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I'm having a problem with my Hustler X1 with a FX850V 27 hp Kawasaki engine. I bought it last summer when it had about 50 hours on it. It looked and ran like showroom new. After about 15-20 additional running hours i started have a problem with the engine starving for fuel after running about an hour. It acted like it was not getting enough fuel and would eventually quit altogether after a few minutes. It would start back up after a few minutes and run ok for a while (30 minutes -1 hour) then repeat the problem. i realized i could clear up the problem quickly by disconnecting the fuel line at the in side of the fuel filter and blow hard into the line back toward the tank. It does this on both tanks by the way. I've taken both tanks off and checked for trash or debris. Both were clean and free of trash or any debris. I blew out the hoses and even removed the plastic fuel tubes going down into the fuel tanks. Both were clear and nothing was on the inlet screens inside the tanks. Next i replaced the fuel pump and soon had the same problem again. I removed the fuel shutoff solenoid and checked to make sure it worked ok and the plunger was not stuck shutting off fuel at the carb. No suck luck!
This problem regularly occurs after about the first hour of use. Does anyone have any ideas? The engine is strong and I only run it at about 1/3 to 1/2 full speed. It cuts the thickest grass easily without slowing down under load until the fuel starvation starts again. It has about 120 hours now...

Run engine at full throttle all the time while mowing, read Operators Manual. See page 3.3 item 7 in operators manual.
Allow engine to idle for two minutes before going full throttle & engaging PTO clutch.

Since no one seems to have helpful feedback on my problem with my Hustler mower I posted on July 8th, I'll give some myself. Problem solved! I finally decided to quit using gas with ethanol because of continual problems with chainsaws, trimmers etc. Lo and behold that completely solved the bizarre problem I was having. It starts and runs perfectly, never so much as a sputter after 3-4 hours of hard use cutting about 10 acres every week or so. All in all I've added about 24 hours of engine use since that post. Moral of the story, quit using regular gas and invest in ethanol free fuel for all your small gas engines. By the way both tanks on my Hustler and the engine manual itself clearly state that the Kawasaki engine is designed to run on gas with up to 10% ethanol. It doesn't work!!!

I think you might have ran into a carb icing problem with the ethanol fuel. On a Z950R ZTR here that had a weak coil problem I developed carb icing at 95F and near 100% humidity after I changed to a good coil (problem was not related to initial problem). Engine ran find until shut down and would not restart for at least 10 minutes. Then while I was searching for the problem I noticed the carburetor exterior sweating and when I looked inside it was frosted. Once I found the problem about 15 minutes later the bottom fell out and I got over 4 inches in less than 30 minutes.

It is the first time I had a carburetor to freeze above 70F but I had aircraft to freeze up several times during my training and it is scary when over a large town and no place to land. At least they give us carburetor heaters to use. Side the fuel there was 100LL pure fuel; no ethanol.

Yes engines normally run well on 10% Ethanol fuels but there are rare cases that they wont preform well. I even fuel boiling in fuel filters before stations change from Winter fuel blends to Summer fuel blends. Alcohol lows the evaporation temps of the fuel. In the vacuum of the intake it can cause freezing of water vapor.

Pete85 said:

Since no one seems to have helpful feedback on my problem with my Hustler mower I posted on July 8th, I'll give some myself. Problem solved! I finally decided to quit using gas with ethanol because of continual problems with chainsaws, trimmers etc. Lo and behold that completely solved the bizarre problem I was having. It starts and runs perfectly, never so much as a sputter after 3-4 hours of hard use cutting about 10 acres every week or so. All in all I've added about 24 hours of engine use since that post. Moral of the story, quit using regular gas and invest in ethanol free fuel for all your small gas engines. By the way both tanks on my Hustler and the engine manual itself clearly state that the Kawasaki engine is designed to run on gas with up to 10% ethanol. It doesn't work!!!

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Did you test your fuel that was supposed to be 10%? Sometimes fuel has more than that, even though it's not supposed to...or there are stations that have several types of fuel at a single pump and whatever the person that used it before you, you get some of that fuel that's in the pump line, until your section of fuel enters the line.
You can't go wrong with ethanol fuel though.....and now after at over a decade of small engine instructors saying use 87 octane at ALL the engine update classes, Kawasaki now says use High Octane fuel!

mower king said:

and now after at over a decade of small engine instructors saying use 87 octane at ALL the engine update classes, Kawasaki now says use High Octane fuel!

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About 6 months ago I switched to ethanol free for my vehicles as well. The increased cost is somewhat offset by about a 10% improvement in mileage.

wrldtvlr said:

About 6 months ago I switched to ethanol free for my vehicles as well. The increased cost is somewhat offset by about a 10% improvement in mileage.

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I guess Ethanol free fuel is hard to find and is not available everywhere......gotta keep those corn farmers afloat, ya know!

mower king said:

I guess Ethanol free fuel is hard to find and is not available everywhere......gotta keep those corn farmers afloat, ya know!

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True. We actually have a pretty wide range of fuels available at retail pumps around here. The diesel pumps usually offer #1/#2 blends - 0/100, 25/75, 75/25, 100/0. The gasoline pumps usually have premium as ethanol free, but some stations actually offer 87 ethanol free.

My Hustler Raptor Flip Up was purchased brand new back in 2016. I've been using Ethanol Free Fuel ever since then and definitely nothing else.


The operator's owner manual clearly states as follows:

Use regular unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 87 or higher. Maximum of 10% ethanol (E10) in fuel. Fuels with greater than 10% ethanol (such as E15, E20 and E85) voids warranty. Fuels with greater than 10% ethanol are not approved for use and such illegal use could cause equipment failure and pose a fire hazard.
Refer to the Engine Owner’s Manual for additional fuel specification requirements.


The engines (Kohler) owner user manual clearly states as follows:

NOTE: E15, E20 and E85 are NOT approved and should NOT be used; effects of old, stale or contaminated fuel are not warrantable.
Fuel must meet these requirements:
● Clean, fresh, unleaded gasoline.
● Octane rating of 87 (R+M)/2 or higher.
● Research Octane Number (RON) 90 octane minimum.
● Gasoline up to 10% ethyl alcohol, 90% unleaded is acceptable.
● Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) and unleaded gasoline blend (max 15% MTBE by volume) are approved.
● Do not add oil to gasoline.
● Do not overfill fuel tank.
● Do not use gasoline older than 30 days.


Specifically for my Kohler engine I also use the following fuel treatment on each full tank of fuel.

Why?....because the manufacturer owners manual also states the following:

Storage:
If engine will be out of service for 2 months or more follow procedure below.

1. Add Kohler PRO Series fuel treatment or equivalent to fuel tank. Run engine 2-3 minutes to get stabilized fuel into fuel system (failure due to untreated fuel are not warrantable).