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I have a Cub Cadet RZT 50 with a 20HP Kohler (Kawasaki) engine. It runs just fine for about 10 minutes then acts like it's starving for gas. It will bog down, run fine, bog down, run fine. It will do this between 10 and 30 seconds until it finally shuts down. Then you have to let it rest for about 5 minutes. It will start up and run fine anywhere from 2 minutes to 10 minutes before it does the same thing all over again. I've replaced the fuel and air filters. I've replaced the fuel pump and cleaned the carb bowls, checked the Gas cap.... Still runs the same... PLEASE HELP!!!

mnistony said:

I have a Cub Cadet RZT 50 with a 20HP Kohler (Kawasaki) engine. It runs just fine for about 10 minutes then acts like it's starving for gas. It will bog down, run fine, bog down, run fine. It will do this between 10 and 30 seconds until it finally shuts down. Then you have to let it rest for about 5 minutes. It will start up and run fine anywhere from 2 minutes to 10 minutes before it does the same thing all over again. I've replaced the fuel and air filters. I've replaced the fuel pump and cleaned the carb bowls, checked the Gas cap.... Still runs the same... PLEASE HELP!!!

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You have to narrow it down to fuel or spark.
Get an in-line spark tester. Look and see if you are getting spark as it bogs down...
It seems more like fuel to me.

does it have a gas tank above the carb? or does it siphon out from under the seat?
I was having a fuel problem and I put an auxiliary tank on a board with electrical tape and clamped it to my bumper. I ran the hose to my fuel pump inlet. The mower ran good...that made me take off my fuel tank and clean out the tank/suction. It had rubber bits from a deteriorating gas cap. It has not acted up once since I cleaned my tank(under the seat).



Long story short....you have to narrow it down to loss of fuel or loss of spark.

I would pull off the fuel line to the carb and check fuel flow then when it shuts down recheck it again.

shiftsuper175607 said:

You have to narrow it down to fuel or spark.
Get an in-line spark tester. Look and see if you are getting spark as it bogs down...
It seems more like fuel to me.

does it have a gas tank above the carb? or does it siphon out from under the seat?
I was having a fuel problem and I put an auxiliary tank on a board with electrical tape and clamped it to my bumper. I ran the hose to my fuel pump inlet. The mower ran good...that made me take off my fuel tank and clean out the tank/suction. It had rubber bits from a deteriorating gas cap. It has not acted up once since I cleaned my tank(under the seat).



Long story short....you have to narrow it down to loss of fuel or loss of spark.

Click to expand...

Thanks shiftsuper175607, I have a low tank. It has a fuel pump that I changed out. Didn't change anything. I'll check the fuel tank thing and may replace all the fuel lines too. Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know what happens

Mikel1 said:

I would pull off the fuel line to the carb and check fuel flow then when it shuts down recheck it again.

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Thanks Mike. I'll give it a try and let you know.

Also coils as they heat up and start cutting out if going bad. If one of your coils act up it will give you the same feeling as its starving for fuel because it will lose power. I have a feeling a in line tester isn't going to tell you much, but you need a tester that will see how far the spark will jump which should be over a 1/4 inch when the coil is hot. Just something else for you to check if you can't find a fuel problem.

mnistony said:

Thanks shiftsuper175607, I have a low tank. It has a fuel pump that I changed out. Didn't change anything. I'll check the fuel tank thing and may replace all the fuel lines too. Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know what happens

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UPDATE: Good news so far. There was a plug of junk (grass / rubber/ ???) in the gas tank where the gas leaves the tank and enters the line. I removed as much gas as I could, raised the tank so the line coming from the gas tank was above the gas line that was left in the tank, removed the gas line and pushed a plastic zip tie in the gas line while shining a flash light in the gas tank. A plug of junk came out. I removed as much as I could from the tank, and put everything back together. I ran it for about 15 minutes, but I will have to mow longer to make sure the problem is solved. I will put it to the test and repost next week. Lets hope for the best. A BIG Thanks so far to everyone for your help.

shiftsuper175607 said:

You have to narrow it down to fuel or spark.
Get an in-line spark tester. Look and see if you are getting spark as it bogs down...
It seems more like fuel to me.

does it have a gas tank above the carb? or does it siphon out from under the seat?
I was having a fuel problem and I put an auxiliary tank on a board with electrical tape and clamped it to my bumper. I ran the hose to my fuel pump inlet. The mower ran good...that made me take off my fuel tank and clean out the tank/suction. It had rubber bits from a deteriorating gas cap. It has not acted up once since I cleaned my tank(under the seat).



Long story short....you have to narrow it down to loss of fuel or loss of spark.

Click to expand...

Thank you... I found a plug of junk in the gas tank where it enters the gas line. I'll post again next week to make sure the whole problem is gone.