I had a Kohler Courage 25HP twin on a Husqvarna 54 inch riding mower give it up on my a couple years ago. That engine was nothing but trouble and I wasn't too upset when it finally gave it up for good. The Command is great but the Courage is terrible. I ended up parking the unit as the rest of the mower was in great shape. I didn't want to pay the price of buying a new engine for the unit as they cost as much as the entire machine. I ended up using a couple used beaters for the time being but ended up with a nice commercial zero turn. I was about to scrap the mower or selling it cheap for parts when a junked mower very similar to mine came along with a working engine.
The unit was parked a couple years ago due to a broken axle in the transaxle. The shaft was cracked in two. The engine was running when it was parked but no preparation was taken to store it and the old gas was left in it. This engine is a Briggs and Stratton Vanguard 26HP V-twin so I swapped it in for my junk Kohler Courage. The numbers on the engine valve cover are MODEL: 445877 TYPE: 0760 B1 CODE: 080228YG. It bolted up and all the connections fit exactly as they did on the old Kohler without modification. I dropped the bowl and cleared out the old gas. I sprayed carb cleaner through the jets and they appeared clean.
Anyway, the engine started up on the first try and ran great at idle. Once loaded, the governor opens up the throttle further and then the engine starts flooding. The governor keeps the throttle plate open wide and the engine just stumbles and barely stays running while spewing thick black smoke. The engine acts EXACTLY like one would act if you pulled the choke closed while the engine was running and warmed up yet the choke is open. If you pull the choke while it is doing this, the engine will completely flood and die.
The engine will come back to life if I unload it and manually pull the governor level back to where the throttle is barely open. I haven't even tried putting the deck on but running the transmission at full speed will force the governor to open the throttle far enough to where the engine starts flooding and sputtering with lots of black smoke. The engine recovers as soon as I put the transmission in neutral and back the throttle off to low.
I don't know if I am missing something but this seems to be related to throttle position and not engine load. A load causes the governor to open the throttle more and then the symptoms start. Backing the throttle off resolves the symptoms. It looks like there is more to this carb and was wondering if there are some type of secondary jets that may be open too far. This only starts when the throttle is open beyond a certain position and will not recover on its own.
I figure a tear down of the carb is in order but wanted to ask here first in case I am missing something simple. Remember this thing sat for a while. I have changed the oil already and plan to change the transaxle fluid in my unit once I get the engine lined out.
Let me know what suggestions you may have.
Thanks.
The unit was parked a couple years ago due to a broken axle in the transaxle. The shaft was cracked in two. The engine was running when it was parked but no preparation was taken to store it and the old gas was left in it. This engine is a Briggs and Stratton Vanguard 26HP V-twin so I swapped it in for my junk Kohler Courage. The numbers on the engine valve cover are MODEL: 445877 TYPE: 0760 B1 CODE: 080228YG. It bolted up and all the connections fit exactly as they did on the old Kohler without modification. I dropped the bowl and cleared out the old gas. I sprayed carb cleaner through the jets and they appeared clean.
Anyway, the engine started up on the first try and ran great at idle. Once loaded, the governor opens up the throttle further and then the engine starts flooding. The governor keeps the throttle plate open wide and the engine just stumbles and barely stays running while spewing thick black smoke. The engine acts EXACTLY like one would act if you pulled the choke closed while the engine was running and warmed up yet the choke is open. If you pull the choke while it is doing this, the engine will completely flood and die.
The engine will come back to life if I unload it and manually pull the governor level back to where the throttle is barely open. I haven't even tried putting the deck on but running the transmission at full speed will force the governor to open the throttle far enough to where the engine starts flooding and sputtering with lots of black smoke. The engine recovers as soon as I put the transmission in neutral and back the throttle off to low.
I don't know if I am missing something but this seems to be related to throttle position and not engine load. A load causes the governor to open the throttle more and then the symptoms start. Backing the throttle off resolves the symptoms. It looks like there is more to this carb and was wondering if there are some type of secondary jets that may be open too far. This only starts when the throttle is open beyond a certain position and will not recover on its own.
I figure a tear down of the carb is in order but wanted to ask here first in case I am missing something simple. Remember this thing sat for a while. I have changed the oil already and plan to change the transaxle fluid in my unit once I get the engine lined out.
Let me know what suggestions you may have.
Thanks.