2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc

Jasonsosbe

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
Hello,
I'm a new user and I am in search of any help I can get. I have a year 2000 model turf tiger with the Kawasaki 22hp liquid cooled engine. 61" cut. The issue I'm having is after about 10 or 15 minutes of mowing the engine spits and sputters then dies... sometimes I can keep it running by idling down and killing the blades... sometimes no such luck. This has been going on for a year or so. All last summer, if I could get through the spitting and sputtering it would run flawlessly as long as I ran it. Now, this year, that's not the case. And its become very apparent the issue is not going to go away...in fact its gotten worse. Now when it dies, it won't start back up. If I let it sit for 10 minutes or so (or just fidget with it and keep trying to start it) it will start back up and purr like a kitten for another 5 minutes or so and starts sputtering again... and then run fine the rest of the day. My first thought was fuel.. just replaced the filter at the end of last summer. Second thought was fire... it appears that I have spark... but going to pick up an inline spark tester and check that for sure at the exact time all of this is happening. And tied to that thought are the coils... Considering it is 20 years old, its probably time for some parts I guess. And my last guess would be the ignition switch. I hear those can be a common issue. I recently read about the fuel tank being vapor locked being a common issue so I'm anxious to pop the fuel cap the next time it does it and see what happens...although I'm doubtful. I've noticed you guys usually need a model and serial number off the engine to help, so when I get home I'll get those posted up here.
Thanks ahead of time for any help and advice!
Jason
 

bertsmobile1

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
Debris in the fuel tank plugging the outlet or a blocked tank vent is my first thoughts.
Check by
1) pulling the cap off and listening for a sucking sound
2) no sucking sound then pull the fuel line off on the tank side of the fuel pump and blow backwards up the fuel line
Problem goes away = plug
3) rig up a spare tank and when the mower splutters & stops hook up the spare tank
Same story as above.
 

Jasonsosbe

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
Mower model STT61A-22KA
Serial # 5490586
Engine model FD661D
As for a serial number on the engine I could not find one easily... A little helping locating it may be necessary.
Thanks!!
 

ILENGINE

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
What Bert said, but don't overlook a fuel line that is collapsing internally, and also make sure you are not looking spark due to a heat related failure of the ignition modules. Saw both on a Turf Tiger last year for a customer
 

Mad Mackie

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
Kawasaki liquid cooled engines of this vintage develop overheating problems. When too hot, the fuel in the incoming air/fuel mixture vaporizes causing the engine to loose power. Compression loss due to head gasket failures is another problem which can cause overheating by stopping or slowing down the circulation of coolant in the engine while it is running.
Should you consider repowering this machine, a few things that you need to consider: There are only a few repower engines that will fit in your machine as the Kawi FD661D is shorter in overall length which limits repowering to just a few air cooled engines.
 
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Jasonsosbe

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
Ok so... Update....I put new plugs, ignition switch, fuel filter and fuel line in... Same thing happened. 5-10 minutes in it dies. Let it sit for 10 minutes then it didn't miss a beat after that. Go to start it today... No start. Check fire... No fire. From either coil ... Which I highly doubt both coils would take a **** at precisely the same time sooooo?.... Beyond that I haven't done much research. Any one have any ideas what it could be? Going to do some digging and research. Thanks ahead of time!!
 

smallenginerepair94

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
Make sure wires didn't come loose from the ignition switch you put in. As far as the run 10 min and cut off see how long it will run with the gas cap off or very loose a defective cap may be your problem
 

Jasonsosbe

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
And now another update... After fiddling and cranking for awhile last night with no luck I thought it might be a good idea to plug the battery tender in... This morning when I went to the garage.. I couldn't resist trying it.. low and behold it popped right off... The battery hasn't struggled to turn the engine over but could it being weak be a potential cause of no spark? It is an older battery..
 

cpurvis

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
Your posts suggested that the problem didn't crop up until the 10 minute mark of actual use. Is that correct? If so, the battery's work was done long before that.

It sounds to me like a fuel supply problem, such as happens when a fuel tank cap does not vent properly.
 

Jasonsosbe

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  • / 2000 Model Scag Turf Tiger Dies After a Few Minutes of Mowing...etc
I have tried the gas cap trick. I guess I did not mention that. And again, when I checked spark there was none.... Thank you!
 
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