Prior to throwing parts at it with the fuel we have today i always remove carburetor, separate float bowel taking care of the float valve. Spray down with Sea Foam including float valve orface and let all sit overbnight. In the morning spray again, remove needle valve and pilot jet if it has one, and run small wires into the orifices cleaning out. I normally snip off one steel wire from a wire brush stuck in channel locks to hold. Normally I find greenish slime looking stuff. Spray again and reassemble. No parts, no $$. Mostly from a lifetime on dirtbikes and those carbs aren't much different.
Craftsman Rider dies
- Thread starter Roccus
- Start date
It is funny that most of the time the shutting down of a small engine is that the fuel filter is the problem. Those generic cheap fuel filters that are clear and have the paper filter will not work properly when it is gravity fed from the tank. It will not enough fuel through to continue running, especially going up an incline. The best filter is the small round filter that uses a screen.(Like a Briggs and Stratton Red Filter). Such an easy fix !!
doug9694
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- Nov 14, 2014
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E-15 is a 15% alcohol blend. It does bad things to rubber and some plastics. That new carb may have a now bad float needle or seat whichever is rubber.
The fuel supplier may have changed their formula. Find a supplier that still has a special pump that has 100% gas. Carb may have to have new rubber part.
The float sticking shouldn't cause the fuel line to empty after 15 minutes of running. If anything, it should allow the fuel line to be full if there is no flow into the carb. With all that has been tried, the problem sounds a bit tricky and less common. If the lack of fuel flow is causing the running problem, after the engine cuts off, you might double-check that the vent on the cap is allowing air into the tank by loosening it when the fuel filter is empty and watching to see if fuel flows into the filter. If not that, try replacing the fuel hose in case it is collapsing internally when engine heat warms the hose while running. It's not difficult and not very expensive either. Also, using a clear or translucent hose will allow you to see the fuel level in the hose.
A few years ago I had the very same problem with my Husqvarna riding mower which has a Kohler engine. Odd that the problem manifested itself after about ten years of use. Anyway, turns out it is a well-known problem. A bad design allows excess engine heat to allow the solenoid fuel shutoff on the carb to stick. Kohler makes a heat shield which solves the problem.
Going a leave it to the pro but had to put my 1&1/2 cents in. Had a problem with my Troy built pony that it would shut off for no known reason. Might run 2 hours, might run 2 minutes. Get off ,check things out and it would start up and again run a few minutes or all day. Some one here mention the seat safety switch. Finally said to myself, "self you checked everything else, check the switch". So, feeling like an idiot
I lifted the seat. I have a habit of sticking push pins for holding implements on things anywhere that is convenient. If I need one, I don't have to go all the way back to the house. I stuck one about the size of a paper clip on the slide under the seat. The pin would slide back and forth on the slide and when it slid forwarded it would short out the seat safety switch. Would move a little bit and the switch would work normally. Just trying to show you a stupid simple thing might be causing your problem. The people on this site have solved a lot of my problems. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that would agree with me.
Thanks for letting me ramble on,
Waskom , John
Polarity doesn't matter in this case ... it is just an electromagnet.