Toro 520lxi engine cuts out

[sloop 0]

I have a Toro 520lxi Ride on lawnmower it has a kawasaki 20hp water cooled petrol engine, which is like new and kept very clean. The tractor starts fine however cuts out after about 5/10 minutes running time, it will start again but the same thing happens again and again, the choke is not left out as I push it back as soon as the engine fires up.

Any suggestions would be greatly received

Steve

[Jim_M 178]

That engine is known for ignition module failures. You might want to use a spark tester and see if it's losing spark when it dies.

[Lawson Steele 0]

I have the same problem and it is driving me nuts. It will run for a while, that can be 5 minutes to 45 minutes, ie unpredictable. Then it will sputter and die. I leave it for 20mins or so and it will start, sometimes with a bit of choke, sometimes without. It may sputter for a second or two and then settles down. The cycle then repeats itself. I have checked fuel line, it has a new spark plug (the right one), the water temperature is fine, the fuel is clean, i have replaced the fuel filter, ... And this has been going on for a couple of years now. If anyone has the solution, a big, huge beer will be on its way!

[One man went to mow 0]

I have the same,any answers??

[stevasaurus 22,632]

My 702 did this and it turned out to be the coil.  For some reason, it would heat up, the engine would quit for a while and then it would start...after the coil cooled down.  The thing is, I don't know if your horse has a coil, but I am betting it has something like it and that is what is happening. 

[Buckshot1 8]

 On those Kaw engines, they are a coil/mag and a igniter. Could be either of the two. The igniter is locate on the right side of the block, about mid way. Right side being, as sitting on the tractor. I would take Jim M. advice an go from their,  

[Jrodgers04 43]

I recently purchased a 520LXI and was experiencing the same issue described in the initial post. (I found the post while searching for a solution.)

 

Tractor would start and run fine for a few minutes, then sputter and stall. It would restart fine...then repeat the same behavior. One time, as it started to stall, I closed the choke and the idle recovered. I was able to limp the tractor back to the garage by riding choke.

 

This led me to believe it was an air/fuel issue. I had just replaced the air filter with an OEM part...I double checked to make sure it was ok.

 

Then I checked the fuel filter...it was really OLD. I popped in a new one and the issue is completely resolved. 

 

Thought I'd leave this hear for future generations....

 

 

[Damien Walker 246]

I've had similar issues...with three causes: Someone had inexpertly rewired the electric fuel pump and so there was a loose connection resulting in the pump running intermittently.  The carburettor bowl contained a significant amount of debris/varnish and the tractor was much improved after a clean.

 

It still kept failing however, and because of the previous fuel starvation issues, I opened the carburettor up again, again finding no fuel. This was caused by a large lump of fibrous debris in the carburettor fuel inlet which had to be picked out with a piece of wire.

 

I didn't change the filter. Clearly I should, but it has been running beautifully ever since.

 

I have not witnessed ignition failure at all, but the machine has only done 250hrs so there's time!

[peter lena 8,552]

@Jrodgers04  personally like a  REPEDITIVE  ISSUE  for a tracking start . that fuel issue , is a typical issue , would also drop the carb bowl , and add some fuel treatment to your gas .  have 2 filters on my units , one close to tank , another close to carb , vertical fuel check valve , clear fuel line , so I can see the standing fuel charge . once I make a change / improvement , verify its  reliability , and then  make the same change to the others . lots of hours , no issues , pete