Hello Everyone,
I have a 2005 Murray riding lawn mower, model 425001X8C with a Briggs and Stratton 31C707 Type 0175E1 engine that is causing me to lose my hair much faster than I'd like. A few weeks ago the mower began to slowly die while mowing grass with the engine warm. The mower would start right back up again but when the PTO was engaged would die again a few minutes later. The first thing I tried was a new fuel filter and a carburetor disassembly and cleaning. The problem persisted so I began troubleshooting the mower and believed that the coil was failing me when it got warm. I replaced, and properly gaped the coil with a genuine Briggs part and the next time I took out the mower it quickly died again. Next was a new, properly gaped spark plug. Same issue. Then, searching through the forum, someone recommended that the safety switches might be the problem. To be honest I have only replaced the seat switch, but I have zip tied the PTO switch and Brake/Clutch switch to fake the Mower into thinking the PTO is never engaged and the brake is always engaged and the problem persists.
I have also tried cleaning out the vent in the gas cap, running the mower without the gas cap install at all, verifying the oil level is within specification, adjusting the valve clearance and ensuring that I do not have a locked up bearing on the deck by spinning the blades by hand with the mower not running. The mower has a brand new battery that starts and runs my cub cadet with no problem.
Additionally, I pulled the flywheel to verify that the flywheel key had not sheared and it was still in one piece.
I have also checked the spark right after the mower dies thinking that the new coil might also be bad. I am still getting nice blue spark right after the mower dies.
So to recap:
New Fuel Filter
Carburetor Cleaned
New Battery
New Coil - Gaped
New Plug - Gaped
New Seat Switch
Valves Adjusted
Oil Full
Gas Cap Vent Cleaned
And the mower still quits on me after 5, 10, 15, sometimes 20 minutes of mowing. The PTO doesn't have to be engaged to die and if you're really fast you can turn the throttle all the way down to turtle and you can save it from dying.
Other points of interest about the mower (not sure if they are related or not), the mower doesn't like to start when choked. Normally we have to play with the throttle position while turning the key to get it to run. The mower backfires after use, almost every time. These are issues we have been living with for years so I don't believe the are relevant, but don't want to rule them out.
So, does anyone have any ideas?
Thank you!
I have a 2005 Murray riding lawn mower, model 425001X8C with a Briggs and Stratton 31C707 Type 0175E1 engine that is causing me to lose my hair much faster than I'd like. A few weeks ago the mower began to slowly die while mowing grass with the engine warm. The mower would start right back up again but when the PTO was engaged would die again a few minutes later. The first thing I tried was a new fuel filter and a carburetor disassembly and cleaning. The problem persisted so I began troubleshooting the mower and believed that the coil was failing me when it got warm. I replaced, and properly gaped the coil with a genuine Briggs part and the next time I took out the mower it quickly died again. Next was a new, properly gaped spark plug. Same issue. Then, searching through the forum, someone recommended that the safety switches might be the problem. To be honest I have only replaced the seat switch, but I have zip tied the PTO switch and Brake/Clutch switch to fake the Mower into thinking the PTO is never engaged and the brake is always engaged and the problem persists.
I have also tried cleaning out the vent in the gas cap, running the mower without the gas cap install at all, verifying the oil level is within specification, adjusting the valve clearance and ensuring that I do not have a locked up bearing on the deck by spinning the blades by hand with the mower not running. The mower has a brand new battery that starts and runs my cub cadet with no problem.
Additionally, I pulled the flywheel to verify that the flywheel key had not sheared and it was still in one piece.
I have also checked the spark right after the mower dies thinking that the new coil might also be bad. I am still getting nice blue spark right after the mower dies.
So to recap:
New Fuel Filter
Carburetor Cleaned
New Battery
New Coil - Gaped
New Plug - Gaped
New Seat Switch
Valves Adjusted
Oil Full
Gas Cap Vent Cleaned
And the mower still quits on me after 5, 10, 15, sometimes 20 minutes of mowing. The PTO doesn't have to be engaged to die and if you're really fast you can turn the throttle all the way down to turtle and you can save it from dying.
Other points of interest about the mower (not sure if they are related or not), the mower doesn't like to start when choked. Normally we have to play with the throttle position while turning the key to get it to run. The mower backfires after use, almost every time. These are issues we have been living with for years so I don't believe the are relevant, but don't want to rule them out.
So, does anyone have any ideas?
Thank you!