L110 Cranks But Won't Start

Thanks for all of the advice! I'm going to drain the tank, replace the line, replace the pump, and put fresh gas in it.

I'll let you all know what happens!

While I'm at it and in the mode of replacing hoses: I'd like to replace the hose that runs from the engine to the air filter housing. It's about 7" long, and about 3/4" in diameter...

Is anyone familiar with this part?

Its the crankcase breather. If its not cracked leave it alone. If looks bad. Replace.

ndutil86 said:

While I'm at it and in the mode of replacing hoses: I'd like to replace the hose that runs from the engine to the air filter housing. It's about 7" long, and about 3/4" in diameter...

Is anyone familiar with this part?

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The breather tube itself isn't cracked, but the tip is becoming slightly cracked. It's beyond the clamp, so I'm not too worried. I'll let it be for now and keep an eye on it in the future.

I am in nearly the exact same same scenario with the exact same mower and engine. I adopted it from my dad's farm and last summer was my first time using it. The battery was dead and I had to boost it everytime but it seemed to take more cranking to get started as the season wore on. Right at the end of the season a tree branch hit the throttle down and turned the mower off, and ever since then I had not been able to start it. I bought a new battery and it will crank like crazy but thats it. Winter set in and I didn't work on it but now I gotta get it running ASAP!

I read somewhere that a stripped flywheel key could cause this so I pulled that all apart but the key seemed intact.

Sparkplug looked questionable so I just outright replaced it,, no help.

Cleaned out carb, was a little dirty but not too bad. The bowl refilled with fuel so I *think* that means the fuel pump is running ok?

It got late so I called it a night but right now my main culprit is the solenoid cutoff valve in the bottom of the carb bowl. I tried getting this thing to run on the bench by just applying voltage but doesn't do anything. I even hooked up a current meter but it draws nothing so I think it has failed open. When morning comes I am going to literally cut off the solenoid plunger to bypass the fuel cutoff. This means the engine will no longer have anti-backfire, not sure how bad that is, but based on some googling I think you can get away with it.

Well I did the solenoid mod and the engine actually started! But, 2 seconds later started getting very loud pops and smoke coming out of the air filter. Seems like some combustion is taking place in the carb now, not sure where to go from here...

travis7s said:

Well I did the solenoid mod and the engine actually started! But, 2 seconds later started getting very loud pops and smoke coming out of the air filter. Seems like some combustion is taking place in the carb now, not sure where to go from here...

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Check the valves are seating, do a compression test. look for a inlet valve staying open.

Two things:

First: To update my situation - The new fuel pump solved the problem. Replaced the pump and fuel line, and gas started flowing wonderfully. As of now, the mower is working just as it should.


Travis, as for your situation: You may need a carb kit to essentially rebuild the carburetor. I think they can be purchased for under $10, and just contain gaskets/jets/other small parts.

Modding the solenoid shouldn't create backfiring while the engine is running...at least I don't think it should. When the solenoid isn't functioning properly, you'll get a backfire inside the carb when the engines shuts off and fuel is still flowing into the carb.

The most common reason for backfiring, from what I have learned through reading about this mower, is a problem with the flywheel - mainly the key. You said that it looked normal, but if something is wrong with how that wheel is functioning, you will get the exact same symptoms as you're describing.

Another thing to note regarding this Kohler 17.5 engine: Buy a more powerful battery than you think you'll need. Originally, the previous owner of this mower tried to get away with a battery rated for a 14hp engine. It had a horrible time cranking. I just dropped in a battery rated for 19hp engines, and it cranks just fine, but might even do better on an even bigger lawn battery.

I'll try taking a look at the valves today, no experience with the inner working of an engine before so that should be interesting.

I'll also take a closer look at the flywheel, maybe I missed something before, it was quite a few months ago that I had it off.

Also if it helps anyone I found a great service manual for very similar Kohler engines:

http://www.asberry.net/files/TP-2339-D.pdf

Well now I feel kinda dumb. Sure enough, when I pull the flywheel off, the key is completely sheared in half! Need to figure out where to get one and then try again...