Riding Mower Loss of Power...

[cngizbleevng]

I have a Hustler Super Z zero turn mower with 60" deck and kawasaki engine.

Lately, the mower loses power when under any load (accelerating or going uphill), and when cutting grass. It seems to have come on fairly quickly, and when I first noticed it, the mower was running weakly until I heard a sound from the engine, at which point there was a sudden power gain and it ran well. Now it just runs weakly and doesn't improve during any part of the mowing process. I have to drive very slowly to allow the RPMs and power to wind back up.

Can anyone point me in the direction of the most likely cause? I'm guessing fuel filter or some such thing, but I'm not knowledgeable about engines in general and could really use your help!

 

[daddydoc]

It could be the fuel filter or carb, at least this is where to begin. You may need to clean the carb out.

 

[cngizbleevng]

It could be the fuel filter or carb, at least this is where to begin. You may need to clean the carb out.

Thanks, Daddydoc. I just got back from vacation and have a jungle out there to mow:frown: We'll see how it goes.

 

[cngizbleevng]

It could be the fuel filter or carb, at least this is where to begin. You may need to clean the carb out.

Well, I put new blades on--that helped a little--I guess there's less resistance with sharper blades.

I also changed the fuel filter. Still not as powerful as it was before, so I guess the carburetor is next. :frown:

 

[daddydoc]

Thanks, Daddydoc. I just got back from vacation and have a jungle out there to mow:frown: We'll see how it goes.

If the carb doesn't resolve the issue, I would suggest checking the valves. Hope the first check resolves the issues.

 

[cngizbleevng]

The final result....

Well, after changing out every part I could think of, I gave in and brought it to the local professional.

Took him a while to figure it out, but he found that one of the coils had overheated and burned out, so basically, the mower was operating on one cylinder instead of two. He said it was the coil located on the front of the engine under the driver's seat. He felt it didn't get the same ventilation as the rear part of the engine and that may have been why it burned out first.

I should be able to pick it up on Wednesday.

 

[SR1642]

I have a Hustler Super Z zero turn mower with 60" deck and kawasaki engine.

Lately, the mower loses power when under any load (accelerating or going uphill), and when cutting grass. It seems to have come on fairly quickly, and when I first noticed it, the mower was running weakly until I heard a sound from the engine, at which point there was a sudden power gain and it ran well. Now it just runs weakly and doesn't improve during any part of the mowing process. I have to drive very slowly to allow the RPMs and power to wind back up.

Can anyone point me in the direction of the most likely cause? I'm guessing fuel filter or some such thing, but I'm not knowledgeable about engines in general and could really use your help!

I had the same problem today and a guy on here helped me out. He told me I was probably not firing on both cylinders. So when I went out to pull the plugs to check if both were firing, I found that I had a bad plug wire not making connection. So the firing problem definitely will kill your power in half under a load. I could be a bad plug, plug wire, coil, or bad electrical wire somewhere in your system that is grounding out. If you find that one cylinder is not firing and rule out the plus, wire, and coil, try pulling the ground wire off the bottom of your coil and see if it fires then. If it does, you have a bad wire grounding out somewhere in your wiring harness. You can run the mower with grounds disconnected from the coils, but it will shut off when you turn the key off, will have to choke it down, but it will start fine by the key.