19 hp Kawasaki sputtering

[DeanRI]

I've got a Ferris walk behind with a 19 hp Kawasaki. Only 148 hours.

It's sputtering, especially at full throttle and with the blades engaged. You can hear in the video it starts sputtering, stops and then starts again as I'm going up a slight incline at the end.

Any thoughts as to what it could be? Fuel or electrical?

Password is 123

 

[SHOZ]

Fuel problem. Is the tank clean? Maybe remove the bowl from the carb and inspect.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

My OHV snow blower was doing this. Toro Dealer said it didn't have a filter. Well it did have a little disk filter screwed into the bottom of the tank. I bought a bigger small engine filter, but there wasn't a fingers width of room for it under the dress up sheet metal. HD Toro with a crummy Lonchin Chonda engine.
Lots of jun in the tank also that I had to dump, which is odd as I have a fine mesh screen on my jerry jugs. If a flake moves over the tank outlet - you will have fuel starvation. Also make sure you don't have mouse nests or clippings piled up in any governor levers or rods.

 

[hemitom]

low speed jet .

 

[gman2304]

Subscribed: My 10 hp Troy-Bilt generator with the B&S OHV engine is doing the same. So far I’ve replaced the Nikki carburetor with a Chonda carb of the same design, adjusted the valves, cleaned the tank, replaced the air filter and spark plug, unhooked the low oil sensor, cleaned the spark arrestor, fresh gas etc. Starts great and runs smooth for about one minute then starts sputtering and gets progressively worse after a few minutes. It’s 20 years old with only about 100 hours total run time and still looks near new. Always stored inside with fuel tank drained but I’m ready to stuff a rag into the fuel tank light it and be done with it!

 

[walterjay]

Be sure that the fuel cap vent is clear and not clogged. I had that happen a couple times.

 

[ripcord]

In my experience this is often due to a fuel delivery problem. Pull the hose from the carb and drain into a container and see if it can sustain a high rate of flow for a few minutes or if it slows down, in order to confirm or rule it out. Be sure to hold the container at the same level as the carb inlet.

If the flow rate is unimpeded, then start looking into the carb.

 

[Cujet]

If the fuel system checks out, good flow, no water, no debris, no clogged jets, make sure the coils and plugs are good. A higher load can overwhelm a weak spark. Pulling the top cover of the engine is a simple matter. These engines can have damaged coil wires that cause misfires.

 

[THORROMIG]

Change the fuel filter ASAP.

 

[SHOZ]

I changed the ground wire so it's directly attached to the solenoid and now my idle is faster......

 

[repairman54]

Using up old winter fuel? I get vapor locking with winter blend E0 on hot days in my mowers causing them to surge erratically under load once fully warmed up.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

low speed jet .

He said full throttle.

 

[oil pan 4]

Full speed and under load?
A full speed and under load sputter is how I tune carbs on lawnmowers and other single cylinder engines.
Go smaller and smaller on the main jet till the engine sputters then put the next size larger jet back in.
Definitely not getting enough fuel for some reason.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Subscribed: My 10 hp Troy-Bilt generator with the B&S OHV engine is doing the same. So far I’ve replaced the Nikki carburetor with a Chonda carb of the same design, adjusted the valves, cleaned the tank, replaced the air filter and spark plug, unhooked the low oil sensor, cleaned the spark arrestor, fresh gas etc. Starts great and runs smooth for about one minute then starts sputtering and gets progressively worse after a few minutes. It’s 20 years old with only about 100 hours total run time and still looks near new. Always stored inside with fuel tank drained but I’m ready to stuff a rag into the fuel tank light it and be done with it!

If it isn't fuel supply it's ignition. (though could be tight valves) I had to adjust the valves on my junk Toro LONCHIN engine after just one season but it takes about a half hour for the exhaust to start popping and subsequent power loss to occur)

Make an external fuel supply right to the carb and see what's happening. 1-2 mins is about a float bowls worth athst is a hint.
Also any capacitor or transistor in the ignition (I dont know what they are using minute by minute) can heat up and loose function.

 

[wavinwayne]

Couldn't hurt to run some Seafoam in the fuel for a couple of tanks.

 

[hemitom]

He said full throttle.

No ! if you want to be picky he said especially .
Really everything posted here is speculation.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

No ! if you want to be picky he said especially .
Really everything posted here is speculation.

Yes, none of us have the machine in our shop
I am a bit touchy on the subject, I have just been through 3 carbs on my fairly new Toro, and the second one was from the Toro parts warehouse and the low speed circuit didn't work on that piece. A lot of Chinese junk dumped out there.

All the while it was fuel supply, a combo disc filter/nipple screwed into the tank bung nipple not visible or accessible until you perform a 30 min teardown. Unforgivable.

 

[hemitom]

Yes, none of us have the machine in our shop
I am a bit touchy on the subject, I have just been through 3 carbs on my fairly new Toro, and the second one was from the Toro parts warehouse and the low speed circuit didn't work on that piece. A lot of Chinese junk dumped out there.

All the while it was fuel supply, a combo disc filter/nipple screwed into the tank bung nipple not visible or accessible until you perform a 30 min teardown. Unforgivable.

Not at all like the older machines ! would run almost forever on minimal servicing and easy to work on.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Not at all like the older machines ! would run almost forever on minimal servicing and easy to work on.

True that! My old $749.00 28" Yardmachines with a a big Tecumseh SK needed nothing over 27 years - though it chewed gasoline like an all you can eat $5.99 buffet. That worked out good when E10 came along then the a/f mixture was just right.

 

[SHOZ]

My old JD F510 with a Kawasaki motor in it never even say anything about adjusting the valves for maintenance. My reason for never doing it I guess.....