26hp efi motor trouble

[tlcgrounds]

I've got a efi and it surges at times when the blades are on and mowing. The plugs are good the fuel filters change clean air filter too. It mostly happens early in the morning. any suggestions.

[Dave]

may be the govener,but i bet its starving for gas,as they run lean anyway ,not really up to date on the efi,hard to believe they are on lawnmowers,esp kohler as they can't keep there regular motors running chk an see if the shut off at the tank has a screen in it plugging it up a little

[MOW ED]

Take it to your dealer in the morning and explain to him what is going on. The beauty of the EFI is the computer diagnostics. Its like your car or truck. He should be able to plug it in and tell. Also I would imagine that it is still covered under Kohlers 2 year warranty so if you have a problem hopefully there will be no out of pocket cost. Let me know what happens as I have a 26 efi on my Walker.
Good Luck

[Jman]

There are two things that could be causing the surging on the efi, one is if the governor is slightly out of adjustment. Governor adjustment on this engine is very critical because of how quickly the fuel system can adjust. Another possibility is it may have to have the TPS (throttle position sensor) re initialized. This is a process that your dealer can do for you under warranty. How is the power and starting of the engine? I love seeing fuel injection on engines, it's about time the engine manufacturers get out of the 50's technology and into the items of today.

[fjhemmer]

Try unplugging the ECU plug, it's a long flat pulg. More that likley you will find moisture in it. Blow it out and replug it in.

[tlcgrounds]

Hey guys I am suprised with the comments. Here's the deal I bought the unit used from another lawn site member along with a few other peices of equipment. Neddless to say that the " these machiens run great" and "I'm a totally honest guy" lines are out the window. I have emailed the seller a few times but I recieved very little response. It doesn't help he lives 1/4 of the way across the country. I have had to do all sorts of little things to this machine like readusting the hydros, releveling the deck, which still mows one inch low- thats the best I could get it. every little thing you could think was out of adjustment. I've contacted kohler a few days ago and still no answer. I've called Exmark and they are about the most help. The guy I talked to suggested that any questions kolher related I should call kohler. My dealer is friendly and I have bought many other Exmark products but this seamed to be a great deal and I woudl save a lot of money if the machine was great condition like I was told. I'm not an idiot- Everything checked out okay atleast for the quick demo. I was just wanting to know of you guys had any ideas befor I have my dealer look at it and give me a bill with an I told you so feeling. Which I deserve, but when you count on a guys word about the history and maintenance of a machine you got to believe him. Well, I must tell you guys that unless you actually know who owned the machine since the time of it's purchase date-BUY NEW- WARRANTEES DO NOT TRANSFER AND DEALERS WON"T APPRECIATE THE MISSED SALE!

[tlcgrounds]

I checked the diagnostics with a man from exmark and he personally verified it wwas nothing with the computer the code punched out 6-1-1 which is a okay. I'm thinking maybe the system is not fully purging and I need the turn the key on then turn it off then turn it on and crank it up. Maybe that's teh problem.

[Runner]

What does it do, just start cutting out and sputtering a bit after it's been running awhile? Mine does this sometimes when and right after I go over a really rough area. I just figured it was in the safety switch on the bottom of the seat. It CAN bounce me around a bit if I'm going fast enough.

[Hardy Enterprises]

Hey Runner,

Mine has been doing the exact same thing. I you go over a rough area it will start cutting out and missing bad then after a minute or so it will straighten back out. I thought the fuel filter maybe had trash in it that was getting stirred up but I changed it and that didn't help. So far I have not figure out what it is causing it. Has anybody else had this problem

Jay

[Jman]

For those of you that are seeing the problem of rough running or cutting out over rough terrain with the EFI that is going to be normal on the exmark/toro units. When you trip the seat switch on these two units it shuts off the power supply to the computer temporarily. This cause the computer to "restart" when it receives power from the seat switch. When the computer restarts it "thinks" the engine has just been started and goes into "open loop mode". This means it starts back up runngin rich and will take a little bit to reset itself. In those really rough areas slow down a little and the problem will not be there.

[fjhemmer]

You have moisture in the ECU plug. Unplug and blow dry.If there is tape on the wire harness attached to the pulg remove it. The tape holds the moisture in.

[Dave]

I was going to metion that about the ecu plug I read the service bulletin dated 8/7 from kohler this mornig sitting on my favorite spot.I don,t that is it but give it a whirl

[Eric ELM]

tlcgrounds
Did you figure out the problem yet? If it is the seat switch not making contact in rough areas, put a toggle by pass switch to the seat. I put one on my Chopper so I can start it up in the morning and let it warm up while I open the gate and take off the tie downs. Also for letting it cool down a bit after mowing for a long time, so I don't have to sit on it. Once I get on it, I shut this switch off so the seat switch takes over. On rough areas or if you need to get off to pick up something, flip the switch to by pass the seat again. I like to have the seat switch working on hills, just in case.

[tlcgrounds]

Eric, after replacing plugs ans cleaning teh elctrical fuses in the ecu I still had problems. I was told by medart to have the tps re intitialized. I haven't had tiem to do that but I think I have bypassed the problem. I have to start the machine at half throttle and can olny increase the throttle slowly or teh engine gets to much fuel and starts stuttering. I have to do this starting the blades also or the machine will caugh and spit and carry on. By the way the seat switch does not work. If I hit a hard bump mowing I think the fuel pressure in the lines gets messed up and it falls on its face like before. I guess these machine are gentle creatures and must be handled with care. Maybe the tps needs to be checked out but that will ahve to wait for winter.

[captdevo]

tlcgrounds,

I had that problem with a 2000 model of mine, I ride a lot of rough ground also.

I adjusted my seat switch so it is not as sensitive and it worked fine.

There was a Walker or Kohler bulletin i saw last year that mentioned a new time delay for the seat switch.
I'll see if I can dig it up.

You say your seat switch is not working, try adjusting it, or replacing it. That surely sounds like the problem to me. When it looses connection, it takes a second +/- for the computer to reset.

Also, loosen and retighten all your grounds, especially the one on the cpu.

Good luck

Dave

[tlcgrounds]

Thanks for teh info. I may save me a big shop bill!!!

[Lawnworks]

Are you sure the warranty is not transferable? I bought my Chopper used w/ 50 hrs on it. I saved about 3 Gs too. I called Kholer and they said my warranty is transferable. I can't remember the conditions, but I have the reciept and everything. Everybody bashes the Kholers, but I believe they are the best suited engine for a chopper w/ their 3 air filters and two oil filters. If you don't have a lemon, I think they will last longer than kaws. BTW I have a 2000 25 kholer w/ 260 hrs.

Rick

[Dave]

I really can't believe the kohler is better than the kaw,whatever the air filter or injection is,kaw like honda and tec was one of the first engines with ohv,kaw and honda has used the carb that ,now kohler and briggs use ,the twin cylinder briggs are jap engines,I was sold on the k series as the best there was,but working on all the engines in the last few years ,I am sold on the kaw ,and so are the landscapers in this area,In the last few years jd puts the kaw on there more exp. lines then the kohler and briggs on the rest,I realize the kaw.has have some cam problems on the water cooled ,as I have changed one,but does not outway the problems kohler has have.I think kohler should
concentrate on there basic engines,instead of using someonelses
air filter and efi as a selling point and to try to get more hours out of there engines.I realize that Eric has around 2500 hours on his 22hp.but how many people has had problems with less then 500 hours.I am a dealer for both so I do not have anything to loose
by typing this,so put them side byside and it won,t take much to determine which is the better running engine. then if you are still in dout read the post ,kohler vs kaw,toilet fixtures etc,vs many small engines

[Eric ELM]

Dave, add 1100 hours to that 2500 and you will have the hours right. :)

It will have 3600 shortly. I know several members that have that many or more on their Kohlers.

Every Kaw I have heard run, doesn't sound good at all. I'm talking about the 25 hp Kaw in perticular.

[Dave]

I guess everyone has a right to there own oppinion,but I have work on alot of more kohler failures than kaw

[tlcgrounds]

TOday I was cleaning my machines for winter storgae and I was prepaired to sell this machine because I couldn't find the problem. I noticed there is a very samll spring that was broken by the governer. I got this machien to act up and I looked at the larger spring that runs parallell with the fuel rail. It was moving back and forth very rapidly causing the engine to surge and puff gas. I stopped the spring from moving and the problem stopped. All this worry because of a tiny spring.
Also for all you guys that make the mistake of runnign your tanks dry before swichting sides and can't get the machine started again because there is air in the system. There is a relief valve under the fuel rail cover that exmark and Kolher did not tell me about. Releive the pressure and your good to go.

[accuratelawn]

Thanks for the follow up post. I am sure alot of us will be using this motor in the future.