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condo630

Got a little problem here...K301

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condo630

Hopefully someone can help with this...I'm about to the point where I start grabbing at straws and spending money...

My K301 runs fine until I "put a load on it." By putting a load on it, I mean driving uphill pulling a blinking heavy yard roller. When I do this, it starts to misfire and eventually coughs, sputters, backfires and sometimes stalls, sometimes barely gets over the hill and runs fine immediately. It will also clear up if I press the clutch and stop. Even on a long, gradual, uphill slope it will sputter slightly as I drive. The problem seems to get worse as the engine warms up.

A few theories I have had:

-Dirty points or some other electrical problem - cleaned points off with 600 grit, regapped to .020, has a new coil, plug and wire. All other wiring is new, and I guarantee it 100%. Condenser is old, but it is the second "older" one I have had on it, and had the same result.

-Wrong carb adjustment? I have rebuilt and fiddled with this thing ad nauseum, thought I knew what I was doing but maybe not? It will carry on like this if I run it lean or rich or whatever...

-Flooding carb - could my float be adjusted wrong and causes a "flooding situation" when going uphill? I don't have any other way to "make it work hard," except to drive it uphill with the roller in tow.

-Burnt head gasket or valve - seems like loss of compression might cause it to act this way, but now I really don't know what I'm talking about.

I am about to pull the carb off one more time and make certain my float is OK, then I'm going to pull the head and see what's going on under there. After that, I'm lost.

It would be great if someone would tell me what they think on the electrical side. I don't suspect any of it, but am sheepish to rule it out.

Let me know what you think...thanks!

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woodchuckfarmer

Id try a new condenser. Just to be shure

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Don1977

It would help if you told what the K 301 is mounted on not all use the same electrical system. It sounds electrical to me, but could be the carburetor.

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condo630

It would help if you told what the K 301 is mounted on not all use the same electrical system. It sounds electrical to me, but could be the carburetor.

I think it'd be the same as a Raider 12. Battery ignition, alternator charging system. It was a Raider 9...I swapped out the Tecumseh for the K301, installed a the right keyswitch and a solenoid and rewired the whole thing. Unfortunately I don't have any information on the engine.

Thanks.

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groundhog47

Does this occurr only uphill. With load on flat ground, bog it down lower rpm in high gear. If doesn't occurr I'd suspect maybe improper float level. If I read correctly, are you flooding out going uphill. That prob rules out fuel pump, but not float level, and is it a metal float or composite? If float saturated, problem should occurr in all conditions (uphill, down hill, flat), check needle and seat also. If you remove point cover, observe gap turn over engine with starter you should see a good spark, that doesn't totally rule out condenser but helps. Please let us know what you discover, had similar experience, pump, carb float pin hole, and coil, not all at same instance, progressed from one to other punishing me for abuse.

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can whlvr

dont suppose you have a carb from another kohler?if so swap them and see if it does it with the new carb then it would tell you if it was a carb problem which it sounds like

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condo630

I don't have another carb. I had a repair manual somewhere...does anyone have any tips on adjusting these?

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Callen

Condenser on neg side of the coil? Do you have black smoke when it is acting up?

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condo630

Yes, there is black smoke when it is acting up. I'm going to put on a new condenser and check the carb float today.

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can whlvr

sure sounds like a carb issue,i would take it off,soak it over night in a good carb cleaner,berrymans seems to be a big name down where you guys are,and check the float for fuel in it

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condo630

berrymans seems to be a big name down where you guys are

Yep, just used it on another carb a few days ago.

I think this carb is good and clean, and has been rebuilt. I need to recheck the float adjustment. Did not get to it today...I got busy cutting firewood.

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condo630

Still have not gotten to work on it yet, but I just got to thinking; does anyone run a fuel filter between the fuel pump and the carb? Mine is between the tank and the pump, I know these pumps can get disgusting...mine worked fine so I never gave it another thought. I like those clear filters with the paper media inside...would one of those work OK in this location?

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condo630

UPDATE:

I pulled the carb off, found that the float was not quite in parallel with the carb body and the float drop was a little extreme. I corrected both of those issues and adjusted the valves. The intake valve had no gap at all, so I set it to .009. The exhaust valve had way too much gap and I set it to .018.

If it isn't fixed, at least it runs better. Has more power, and no misfiring. I did not have time to really put it through the ringer, but with some minor adjustment got passable results.

I still want to check things out under the head, but that can wait a little longer.

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Wheel-N-It

Great! Sounds like you made alot of progress without spending alot of money.

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TheSpaniard4436

Have you pulled off your oil ??? Because the loss of power could be from your govern not working. I had my governor fall apart which fell into the oil pan ending up breaking my dipper on the rod off, causing me to rebuild the motor.

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condo630

Did a little more testing last week and was still getting the same problem, but not as bad. I'm going to have a look at my head gasket and valve seats/faces next.

I had the oil pan off about a year ago...everything looked alright at that point.

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Jann1965

I have a 121 and have all the same problem as you , but not had time to look so like to no your out come

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groundhog47

Hello member, not to be "catty" but did you check post #13, ?  May help??

I have a 121 and have all the same problem as you , but not had time to look so like to no your out come

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Jann1965

Hi Gerry I have change the oil and the spark plug check and reset the gap in valve cleaned the carb and still the same runs beter but when you engage pto it dies and miss fire , ?

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condo630

I have a 121 and have all the same problem as you , but not had time to look so like to no your out come

 

I spoke with a few guys that really know these motors, and they think its a carb related issue.  I have had it torn apart so many times, I am about to take it to a local shop to have it cleaned and rebuilt properly.  There is nothing I can see that needs attention but those guys know exactly what they're looking at.

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can whlvr

id buy a new carb and then you have a spare

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groundhog47

Ja...65, have you verified timing, point gap, blueish spark across points, swapping coils from known good "runner", fuel pump output, unrestricted fuel lines (filter, collapsing, kinked), any nearly frozen bearings or idlers on implement pto powered (should be a belt reaction with that also). Start with simplest and most likely first and work through one at a time, as could be multiple or just one cause. And like for Condo if you have any tag wire (like tags on parts are wied with), small guitar string wire, or other very thin wire run it though every hole you can find in the carb body, jets, and needles (not sure all have high speed hoes in them), sometime they are almost invisible, so check really close and don't over gouge/bore them. Don't let it wip ya!!!

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condo630

It took me a while to get back at this, but I think I have it resolved finally.  

 

I replaced the high speed jet screw, points/condenser and coil after a small mishap :banghead:.  It runs great now.  I think the new jet screw did the trick.  I did not think the old one was all that bad, but it did have some slight scoring near the bottom. 

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