Hi all,
While this might not be the “best” place to ask these questions, I figured many of you would have practical experience that might help. Topic: one year old riding mower. Craftsman, 19.5 hp Kohler engine. Used for two summers. At the end of this summer, it has gotten into a state where it won’t stay running. I’ve tried:
- Annual maintenance type stuff, like change oil and filter, change breather element.
- Possible carb issues: Put in fresh gasoline and put some carb cleaner in it.
During my last attempt to fix it, about 2-3 weeks ago, it would run for 20 seconds repeatedly, then quit. I didn’t let it sit long between tries. The battery started to flag, so I let it sit a while and got busy with life.
It is sunny and warm today, so I tried again. This time, it ran for fully 40 seconds before quitting, and now the battery is dead and won’t crank the starter. So I headed to Menards to get a 1A charger, and connected it. It’s currently sitting in the garage, awaiting the next wintery blast.
OK, so, for it to run a while and then quit, my feeling (and I’m a newbie with regards to small engines) was that I’m seeing fuel starvation, that it can’t flow fast enough to the carburetor. Hence, I purchased a new fuel filter. But I haven’t swapped it out yet: I don’t want to fire the “parts cannon” blindly at the problem without further study.
The old fuel filter doesn’t seem all that dirty, but I dunno. My spouse (the primary driver of the mower) has a habit of letting dirt and bugs, etc. go into the fuel tank during the summer when she refuels it, then she said she ran it dry at the end of the season. That may have moved the debris into the filter, en bloc. But could that be blocking adequate fuel flow alone? Maybe…
Meanwhile, many other websites say to clean out the carburetor. With a spray can of some kind of volatile, no doubt. But if the engine runs for fully 40 seconds, could the carb jets really that dirty? Could that be it?
Thanks in advance for your wisdom!