove things look at the troubleshooting tips this forum has generated and at least step through the easy ones if you can. Good luck. motoman

Thanks, Everyone, for the help. I changed the second plug today, and it seems to be working fine now. I'm not holding my breath until I mow again next week, but I'm hopeful. I also bought some carburetor cleaner "just in case", but I hope I can wait on that project. If I have to do that, I'll need guidance as to the best way to go about it. In the mean time, here are pictures of the old plugs I replaced.

Thanks again!

 

[Anna_T]

Re: Craftsman YT4000

Grrrr...back to running for about 20-25 minutes and then coughing,sputtering, and eventually dying. I'm going to have to check the forum to see if others have similar problems. One of the guys I work with suggested vapor lock, maybe? So it looks like I may be learning how to do a carburetor after all.