Problems with CV23 Kohler

[Anonymous-0]

I have a CV23 Kohler on my mower. After filling the tank at my local station, it began running poorly, and often would shut down unless I moved the choke lever to keep it running. I assumed water in the fuel, so I drained the gas, and using the "bottle method" I saw no water, but it may have not gotten into the bottle. I have run this gas in my tractor with no problem. Now,after 3 more tanks, I still have to play with the choke, but it could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours of mowing before it acts up again. Again, I can play with the choke, and it runs fine for the most part. I have repalced the fuel lines, filter, air filter, plugs, and the fuel pump. (For no other reason than it was there. The rest was really maintenance I guess you'd call it.All after this started) I havent been into the carb yet, as I beleive if it was the carb, it would act up all the time. (Correct me if Im wrong) I have also checked the wiring and found no problems there. Also used propane to check for leaks in the manifold area and around the carb but no chnages in the engine, as it runs fine until it acts up. I have checke for spark when it shuts down, but there is spark, as it does try to run on one cylinder and I see spark from each wire to the plug when I check. (Have to pull the boot back to see it) Anyone have any idea as to what may be causing my problem? TIA

 

[Butch(OH)]

Likely that something got shook loose hauling it to the gas station and not the gas you got and it is clogging the jet in the carb. My experience with the CV Kohlers is when leaning out they do go down to one cylinder before they die. Best get the carb off and get it fixed as runnning lean and with the choke on aint the best for the engine.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You are probably right, but I didnt haul it to the station, I drove it. Its like 1/8 of a mile to the store. By the jet, are you referring to the little "tube" for lack of a better word, that spits the fuel into the neck of the carb? If so it does spray a good pattern, and if this is the probelm, why will it start right back up if I dont catch it fast enough? I hate to pull the carb, the kit is over 100 bucks!

 

[El Toro]

I would disconnect the gas line at the carburetor and see if there's a full stream of gas from the gas tank. Use a clean container to catch the gas. If there's just a trickle of gas there may be blockage in the tank. Hal

 

[Anonymous-0]

The tanks have a valve on top which can easily be removed, well not so easy, but they do come out. I only use one tank at a time, and the problem follows the tank used. When I replaced the lines, I checked and cleaned the valve ,as well as replaced the hose that goes in to the tank. If I pull the line at the carb, the pump pulses fuel at a good rate while I crank the engine over.

 

[joe csuti]

From what you say as to problem following to either tank I would suspect a possible pump problem,when you replaced pump did you replace pulse hose from pump to block or check old hose for hairline cracks/loose connection at block nipple possibly causeing pump to lose pulse due to air leak caused by heat/vibration on eng?

If problem not with pump/pump pulse hose then I would suspect a carb problem possibly caused by dirt in float needle seat,dirt/water in carb bowl & internal passages of carb body,sticking float,loose/dirty connections for fuel shutoff sol at sol or in wiring harness or a loose/bad internal connection in fuel shutoff sol.

Connect a 12v test light at connector for fuel sol & run tractor with light connected,when eng starts to give you a problem check that light at sol still on,you may have an ign sw going bad & same affected by heat/vibration & you're loseing power to fuel sol.At very least you'll be able to confirm it's not an ign sw/wiring harness problem if light stays on,although it doesn't rule out an internal problem in sol.

 

[D beatty]

To me it sounds like you have someting floating around in fuel tank or system that lodges and than floats free. Just by the way you say it runs fine for a while than starts doing it again and than comes out of it.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I replaced all the lines, including the hose to the block for the pump, but didnt notice the little nipple having a problem. Ill check that. I also try the test light trick before digging into the wiring again, but 9 times out of 10 it will start right back up, if I cant catch it with the choke lever. Im almost leaning to a problem with the float, possibly a worn pin or needle/seat assembly, but I only have like 200 hours on this thing, so I wouldnt think anything like that would be wore out yet?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Im starting to think the same, but I saw nothing in either tank. I usually will run one tank, then switch to the other and the unused tank is low enough it dries out in a week or so. Im thinking maybe in the float bowl, but I also wonder why, if thats the case, the filter didnt catch it.

 

[D beatty]

I just thought of someting else( I might be wrong) how old are fuel lines? They could be getting soft and wanting to colapes( Iam talking about the rubber hoses).

 

[Anonymous-0]

They are new, like 6 or 7 weeks, if that long.

 

[D beatty]

If you have a good flow of fuel and nothing plugged sounds like you might have to go into carb. I have a Kohler 24HP in the same family of engines and four week ago it did just the opposite of your engine it burnt as black as a diesel. Like you said a kit for these carbs is around a $100.00. My engine had enough hours and age that I bought a new one ($250.00). I am going to tear down the old one and see if it can be rebuilt.Iwas told by several repair shops that if the seats are pitted they are not rebuldable because they do not have replaceable seats.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Where did you get your carb from? Just curious is all. I did find a kit today for like $70 buks, but it looks like its just a basic gasket and needle set.

 

[D beatty]

Got mine through an ACE hardware store that works on a lot of lawn & garden and is a Stihl delear. I also get some parts through a John Deere L&G shop. Take all the numbers off the engine when you go looking for parts for that engine.

 

[El Toro]

I would look inside that gas tank with a good flashlight to see if any crud is blocking the gas flow. I had that problem on a Chevy Citation that the engine would just quit even out on the highway, but the engine would always restart after stopping. Since the engine had TBI injection I installed a pressure gauge on the gas line after the filter. Had to silver solder a 1/8 pipe bushing on the line. I noticed at times the pressure would drop. I decided to drain the tank and pull it. The tank was full of crud where a sock was over the fuel that fed the pump. I cleaned the tank and installed a new pump and that fixed the problem. Hal
PS: Before I would pull that carburetor I would find a clean gas tank and put some gas in it and see if the choke is still required.