Hi all. I recently purchased a used Craftsman 42" riding mower equipped with a Kohler 16hp ohv. I've had it for a about a month now and after getting an issue with the fuel solenoid taking care of, I have had no problems until today. It started fine like usual and I proceeded to cut grass. After about 20 minutes the engine started to surge and so I pushed in the clutch and it stopped. I go back and forth with this for about 5 more minutes and decided to clean the air filter. No luck there. Now it's at the point to where the engine will just die after about 30 seconds of running under load. With no load it seems to run fine. It does not have a fuel solenoid on the carb and has been running fine without it. I've searched on here to get any hints as to what may be causing this but haven't found the solution yet. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks for any advice.
#2
reddragon
sounds like fuel starvation...id loosen the gas cap...see if its not venting.....otherwise a carb cleaning is in order....make sure your fuel filter is not restricted.....it may be vapor lock...where the gasoline vaporizes from too much heat.....but check fuel to the carb first :smile:
Welp, I replaced the fuel filter and added some Seafoam after taking off the fuel boil to see if trash was making it's way to the carb. There was just a few specks but that was about all. I have checked the cap to make sure it's venting and it is because I can see the vapors appear around the small hole. Got it up and running and seemed to be doing fine but, after about 30 minutes, the motor just stalled out again doing the same thing. I'm fixing to take the carb off and give it a good cleaning. The only other thing I can think of would be vapor lock but, why now and what could be causing it? The gas is good and there is no water in it. No yellow crud in the boil either. Seems to me that if it was a trash issue that it would have trouble all the time and not just after it gets hot. Still looking for advice, I'll take what I can get. Thanks.
#4
reddragon
it could be ignition..but i would sort out the fuel first..so that you can narrow it down.....do you have any pictures?.....whats the year and so on?
I have just cleaned out the carb. Didn't appear to have any issues there. Pretty clean on the inside considering it's been a year since it was off last. It's an '04 Craftsman with a Kohler 16hp. The carb is a Woebler or however it's spelled. 42" cut. Not sure about the trans. I can take some pics, you just gotta let me know what you wanna see. So, I'm down to vapor lock or maybe the pickup is getting too hot. And thank you reddragon for your advice on helping me figure this thing out.
#6
reddragon
did you clean all the little passages with compressed air and carb cleaner?..you might have to soak the parts overnight...you better give us all the engine numbers to proceed
Yes, it does take about 30 minutes to show it's butt after the first initial start up. When the problem occurs and it stalls, it will take 2 tries to get it running again, immediately after a stall. Then it will run for about a minute and stall again. And then repeat over and over. There's nothing else out of the ordinary except for the stalling. It will be running along fine and then you can hear a change in tone like it's not getting enough of something (gas/air) and then it starts to stumble. Sometimes I can stop it from stalling completely out but most of the time it dies no matter what I do. After it sits for a while, it will run fine for about 25-30 minutes and then it does it again. I'm usually pretty good at diagnosing mechanical problems, but this one has me stumped.
#10
reddragon
LETS MAKE SURE ITS A FUEL PROBLEM!....get some starting fluid...WHEN IT DIES ..TRY TO SPRAY IN THE BREATHER TUBE INLET OR SOMEWHERE QUICKLY ACCESSABLE ...IF IT CATCHES AND RUNS ..WE CAN TRACK THE FUEL ISSUE.....WHEN THINGS GET TO THIS POINT...PICTURES ARE CRUCIAL...its very hard to figure this out behind a computer after a certain point :thumbsup:
It's been awhile since I've updated this issue, so time to do so. After the last post I have since used it 4 times to cut grass with no problem at all. But, on the last outing it started to act up again doing the same thing as mentioned before. I manged to spray starting fluid into the carb when it would start to stall and it would catch itself for a few seconds. I then changed the fuel filter again and cleaned the carb to no eval. I did notice that if I choked it while running it would stay running just without the power it should produce. So i'm outta ideas again unless the carb needs to be rebuilt. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Something is restricting the fuel... that's why it runs (somewhat) with the choke on... Your using the engine vacuum to pull fuel in....
There is something between the tank and the carb venturi where it is getting blocked...:smile:KennyV
