I have a 3 year old Sears LT2000 lawn tractor that the 18 HP Kohler
Pro engine just started acting up. I can start the tractor but within 1
minute the engine will stop. After inital stoppage if I try starting it
fully choked it will run for 10 seconds and then quit for good. I can
reacreate this after a few hours fo the engine resting. Any ideas? I
hate to bring it to Sears who will charge an "arm and a leg" to
fix.......

Fred wrote:
> I have a 3 year old Sears LT2000 lawn tractor that the 18 HP Kohler
> Pro engine just started acting up. I can start the tractor but within 1
> minute the engine will stop. After inital stoppage if I try starting it
> fully choked it will run for 10 seconds and then quit for good. I can
> reacreate this after a few hours fo the engine resting. Any ideas? I
> hate to bring it to Sears who will charge an "arm and a leg" to
> fix.......
>
Get a carburetor rebuilding kit -- about $10. Take apart the carb,
clean it with some sort of organic solvent. We used to use MEK, TCE and
the like. But Acetone will probably work. Install all the parts from
the kit. Most of them are not needed but any diaphragm must be
replaced. This is especially true of the one that implements the
accelerator pump.

The first thing I would try is replace the fuel filter if it has one.


From Mel & Donnie in Bluebird Valley

"Mel M Kelly" <MelKelly [at] webtv.net> wrote in message
news:27697-435573AC-211 [at] storefull-3313.bay.webtv.net...
> The first thing I would try is replace the fuel filter if it has one.
>
>
> From Mel & Donnie in Bluebird Valley

I'll second that - and if it doesn't have one, put one in line.

"Stubby" <William.Plummer-NO-SPAM- [at] alum.mit.edu> wrote in message
news:NvKdnTXoJegKxcjeRVn-2g [at] comcast.com...
> Fred wrote:
>> I have a 3 year old Sears LT2000 lawn tractor that the 18 HP Kohler
>> Pro engine just started acting up. I can start the tractor but within 1
>> minute the engine will stop. After inital stoppage if I try starting it
>> fully choked it will run for 10 seconds and then quit for good. I can
>> reacreate this after a few hours fo the engine resting. Any ideas? I
>> hate to bring it to Sears who will charge an "arm and a leg" to
>> fix.......
>>
> Get a carburetor rebuilding kit -- about $10. Take apart the carb, clean
> it with some sort of organic solvent.

A 3 yr old carb certainly shouldn't need a "rebuild kit" - but taking the
fuel bowl off and cleaning it (after the fuel filter thing), making sure the
float is free, cleaning the inlet should take care of any "dirty" gas that
got in there.

> We used to use MEK, TCE and the like. But Acetone will probably work.
> Install all the parts from the kit. Most of them are not needed but any
> diaphragm must be replaced. This is especially true of the one that
> implements the accelerator pump.

Srgnt Billko wrote:

>>Get a carburetor rebuilding kit -- about $10. Take apart the carb, clean
>>it with some sort of organic solvent.
>
>
> A 3 yr old carb certainly shouldn't need a "rebuild kit" - but taking the
> fuel bowl off and cleaning it (after the fuel filter thing), making sure the
> float is free, cleaning the inlet should take care of any "dirty" gas that
> got in there.

"Shouldn't"????? Right. But you have to make certain the carburetor
understands that.

A common practice is to run the fuel dry in the Fall. That lets the
gaskets, diaphragms, etc harden during the Winter. And then it won't
start or run right in the Spring. Next, the owner starts tightening all
the adjustment screws, leading to more problems.

Changing the fuel filter is fine, but it's been many years since I have
actually needed to do that. Back then, I found the filter clogged with
some red powder that someone said was additives put in by the supplier,
not dirt or water.

My old car suffered a stuck float valve once. Gas kept on pouring into
the carburetor and one in to flood the engine. I paniced and the dealer
sold me a $1200 replacement. Later on I was reading an old engine
repair book that said the first thing to do is whack the carburetor up
the side with a rubber mallet to dislodge stuck floats. I'll bet that
would have worked and no disassembly would have been required.

Fred wrote:
> I have a 3 year old Sears LT2000 lawn tractor that the 18 HP Kohler
> Pro engine just started acting up. I can start the tractor but within 1
> minute the engine will stop. After inital stoppage if I try starting it
> fully choked it will run for 10 seconds and then quit for good. I can
> reacreate this after a few hours fo the engine resting. Any ideas? I
> hate to bring it to Sears who will charge an "arm and a leg" to
> fix.......

Pull the air cleaner off and re-try. Check oil level. Do the carb
checks as suggested.

Kirb

kirbseepe [at] yahoo.com wrote:
> Fred wrote:
> > I have a 3 year old Sears LT2000 lawn tractor that the 18 HP Kohler
> > Pro engine just started acting up. I can start the tractor but within 1
> > minute the engine will stop. After inital stoppage if I try starting it
> > fully choked it will run for 10 seconds and then quit for good. I can
> > reacreate this after a few hours fo the engine resting. Any ideas? I
> > hate to bring it to Sears who will charge an "arm and a leg" to
> > fix.......
>
> Pull the air cleaner off and re-try. Check oil level. Do the carb
> checks as suggested.
>
> Kirb

Thanks for all the replies. I did some research on the Kohler web
site and there was a troubleshooting FAQ with an entry that made
sense......the gas cap breather was plugged!! There is a small pin
hole on the top of the cap and that had a yellow substance "oozing" out
of it. Took the cap off and started the engine and it ran fine. Cleaned
the "pin" hole and everything works fine now. Thanks again for all of
your replies!!

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 11:35:34 -0400, Stubby
<William.Plummer-NO-SPAM- [at] alum.mit.edu> wrote:

>
>
>My old car suffered a stuck float valve once. Gas kept on pouring into
>the carburetor and one in to flood the engine. I paniced and the dealer
>sold me a $1200 replacement. Later on I was reading an old engine
>repair book that said the first thing to do is whack the carburetor up
>the side with a rubber mallet to dislodge stuck floats. I'll bet that
>would have worked and no disassembly would have been required.

This was such a common problem for the volkswagon beetle in the 60's
that the Owners Manual actually said to hit the carburetor if the car
wouldn't start.

And it wasn't on a piece of paper taped inside after the manual was
printed. It was included in the regular text of the manual. They'd
obviously been having the problem for years.


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On 18 Oct 2005 11:28:37 -0700, "Fred" <tealey [at] sgi.com> wrote:

> I have a 3 year old Sears LT2000 lawn tractor that the 18 HP Kohler

Tarnation, boy, I think you're in trouble. Someone's darn mounted a
toilet on your lawnmower. Taint no wonder it don't work.

>Pro engine just started acting up. I can start the tractor but within 1
>minute the engine will stop. After inital stoppage if I try starting it
>fully choked it will run for 10 seconds and then quit for good. I can
>reacreate this after a few hours fo the engine resting. Any ideas? I
>hate to bring it to Sears who will charge an "arm and a leg" to
>fix.......


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On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 15:53:10 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005 [at] bigfoot.com>
wrote:

>On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 11:35:34 -0400, Stubby
><William.Plummer-NO-SPAM- [at] alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>My old car suffered a stuck float valve once. Gas kept on pouring into
>>the carburetor and one in to flood the engine. I paniced and the dealer
>>sold me a $1200 replacement. Later on I was reading an old engine
>>repair book that said the first thing to do is whack the carburetor up
>>the side with a rubber mallet to dislodge stuck floats. I'll bet that
>>would have worked and no disassembly would have been required.
>
>This was such a common problem for the volkswagon beetle in the 60's
>that the Owners Manual actually said to hit the carburetor if the car
>wouldn't start.

It said to use the handle of a screwdriver iirc. I learned this when
a friend called me from a downtown parking garage. I didn't expect
the owner's manual to help but it was all I had and I read it anyhow.
By golly it said what to do, but it was sad if you ask me..
>
>And it wasn't on a piece of paper taped inside after the manual was
>printed. It was included in the regular text of the manual. They'd
>obviously been having the problem for years.

Rather than change the manual why not fix the car. She waited for two
hours before she reached me and I got there. And most boyfriends
wouldn't have read the manual and she'd still be there.
>
>Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
>me know if you have posted also.


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