Kohler 23 hp choke/throttle hookup?

[Colimotl]

Thank you. When you reply to a post there is a green banner in reply "Additional Option" -> subscription-> subscribe to this thread and notify me of change -> check the box for instantly using email.

I will post my choke fix pics after it was adjusted at the dealer.

Patrick, thank you for the info. -- Daniel

 

[Colimotl]

To adjust your cable, loosen the clamp, move your throttle control all the way up, and slide the cable forward until the choke butterfly is all the way closed, then tighten the clamp. The issue I had to fix yesterday was that the cable wasn't adjusted right, and the choke wouldn't close enough for the customer to get it started without priming it.

Zman, I haven't been on this forum for a couple years, but in reviewing my post I couldn't find where I thanked you. Your response solved my problem. Thanks again. -- Daniel

 

[MowerPoraiti]

Great coverage. I have a Kohler 23 HP Courage fitted to a Yardman Series 900 50" riding mower with the CVT system. It has done about 150 hours. From new it was very reluctant to go up a mild slope. My earlier 46" Yardman with its 23HP Briggs breezed up it. I had to pump the accelerator pedal to get the 50" to keep moving. I sent it to the serviceman being new. He made a mild improvement but it was still no where near as good as the older 46". Also the new one was a lot slower on level ground. (I don't think the mower man knew much about the CVT system). I felt that the belt idler rod tensioner was not pulling the dual idler pulleys sufficient to tension the drive belt enough. As a result I considered that the drive belt was not being pulled in sufficiently to increase the ratio at the CVT so that the top driven belt going to the 7.25" pulley on top of the transaxle was being driven slowly and that under load the CVT system was slipping. I screwed the idler rod in as much as possible with hardly any improvement. I removed the idler rod hex lock nut so that I screw it in further. In fact the end of the rod was now reaching the internal end of the ball joint fitting. With the mower still moving at little better than crawling pace I cut about 0.4" off the end of the idler rod so I could screw it in further. By now at least the mower would go up slight slopes without pumping the accelerator pedal. (By the way I also fitted a new OEM drive belt and top belt just in case the originals were the problem). I also bent the idler rod a little to effectively shorten it. By now travel of the idler pulley assembly was being limited by the linkage to the brake assembly. I just put up with a mower that was a poor performer.

I considered other options. I wondered if the motor was not revving sufficiently but not have a suitable rev counter I cannot assess that. I examined the throttle linkage at the motor end and decided to unclamp the throttle cable. I pulled the throttle cable outer casing back by about 0.4" and refastened. The max revs seemed to be higher. It was possible to manually the high speed control lever further and the revs increased markedly but I am concerned about over-revving the motor so I have not tried to move the throttle cable outer casing any more.
This has been a disappointing mower from the start. The motor leaks a lot of oil around the head assembly. The mower was very difficult to start despite me keeping the battery on charge and even fitting a new battery. It churned very slowly. Removal of the stater motor revealed a bent shaft! It was bent above the bearing so went it rotated the stater gear would sometime jump the motor ring gear and other times seemed to lock up and not turn. Removal of the starter motor revealed that the shaft turn eccentrically and was bent by about 0.3" at least. A friendly engineer mounted this in a lathe and was able to gently tap it back into alignment. While this helped the motor to not lock up/jam it still was very very difficult to start and the starter motor turn very slowly. Ultimately it burnt out the starter solenoid - it melted! Obviously there was a very bad contact internally limiting the current - hence hot internal terminals and insufficient current to the starter causing heating in the starter solenoid. However a new non-OEM solenoid fixed that problem immediately and now the mower starts almost every time at first try! However I would still like suggestions as to how I might speed my mower up. As a matter of interest how fast should riding mower such as this Yardman 900 travel over level ground? Am I being unreasonable?

 

[justcobra]

CONFIRMED. TORO Z5020 Zero turn mower(model 74399-2009 build with a kohler 23 hp engine) has a single cable throttle controller which does away with a additional choke cable. To start the mower from cold you merely push the the throttle all the way forward to the choke position and wait for the engine to start. As soon as the engine starts retract the throttle lever so it runs at a lower speed. The lower end of the of the throttle cable is attached to midway hole at the base of the carbie. .ps Now you do not have to prime the carbie to start it from cold as I have found out.