Craftsman 42" tractor

[mernestm]

I have a craftsman 42" tractor with a Briggs & Stratton engine. It starts up fine and runs for a while (i/2 hour or so) and then dies like it ran out of gas or spark. Once it cools it runs fine again until it heats up. I changed the fuel filter and air filter and now wonder if it might be the coil. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Michael

 

[Roadworthy]

When it dies you could pull the line loose from the filter and see if you still have gas flow. You could crank it over while checking for spark. It could be the coil - not uncommon. It could be the spark plug. Check your air filter while you're at it. In really weird cases the magnet on your flywheel could have lost some strength giving very weak spark.

 

[Diggin It]

Which engine?


Is the failure time consistent with weather/temperature? There have been a few reports of the vent hole in the filler cap plugging up. This makes the tank 'draw a vacuum' and slows fuel flow starving the engine.

 

[mernestm]

It is a Briggs & Stratton 18.5 HP model 407777-0121-E5

 

[IH3444]

Make sure your gas cap vent is not plugged. Clean gas cap vent to be sure this is not the problem.

 

[Willman]

Could be a bad coil, I had one act like that on a B&S a few years ago, shut down when got hot.

 

[nyone]

Craftsman never made a tractor with a 42in deck. They made lawn mowers. Have you replaced the carb? It could be as simple as the main jet not keeping up with the fuel needed for the engine.

 

[thekkfan]

My money is on the coil. It would draw a vacuum on tank quicker than that if its full of fuel and cap stopped up.

 

[TimberHole]

Heat it up till it dies and won’t start. Give it a shot of ether and see if it fires. That’s the simplest way to verify whether it’s fuel or fire.