kohler engine acts like its starving for gas intermittantly

   / kohler engine acts like its starving for gas intermittantly #21  
Good to know I'm not alone, apparently this is a common symptom with Kohlers.. aside from those caused by bad fuel & filters. I have a 6 month old Kohler Pro CV492S 18hp and it starts and runs fine for 30-45 minutes then begins to stall like it's has fuel starvation or out of gas. Wait a while and it will run again which makes it sound like a temperature related electrical problem. The carb fuel bowl solenoid shuts off fuel flow to the carb when the key is off and prevents dieseling too.. might also be tripped by a safety tip over sensor to kill the engine. I read on other forums that the solenoid can become corroded by water in the bowl and cause trouble but I found a repair tech had already disabled the solenoid by cutting off center pin on mine.. For another shot to find a cure I used a can of dust off to chill the ignition module on the chance it was hot (even though it was cool to touch, apparently some designs get warm enough to require a heatsink). One forum suggested the fuel line was getting hot and causing the fuel to vaporize but I don't think it's the problem here. I have good fuel flow from the tank to the bowl with a new 60 micron filter & new gas. Guess I'll keep reading.. the thing farts when I shut it off too.

Sounds like at this point you don't know whether the problem is fuel or ignition. Run the engine until it stalls, then pour a teaspoon of gas down the carb. If it starts and runs the problem is fuel, if it won't start you have no spark. It doesn't help to overthink these problems; most of the time it is pretty simple.
One question I would ask is why the tech disconnected the solenoid on a 6 month old engine. Maybe done as a troubleshooting aid to fix a fuel delivery problem?
 
   / kohler engine acts like its starving for gas intermittantly #22  
The solenoid is an electromechanical device and could stick in either the off or on position. When you turned the ignition on did you hear a click from the solenoid?
 
 
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