Solved - Dies when mowing on slope-190cc Platinum

[Don J]

I have a 3-4 year old Sears Craftsman 21 inch self-propelled mower powered by a 190cc Platinum engine. When mowing on a slope with the carburetor on the low side, it dies. On a flat surface, it runs fine. The obvious answer is that it's starving for fuel. I purchase a new carburetor as a result. It still dies when tilled to the right, so basically no change at all.

The fuel is fresh and tank is full. Oil condition and level is fine. Spark plug is gapped properly and cleaned. I plan on buying a new plug but I don't think that's my problem.

Cracked throttle tube? I even zip-tied the choke arm to the run position to make sure gravity it's pulling it closed on a slope. I'm out of ideas. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[HarmonySeeker]

I once used a neighbor's craftsman self-propelled mower that would not start unless you filled the gas tank to the very top of the tank.
It ran great once you did that.
It would never start, hot or cold, without being filled right to the brim.
I tried to get it to start, but it never would until I topped off the tank.
Then, one pull, zoom!

 

[Don J]

Thanks H.S. It starts fine and runs fine on a full tank, half tank, or 1/4 tank......until you get on a slope where the carb. is on the low end of the slope.

 

[HarmonySeeker]

Thanks H.S. It starts fine and runs fine on a full tank, half tank, or 1/4 tank......until you get on a slope where the carb. is on the low end of the slope.

My eventual fix for this problem was to never own a craftsman.
Worked like a charm.

 

[bertsmobile1]

REmove the carb aand then take the float bowl off
hold both the carb and the bowl ( one at a time ) in the same orientation as on the mower .
Tilt the carb the way that it goes when the mower stops and see if there is some thing that catches on the float.
Also look to see if it is nothing more than the angle that is causing the float to shut off the fuel supply

 

[Don J]

Will try that. I'll take everything apart again and start from a disassembled carb and go from there.

 

[Don J]

Turns out my kill switch cable was too loose. It must have been right on the border line given the weird results I was getting. Easy fix. Thanks.

 

[cruzenmike]

I wonder if this is some type of inherent design flaw with some of the small briggs engines? I was reading a handful of reviews on the new Toro Super Recycler with the 190cc 8.75 engine and multiple owners commented that it would randomly want to cut out and die as if it was being starved of fuel. While none of these owners we stating that it was happening while on any type of grade, either upward or sideways, it could very well be that the issues has something to do with fuel tank design or carb issue where fuel is not making it's way to the combustion chamber?

I am a firm believer in coincidence!!!

 

[HarmonySeeker]

I would like to commend you for your bravery for posting the eventual fix.
So many threads here just die without any resolution to the issue at hand.
That makes the thread practically worthless.
It took some courage to admit the 'obvious' answer was as wrong as you could get.
But goodness knows how many others you have helped now, and in the future, to get a hint as to what the real answer might be.
So I thank you for that!

 

[seattlepioneer]

Turns out my kill switch cable was too loose. It must have been right on the border line given the weird results I was getting. Easy fix. Thanks.

Interesting explanation!

As a professional furnace repairman, one of the major advantages I had over DIYers was the ability to cast an eye over a malfunctioning piece of equipment and observe subtle problems that might not be at all obvious to the DIYer.

Of course now that I'm a DIYer working on mowers, those advantages no longer apply.