Engine cuts out when mowing across slopes

gunns

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Jan 19, 2017
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Engine cuts out while mowing on slopes in one direction only. Lawn tractor is a Sears 917.270812 19.5hp opposing twin. When mowing with the uphill side of the slope on the left side of the tractor it runs fine. When going in the opposite direction when the uphill side of the slope is on the right side of the tractor it cuts in and out. When running on flat ground it runs perfectly. It would appear that I have a carburetor float issue. Without tearing the carburetor down and only looking at a carburetor diagram it appears that the float is hinged on the front side of the carburetor rather than on one of the sides of the carburetor. Apparently the carburetor is not picking up fuel when the carburetor is tilted towards its left side. Not knowing the passages in the carburetor body I can only guess that the pick-up may be to the right side of the carburetor body and the carburetor float is not allowing enough gas to remain in the float chamber to supply fuel to the pick up. Has anyone experienced the same issue?

P.S. carb is a Briggs 693480. - Sears 19306
 
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bertsmobile1

Lawn Royalty
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Nov 29, 2014
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Yes it is a common problem
And yes it is a float problem
No it can not be fixed unless your float is out of adjustment ( rare but does happen )
Because of the dangers of careless mowing along slopes the engines are designed specifically to work best going up & down slopes
So either alter the way you mow or go over to a fuel injected engine .
This was a bigger problem on the singles .
One way the engine stalled & the other way there was reduced oil flow so the engine siezed .
Horizontal crankshaft engines do handle slopes better than vertical shaft engines but there are no new residential mowers with a horizontal shaft engine .
 
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