Engine Troubles with a Kohler

[jedi_4_life]

Hi there,

I have some engine problems that I'm stumped with. I have a Max IV
with a Kohler 20 HP engine and a Keihin carb. It has about 250+ hours
on it, and it's a 1999 year model. It never liked starting and idling
during the cold winter months, which became a problem because I mostly
use the ATV for plowing. To start it, I'd have to use the choke, give
it gas, leave the choke on, and often leave it idle for 10+ minutes or
constantly give it gas at 1/2 throttle (I would use a velcro strap to
hold the throttle 1/2 way) until it warmed up. In most cases, after
it was running for a while it didn't seem to have a problem.

So, this fall I changed the oil, replace the spark plugs, and decided
to rebuild the carb to see if that would change my idle issues. The
carb had a lot of junk on the inside. We cleaned it out, bought a
rebuild kit, replaced the gaskets, put it back together, and now the
engine will turn over but won't start.

1. After trouble shooting for a while, we opened it back up and saw
that there was no fuel in the bottom of the bowl. We could get the
engine to run if we put fuel in the carb from the top, but it didn't
run for more than a few seconds.

2. So, we took the carb off again, put fuel in the bowl, reassembled
it, and when we tried starting it (knowing that there was fuel in the
bowl) it ran for about 30 seconds and then stopped. We disassembled
the carb again and noticed that the bowl was empty. This would
suggest (to us anyway) that fuel is not getting to the carb. So...

3. We then checked how the fuel gets supplied to the carb. We
pulled the line that goes to the carb and stuck it into a can to see
if fuel was coming out. It was coming out, but slow. Unfortunately I
don't have a base to gauge it against. It filled up the can that we
were using but we didn't know if maybe it going too slow.

4. We checked the line that came from the engine for pressure (the
one that goes to the pulse fuel pump). There was pressure but again,
not a lot.

5. I didn't think the pulse fuel pump was bad but I replaced it with
a new one and there is still no change.

Does anyone have any ideas on what the issue(s) might be, or what I can try next? Thanks for the help!

-Keith

[teeko]

Check your needle and seat in the carb. This may have been assembled wrong or the small tab was bent which is causing the needle to stay closed.

[duckhunt81]

The Kohlers I've been around can be temperamental in cold weather especially if the carb settings are a little off i.e. choke, idle, etc....
To check if you have fuel pump or fuel line issues. You can bypass the fuel pump and try to gravity feed it gas. An old lawn mower gas tanks work well for this. Just fill the mower tank with some gas and fasten a length of fuel line directly to the carb inlet.