ARGH !! Not getting fuel all of a sudden... Help please

[Kris W]

Ok ijust spent 2 days fighting to get the chains done, i win that battle but then i start it up to test them out & it runs for one min. Literally ! & dies.... And wont start again... Its not getting fuel, i checked the plugs & they are dry, i then put a little fuel down the carb and it fires right up ! Until the gas i poured burns of then dies a few seconds later... My questions are :
1- what should i check first ?
2- what kind of fuel pump is on a 93 magnum, 18hp kohler, mechanical or electric ?
3- where is it ?
4- how can i identify if its a plugged line or busted pump etc. ?
Im so frustrated right now and can use a litte help before i go hulk on this thing !

[philipatmaxfour]

not getting fuel

Ok ijust spent 2 days fighting to get the chains done, i win that battle but then i start it up to test them out & it runs for one min. Literally ! & dies.... And wont start again... Its not getting fuel, i checked the plugs & they are dry, i then put a little fuel down the carb and it fires right up ! Until the gas i poured burns of then dies a few seconds later... My questions are :
1- what should i check first ?
2- what kind of fuel pump is on a 93 magnum, 18hp kohler, mechanical or electric ?
3- where is it ?
4- how can i identify if its a plugged line or busted pump etc. ?
Im so frustrated right now and can use a litte help before i go hulk on this thing !

Kris- Most likely. -Fuel gone bad. Our Ethanol gas does not go bad as quickly as the guys in the southern states.Some of them say 30 days. I have gotten away with the same fuel in the tank for months between Christmas and Easter.But in hot weather like we have had the ethanol goes bad quickly. Guys like Can.Zuk can tell you better but draining the fuel and putting in a few liters of Shell hi test with some gas line cleaner may fix the problem. Good luck

[Kris W]

Kris- Most likely. -Fuel gone bad. Our Ethanol gas does not go bad as quickly as the guys in the southern states.Some of them say 30 days. I have gotten away with the same fuel in the tank for months between Christmas and Easter.But in hot weather like we have had the ethanol goes bad quickly. Guys like Can.Zuk can tell you better but draining the fuel and putting in a few liters of Shell hi test with some gas line cleaner may fix the problem. Good luck

Thanks Philip, but no its full of fresh gas bought yesterday, it ran normal for a few seconds and then just puked. So i think its a fuel pump, blocked line or something else ???

[BW3]

Hi Kris ,
Couple of things , check out the links for Argo here and look at the manual for both your machine and engine , you have a mechanical pump , but I would take a look at you fuel filter first and see if that needs to be changed Good Luck ...
bg

[philipatmaxfour]

Sorry to hear that it's not an easy fix Kris. I don't know what kind of fuel pump is on your 93 Magnum but i bet lots of guys on here can tell us.
Good luck, I hope you get to test your new chains soon.

[Dozerlarry]

I have to take my carb apart and soak it in carb cleaner quite frequently even though I use non ethanol gas or it will run and quit. I took my fuel tank off and flushed it out and was amazed at the crap that came out of it and that helped me a lot. I also put an outboard motor priming bulb and in line fuel filter on the fuel line and that helped with the starts after a set up. Take your fuel line off at the carb and turn the engine over, it should pump fuel.

[Kris W]

Where is the fuel pump positioned ? Ive looked at the manual but its an"exploded view" i cant tell where it is ???

[msafi65]

Magnum fuel pump is on top of the engine guide close to carburetor. Remove the entire air cleaner assembly and follow the fuel line from carb back. First thing you get to is the pump. It's a mechanical pump from the factory. I see a lot converted to electric as the mech one had failed. You can try disconnecting the supply line at carb and route into a can to see if it's trying to deliver fuel. If it delivers fuel to carb but not into it the inlet or needle are pluged. I've had a bunch of Argos from mid 90s to 03 with fuel lines breaking down and feeding bits of hose into carbs and fuel pumps. Mechanical pump can also be tested with vacume and pressure guage if you can get one.

[Kris W]

Thank you

[curtisbyrne]

if your argo still has that black fuel line like mine did replace it. i took every piece of that stuff off and put in some nice clear line. when i drained what was in the black fuel line i was supersized how much deposits and dirt was in there, so most likely one of you fuel jets in your carb need to be cleaned.rock doc has a vid of cleaning his but his is a kawasaki not a kohler so its different but basically all the same stuff you need to do!

[Rock Doctor]

Does the carb on the Kohler have a Positive Fuel Shutoff Solinoid Valve?

RD

[curtisbyrne]

im not sure?

[racerone3]

Does the carb on the Kohler have a Positive Fuel Shutoff Solinoid Valve?

RD

Nope


Pop the fuel line off at the carburetor and crank the engine. If there is no fuel coming out of the line take the gas cap off and try again. It is not too uncommon for the vent hole in the gas cap to get plugged and create enough vacuum to stop fuel flow. If that doesn't get it you either have an issue with the pump, filter, or line. Unless you know when the last time the fuel line and filter were replaced I would just go ahead and do them. Ethanol fuel deteriorates rubber line and can cause it to suck shut. Also if the line has started to break down it will clog the filter in a heartbeat. Even if it turns out that you need a pump, it's cheap insurance to have new fuel line and filter on the machine.

[ARGOJIM]

Recently had an issue with the same conditions, I too would just go ahead and do all 3 items along with a carb cleaning. The gas cap does need venting unless the fill has the vapor line running to the rear of the lower tub, then the cap is not vented. The vented caps tend to leak some fuel out along the side of the body.

Just a note, there are 2 fuel pumps available so look at the arm configuration.

[Kris W]

OK.... So I have established it's not the fuel filter or the fuel pump, I'm getting fuel pumping out of the fuel pump but not into the carburetor so I assume that means I have to tear the Carburetor apart and clean it. I'm gonna watch a couple videos because I haven't done this in about 20 years... and trust me when it comes to stuff like this, it's not like riding a bicycle... age will cause you to forget s*#t over the
years...

Edit: do you guys run premium gas? I can't find a consensus on what kind of gas to use. Some guy swear by premium other swear by regular, If ethanol causes breakdown of the lines, should I just switch to premium to prevent this happening in the future? I will say that I tried running premium in The first tank of gas I ever put in it and it didn't seem to run as smooth as it had before. . . So I switched back to regular gas. After I clean the carb I'm going to be replacing the line.
Edit 2 : also, everything I've been reading online says that clear line goes hard in less than a year and has to be replaced. I don't want to be replacing the line every year so should I just stick with black neoprene then? Or is there another option?