Recent content by peejo50

I live in northeast Ohio and have 11 pieces of gas- and diesel-powered equipment, plus several chainsaws. I maintain my batteries but do nothing for the fuel systems. The only problem I have ever encountered was a rodent, (chipmunk or squirrel), chewing through a gas line and emptying a tank of...

I like all the input about throttle position and made it made me wonder about non-hydro tractors. I have some older equipment that have Kohler K-series engines. Full throttle in 3rd gear is sometimes too fast and in 2nd gear it's too slow, so I use the throttle to adjust my speed. I'm not always...

Exactly it. Though I had what appeared to be a good spark when I checked the plug, it was inconsistent when under a load causing the missing and back firing. It was odd that it would only run at idle until I cut the ground wire for the kill switch. Doing that increased the rpm's though running...

So reaching deeper into the problem I checked the flywheel key, removed and checked the muffler, pulled the cover and checked the gap on the tappets. All was as it should be. What I did next was to eliminate the ground wire to the mag. Low and behold it ran and even revved up. I mowed for about...

The engine has a compression relief so it will only show a rate of about 35 lbs., and I don't have access to a pressure tester. The spark tester looks more like a short pen with a light in a window and a metal cap. Something I've been using for 50 years or so. Also, this has a magneto for...

I set the plug on top of the engine and could see a strong visible spark. I also have a passive tester that shows ignition for the short time it's running. for

No, I had fresh fuel.

Tried that with no results.

Time to go out and start delving deeper into this problem. I find it hard to believe anything major could be wrong since it still continues to start, even if for only a short time.

I do have a good spark but replaced the plug just to be sure. So, it starts, will only run at an idle for a few seconds and dies. Start, run, repeat.

I will check the valves out but I would find that odd since this has been a good running tractor that all of a sudden became a bad running tractor. I wanted to investigate all external solutions before getting into any internal ones. Thanks for the suggestion.

I have a 1990 Wheel Horse with a Kohler 12HP Magnum engine. I started it up, let it idle and warm up while I hooked up my small trailer to go out back and do some work. I started out about half throttle and within 20 feet it sputtered, backfired and quit. All it will do now is start, idle for 5...