I sounds like you have somewhat of the same problem with your craftsman riding mower. I have a 1996 model #917217532, 42" cut, riding mower. It too has a couple of wires going into the bottom of the fuel bowl of the carburator. My problem is that the thing starts just fine, runs for about 20 min, then it acts as if the choke is on. The engine loads up, smokes, looses power and dies out, and then you cant start it until it cools off. The oil level isn't getting higher & it doesn't really smell like the fuel is washing past the rings. Jumped over all the shut off switches to see if maybe 1 of them was the problem. Same thing happened, ran 20 min & died. Reconnected all shut offs after cleaning all contacts. I'm at a total loss. Anybody else have any ideas?