PDA

View Full Version : Mower killing when running at idle. Any Ideas?

Teff's Lawn & Snow
05-22-2004, 08:05 PM
A friend brought me a mower that runs fine at full throttle & when the blades are running, but when he turns the blades off and starts to idle it down the mower kills right away. He did a basic tune up on it already with no improvement. Any helpful hints would be great.
fixer67
05-22-2004, 09:31 PM
What is the RPMs at idle? Get a tach and see how low it goes before it stalls out. It may just be idled too low. What type mower and engine are we talking about here.
Teff's Lawn & Snow
05-22-2004, 09:34 PM
It's a friends Craftsman mower 16hp Kohler. Just trying to save him from taking it in to the shop. We did play with the idle with no positive effect.
Eric 1
05-22-2004, 09:57 PM
You need a carb rebuild. Its either flooding or staving. most likely the needle is worn and when at idle it gets flooded out. I guess you did check the choke.

Thats my guess.
leogod
05-24-2004, 10:56 AM
It is starving. Take the carb apart and clean it with a pipe cleaner and carb cleaner. If that does not work maybe rebuild it.
P&C Lawn Care
05-25-2004, 08:28 AM
I'd run some carb cleaner through it and make sure the air breather/filter is clean. A great product called Berryman B-12 is good to put in the gas tank to help clean out the fuel lines and carb, can also be sprayed directly into the carb.
AirCooled
05-25-2004, 10:50 AM
If the tractor is stored for any length of time without using any type of fuel stabilizer, I would guess its running lean. The idle passages are very small and will be the first to plug with old fuel deposits. A real simple check would be to feather the choke slightly to see if it will idle for you. You may have to do this manually because most lawn tractors use a single cable where "choke" is only found after going from Turtle to Rabbit on the speed control.
xcopterdoc
05-25-2004, 08:54 PM
gotta love on line troubleshooting! Its great.. makes for good reading tho! LOL!
Teff's Lawn & Snow
05-26-2004, 08:51 PM
Thanks for all the tips guys.
dishboy
05-29-2004, 10:21 AM
Could be many things , but sounds like craap in the idle circuit of the carb. Disasemble spray circuits with carb cleaner, follow with compressed air.