On Aug 19, 10:39*am, Eric in North TX wrote:
On Aug 19, 8:03*am, (Doug Miller) wrote:



In article , Van Chocstraw wrote:

hibb wrote:
I have a 15 Hp Simplicity garden tractor with a Kohler engine. This
machine is about 13 years old and I have had it since it was new.

I went out to mow the grass this weekend and the engine died on me
after about a half an hour. It just suddenly stopped and made a couple
of small back-firing noises.

I noticed it did still have a few inches of gas in the tank but I
topped off the tank with fresh gas anyway. But before I put more gas
in it I took off the fuel filter and noticed there wasn't much gas
flow from the tank. I blew out the filter with air pressure and re-
installed the fuel filter. It still wouldn't start even after adding
more gas to the tank.

I poured a little bit of gas in the carburetor and it still wouldn't
fire. I spent some time trying to get the hydrostatic transmission
release lever to disengage so I could push it back into the garage but
never got that to work so I left it alone for a while.

After a few hours, I went out and it started right up. It ran good for
15 minutes and then quit again. I left it in the yard until yesterday
morning. It started right away and I pulled it into the garage. While
I was out and about yesterday, I picked up a new fuel filter and
installed it just in case that would help.

I started mowing the yard with it again today and had the same
problems. It ran good for about a half hour and quit. I waited a few
hours and it started and quit again after about 15 minutes.

I was very hot Sunday when this started but not as hot today and even
cooler this afternoon. But I'm still wondering if it has a vapor lock
problem.

Anybody got any more ideas I can try?

Thanks, David

You fuel line is clogged and the tank is probably full of crap. Are you
careful not to let the dirt and grass from the top of the can fall into
the tank when you fuel up? That's what people do. Fill the tank full of
crap and wonder why it stops running.

If that's the case, why does it run fine after it cools off, until it gets hot
again?

That points to an electrical problem, not a fuel problem. To the OP: the
problem is almost certainly in the electronic ignition module. Replace that,
and the problem will go away.

I can only offer that the crap moves around, & will settle once the 15
minutes has passed. Mine did exactly what the OP describes, sometimes
it would run and mow 15 - 30 minutes, sometimes it wouldn't make it
out of the garage. My final diagnostic tool was a spare tank salvaged
from a long dead mower. I hooked it up in the console area and filled
it with gas. The mower came to life instantly & mowed for a solid
hour, at which point I took it to the shop and pulled the fender
assembly and removed the tank. An amazing amount of crap came out. I
used diesel as a solvent, & followed up with compressed air, other
methods would likely work as well

On my vehicle, the tank fill cap is under the seat and stays pretty
clean. I am going to check the plug for spark first but I will keep
what you said in mind too if I don't see a problem with the
electrical.

Thanks, David