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Hello folks. Kohler Command CV15S engine. Trying to get her ready for the season and I'm having problems.

It's hard to start but when it does it runs fine IF I keep it at cutting idle. But when I put it on low idle it will die after a minute or three and then won't crank anymore.

Carb issue? Something more serious? Changed the oil and put new oil filter on


And is this fuel line routed correctly?


Slowly but surely I'm.cleaning it up, forgive the grime

I would start with a carb cleaning. Pay attention to the float valve since it sounds like it could be partially sticking shut.

Allergic2Grass said:

Hello folks. Kohler Command CV15S engine. Trying to get her ready for the season and I'm having problems.

It's hard to start but when it does it runs fine IF I keep it at cutting idle. But when I put it on low idle it will die after a minute or three and then won't crank anymore.

Carb issue? Something more serious? Changed the oil and put new oil filter on


And is this fuel line routed correctly?

https://imgur.com/a/SkZewb6

Slowly but surely I'm.cleaning it up, forgive the grime

Click to expand...

Hard to start, as in it turns over and over and over until it starts? Or turns about 1/2, then slows to a crawl for a seconds then turns about another round and slows?

PTmowerMech said:

Hard to start, as in it turns over and over and over until it starts? Or turns about 1/2, then slows to a crawl for a seconds then turns about another round and slows?

Click to expand...

Put new battery on due to my stupidity of leaving the key on. Turns over and over and then starts.

Would a low battery be the only reason it would turn and crawl? I've had that happen before but figured it was battery

ILENGINE said:

I would start with a carb cleaning. Pay attention to the float valve since it sounds like it could be partially sticking shut.

Click to expand...

All right I'll look into that.

Allergic2Grass said:

Put new battery on due to my stupidity of leaving the key on. Turns over and over and then starts.

Would a low battery be the only reason it would turn and crawl? I've had that happen before but figured it was battery

Click to expand...

Your battery is the reason it turns. So a low battery means it turns slow. Or a bad battery. One with a full charge, but no cranking amps will do the same as a low battery, IIRC.

All right I think I got it!

When I took the carb off the bowl was dry.

Loosened the pinch on the carb line and no gas came. Tried turning over engine and still nothing.



Removed gas line from fuel pump. Gas was coming at a good rate.


So, bad fuel pump?

Allergic2Grass said:

All right I think I got it!

When I took the carb off the bowl was dry.

Loosened the pinch on the carb line and no gas came. Tried turning over engine and still nothing.



Removed gas line from fuel pump. Gas was coming at a good rate.


So, bad fuel pump?

Click to expand...

The fuel pump has a check valve in it.
THe outlet is the tube all by itself
The inlet is on the other side under the impulse line.
People regularly hook them up wrong and if backwards they will not work.

If you suck ( yummy ) on the outlet side fuel should flow through the pump without the engine running.

Bert that why I use a pressure/vacuum pump that any shop should have if they are going to work engines. I personally have lost my desire for ingesting gasoline a long time ago. Besides lighting up cigarette can problem especially if you are blowing out the match as you become a flame thrower.

Allergic2Grass said:

All right I think I got it!

When I took the carb off the bowl was dry.

Loosened the pinch on the carb line and no gas came. Tried turning over engine and still nothing.



Removed gas line from fuel pump. Gas was coming at a good rate.


So, bad fuel pump?

Click to expand...

If you have the pump hooked up right, and no gas come out the outlet side of the pump, when you turn the engine over, then yes, you have a bad fuel pump.
Note: If the gas line from the pump to the carb is still connected, and you're not getting fuel out the end of the hose, make sure the hose isn't collapsed or clogged.

Also the mower appears to be a Craftsman model if I seeing the colors right. If so check the fuel line at the operator tower as they are usually fed through the frame and tend to kink once the fuel line softens due to the severe bends.

StarTech said:

Also the mower appears to be a Craftsman model if I seeing the colors right. If so check the fuel line at the operator tower as they are usually fed through the frame and tend to kink once the fuel line softens due to the severe bends.

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Operator tower? We're still talking about a mower, right? Or the space shuttle? lol

ISS

That's what they call the enclosure for the steering wheel and other operator controls. It is also sometimes called the operator station. But they call it something else in the Aussie back country like a Wombat hut.

StarTech said:

That's what they call the enclosure for the steering wheel and other operator controls. It is also sometimes called the operator station. But they call it something else in the Aussie back country like a Wombat hut.

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You mean like the control tower at NASA. LOL

And I just thought Nasa's control room was just full of Chimps.

StarTech said:

And I just thought Nasa's control room was just full of Chimps.

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The next time I get on my mower, I'm gonna plug in "Ground control to Major Tom" to the bluetooth ear buds.

Sigh. Replaced fuel pump , carb, spark plug and fuel filter. Engine just turns and turns. Getting fuel to carb now. Starter fluid does nothing.


Pain in the butt. I can only work on it Sundays.

Valves and timing would be my next step I guess?

StarTech said:

That's what they call the enclosure for the steering wheel and other operator controls. It is also sometimes called the operator station. But they call it something else in the Aussie back country like a Wombat hut.

Click to expand...

Normally w would call it a turret or tower
Long time ago worked out Americans did not understand that term.

Valves can't be adjusted on this like my other. Cleaned the ignition coil, was gunked up. Spark went from orange to light blue.


Lost here. Not sure what to try.

Amy ideas?

Time to pull the carburettor off and give it a good cleaning.
Instruction will be found in the repairs section of the Outdoor Powe information site

bertsmobile1 said:

Time to pull the carburettor off and give it a good cleaning.
Instruction will be found in the repairs section of the Outdoor Powe information site

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I put a new carb on.

Just spins spins spins.

After frustration I figured I'd start over. Took fuel line off carb and wasn't getting any fuel to it.....again. Took fuel pump off and gave it a push, squirted gas all over my car(was using booster cables). So I knew it was good. Then I realized the fuel pump came with a metal plate. Mower didn't have one on to begin with. I put it on just because it came with it. That was just thick enough to make it not suck fuel. Took it off and put it back on. Fired up with ease and low throttle sounds a heck of a lot better than it ever has.



Buuuut in my stupidity I managed to strip threads on the block using an impact...I'll need to find a cheap solution to fix that.

A slightly bigger self tapper will do the job quite fine or some of that epoxy thread repair putty .
Clean out the hole with brake cleaner or it wont stick.

I'll give the epoxy a go first. It's the valve cover. I stripped the threads trying to put it on.