My Murray Lawn Tractor....won't restart when hot ????

[brin]

I posted here since I figure MTD must make Murray Mowers, they make so many others, anyway....I was out cutting my grass this morning with my 20 HP , 46 inch cut Murray Lawn Tractor and realized I was getting low on gas....so knowing I would not be able to restart it I went to the shop for gas...turned it off, filled up on gas and sure enough..it turns over but no spark so it does not even try to start...just turns over without a pop...this has happened before ...So I had to wait a full hour until it cooled down and it started right up.

Does anyone know why it does this and what I can do to fix it so I don't have to wait and hr. when I need to stop for a minute....?

Thanks

[Zork]

Did you get it fixed? I find it odd that you do not have spark after a low fuel issue. Generally, no spark occurs when the magneto/coil gets hot and is failing or maybe due to a hot soak when you shut her down. Make sure your cooling fins are clean and maybe pull the flywheel and clean the crankcase under there, and the coil area. I recently serviced a 19hp that had all kinds of debris under the flywheel; it had to add to the overall temperature.

[The kid]

I posted here since I figure MTD must make Murray Mowers, they make so many others, anyway....I was out cutting my grass this morning with my 20 HP , 46 inch cut Murray Lawn Tractor and realized I was getting low on gas....so knowing I would not be able to restart it I went to the shop for gas...turned it off, filled up on gas and sure enough..it turns over but no spark so it does not even try to start...just turns over without a pop...this has happened before ...So I had to wait a full hour until it cooled down and it started right up.

Does anyone know why it does this and what I can do to fix it so I don't have to wait and hr. when I need to stop for a minute....?

Thanks

Possibly the coil getting hot and opening up. Also try pulling the flywheel to see if rust has built up on it. After removing the flywheel clean up the outside with a fine grit wet/dry sandpaper and clean the magneto the same way. Take a piece of paper when re-installing the flywheel to set the clearance between the flywheel and the magneto. If there is the least bit of rust on it either it will be hard to start when hot. I had a nice new TSC my son was using and he left it outside alot. Finally it wouldn't start or was hard starting. It took about an hour to clean it all up and afterwards starts like new again. You will need a flywheel puller it you don't have one which will made the job easier or alot of patience tapping the lower side of the flywheel with a hammer and turning and tapping, so forth to loosen it. If the little shaft key is the slight bit notched or damaged in any way ( soft metal key that aligns the flywheel on the shaft) then replace it. That is critical.