I have a Craftsman lawn tractor, 24 hp, 48" deck, that is almost 3 yrs old
(in a few days).

It has never had a problem until a couple of days ago, and I maintain it
each offseason (change oil, oil filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, clean air
filter, sharpen blades).

I have a 1-acre lot.

At this time of year, the grass is growing fast again, and on Friday I cut
it after having cut it the prior Sunday (5 days). I have a bagger
attachment and was using it for the entire yard.

Just as I was finishing, the tractor became sluggish, then conked out. It
would restart but would quickly conk out again. I pushed it to the
driveway, and found it would barely run if I kept the choke in full choke
position, but would conk out as soon as I put the choke to the run position.

The grass bins were not close to full.

The next day, the tractor seems to run fine. I haven't put it through a
full mow, but just ran it once around the entire property, and it seemed
fine.

I had already scheduled a service call for this Thursday, as I have a 3-yr
warranty. I don't want to cancel yet not knowing what the problem is. My
warranty expires two days later, and I have the option to renew, but it's on
the order of $300/yr, so a 3-yr extension would cost almost $900.

- What might have caused the engine to conk out as it did, but it seems fine
now?

- Is it worth extending the warranty?

Dimitrios Paskoudniakis wrote:
....
Just as I was finishing, the tractor became sluggish, then conked out. It
would restart but would quickly conk out again. I pushed it to the
driveway, and found it would barely run if I kept the choke in full choke
position, but would conk out as soon as I put the choke to the run position.
....
The next day, the tractor seems to run fine. I haven't put it through a
full mow, but just ran it once around the entire property, and it seemed
fine.
....
- What might have caused the engine to conk out as it did, but it seems fine
now?

- Is it worth extending the warranty?

Possibly some dirt or other contamination in the fuel that cleared or
(much less likely, but can happen) a piece of debris across the plug
resulting in weak spark.

I never buy extended warranties myself...

--

On Sep 22, 10:09*am, "Dimitrios Paskoudniakis"
wrote:
I have a Craftsman lawn tractor, 24 hp, 48" deck, that is almost 3 yrs old
(in a few days).

It has never had a problem until a couple of days ago, and I maintain it
each offseason (change oil, oil filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, clean air
filter, sharpen blades).

I have a 1-acre lot.

At this time of year, the grass is growing fast again, and on Friday I cut
it after having cut it the prior Sunday (5 days). *I have a bagger
attachment and was using it for the entire yard.

Just as I was finishing, the tractor became sluggish, then conked out. *It
would restart but would quickly conk out again. *I pushed it to the
driveway, and found it would barely run if I kept the choke in full choke
position, but would conk out as soon as I put the choke to the run position.

The grass bins were not close to full.

The next day, the tractor seems to run fine. *I haven't put it through a
full mow, but just ran it once around the entire property, and it seemed
fine.

I had already scheduled a service call for this Thursday, as I have a 3-yr
warranty. *I don't want to cancel yet not knowing what the problem is. *My
warranty expires two days later, and I have the option to renew, but it's on
the order of $300/yr, so a 3-yr extension would cost almost $900.

- What might have caused the engine to conk out as it did, but it seems fine
now?

- Is it worth extending the warranty?

I THINK YOUR PROBLEM IS THAT THE TRACTOR HAS A FUEL FILTER ATTATCHED
TO THE FUEL LINE WHICH PROBLEY IS YOUR PROBLEN, DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF
FOREIGN MATTER THAT IS IN THE GAS YOU BUY TODAY. Always filter the gas
you put in the gas tank with a piece of cheese-cloth or a funnel with
a built in filter. Forget the warrenty because you can always get
someone to fix it for far less money than sears. Sorry for the
capitals. Good luck henry

henrypenta wrote:
....
... DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF
FOREIGN MATTER THAT IS IN THE GAS YOU BUY TODAY. Always filter the gas
you put in the gas tank ...

I suppose you do this routinely in your automobiles, too?

_What_, specifically, makes you think there's "foreign matter" in
gasoline today?

I'd agree it's possibly a fuel contamination issue, but I'd wager it
was/is user-introduced if so...

--

On Sep 22, 10:09 am, "Dimitrios Paskoudniakis"
wrote:

- What might have caused the engine to conk out as it did, but it seems fine
now?


Gas cap vent, perhaps. If it does it again, try loosening the gas
cap.

- Is it worth extending the warranty?

$900 seems pretty steep for an extended warranty. That's almost as
much as a new mower.

dpb wrote in :

henrypenta wrote:
...
... DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF
FOREIGN MATTER THAT IS IN THE GAS YOU BUY TODAY. Always filter the gas
you put in the gas tank ...

I suppose you do this routinely in your automobiles, too?

lol. I'd like to see him/her answer that!


_What_, specifically, makes you think there's "foreign matter" in
gasoline today?

I'd agree it's possibly a fuel contamination issue, but I'd wager it
was/is user-introduced if so...

--

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:46:16 -0700 (PDT), henrypenta
wrote:

On Sep 22, 10:09 am, "Dimitrios Paskoudniakis"
wrote:
I have a Craftsman lawn tractor, 24 hp, 48" deck, that is almost 3 yrs
old
(in a few days).

It has never had a problem until a couple of days ago, and I maintain it
each offseason (change oil, oil filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, clean
air
filter, sharpen blades).

I have a 1-acre lot.

At this time of year, the grass is growing fast again, and on Friday I
cut
it after having cut it the prior Sunday (5 days). I have a bagger
attachment and was using it for the entire yard.

Just as I was finishing, the tractor became sluggish, then conked out.
It
would restart but would quickly conk out again. I pushed it to the
driveway, and found it would barely run if I kept the choke in full
choke
position, but would conk out as soon as I put the choke to the run
position.

The grass bins were not close to full.

The next day, the tractor seems to run fine. I haven't put it through a
full mow, but just ran it once around the entire property, and it seemed
fine.

I had already scheduled a service call for this Thursday, as I have a
3-yr
warranty. I don't want to cancel yet not knowing what the problem is. My
warranty expires two days later, and I have the option to renew, but
it's on
the order of $300/yr, so a 3-yr extension would cost almost $900.

- What might have caused the engine to conk out as it did, but it seems
fine
now?

- Is it worth extending the warranty?

I THINK YOUR PROBLEM IS THAT THE TRACTOR HAS A FUEL FILTER ATTATCHED
TO THE FUEL LINE WHICH PROBLEY IS YOUR PROBLEN, DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF
FOREIGN MATTER THAT IS IN THE GAS YOU BUY TODAY. Always filter the gas
you put in the gas tank with a piece of cheese-cloth or a funnel with
a built in filter. Forget the warrenty because you can always get
someone to fix it for far less money than sears. Sorry for the
capitals. Good luck henry

Just replace the gas filter. They're easy to change and cost a few
bucks. Then run it and use it. You could also have a wire that has a
bare spot where it's rubbing on the frame. Look for worn wires.


I replaced the gas filter 6 months ago. They're good for only a few
months?

Why is it running fine now, starting the day after it was not running fine?