Oil & Fuel Z-Force 44 Fuel Shutoff Valve

[ibjim]

I recently purchased a new Z-Force 44 with the 20hp Kohler engine. When it was delivered, the fuel shutoff valve was left in the on position and the first time I used it, it ran fine. Reading the manual after that first time. it says, "Close this valve if you are not going to run the mower for a period of 30 minutes or more to prevent flooding the engine." So I closed it, but the next two times I used it, just the opposite occurred. It was hard starting and to keep running and would die under load until I let it set about 10 minutes. I may have been flooding it trying to get gas to the carb. Yes I turned the valve back on first.
I'm no mechanic, but this is the sixth mowing machine I've had in the past thirty years and none of them even had fuel shutoffs like this.
I realize the solution is if it does that when I turn it off, don't do that! But is there any input out there about this?

 

[DmansPadge]

I've never seen a ZF44 and I don't know the layout of them. But I cannot imagine that it is neccessary to shutoff the fuel between uses. I've never seen a mower that shutting off the fuel was required on. Maybe it is a CYA thing by CC.

 

[Rubicon1]

I say leave it on also. Almost all my manuals for small gas engines say to shut off the fuel valve. Don't worry about it.

 

[gamble77]

Yeah, we leave them on around here. The way the fuel line is are routed on those Z's its hard for the fuel to flow if the valve is cut off and it takes a while for the pressure to build up. I would say that you need to only turn the fuel off if you are going to be storing it for weeks at a time.

 

[JTKub]

I think it's mainly a safety feature. The fuel tanks tend to be higher than the engine on the zero turns so maybe fuel would continue to flow if the carb float stuck open? Dunno for sure. Closing the valve could be a good safety precaution if you were not going to use the unit for more than a week or so.
G/luck
Joel