K301 in a 312-8 Cutting Out

[Charlie75 0]

I have a 25 year old Kohler engine that's using a little oil but runs fine otherwise 99% of the time.  I'll be mowing and the engine rpms will start dropping off, have a couple small back-fires and shut itself down.  The engine is also making an odd puffing sound from the exhaust while this is happening.  I can immediately restart the engine and run normally for another 10 minutes or 2 hours.  This has happened four times now in the last two weeks and there doesn't seem to be any pattern.  Has anyone had a similar experience or an idea of what may be happening?  Thanks

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,521]

I would say you have to determine if it is electrical or fuel related. Can you wire a small bulb to the (+) side of the ignition coil plus a ground if you have battery ignition so you can see if you are losing power to the coil? An auto side-marker lamp socket and 194 bulb are easy to come by at an auto supply or in my case a junk box.

 

The K301 was used in the 1985 and 1986 312-8's and then they used the M12 so your ignition power is supplied by the pto and seat switches.

 

Garry

[Twohorses 2]

Had a similar problem with a 312-8 that has the Command engine. Carb rebuild fixed the problem.

[953 nut 60,348]

I had this type of problem a few years ago and it turned out to be the gas cap vent wasn't working right. When it quit running the fuel filter would be dry, took the cap off, primed the fuel pump (old style with the primer lever) and off I went.

 

Put in a new clear fuel filter and next time the problem comes up take a look at it. May be the problem or may not, but a new filter couldn't hurt.

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

 

  

[ericj 1,579]

i had similar problem with a 312A with a 12M  i replaced the magneto and that didn't help. finally talked to my dad's old dealer and he told me it was an exhaust valve sticking so i gave him the tractor and he opened up the valve guide and decarboned the vales and that solved the problem. he said that wheel horse told the dealers about it. runs great now

 

 

eric j  

[Jeff-C175 7,206]

That's a good thought about the cap vent.  I had a 62 Olds at one time with the same problem, would run for like a half hour... and sputter and stall.  Rebuilt dang near everything I could think of with no help.  Finally driving one day just before it stalled, I heard a strange noise, kinda like a garbage can getting crushed... it was the GAS TANK!  Loosened the cap and it took a big gulp of air and ran great.  Put the correct gas cap on and the problem was fixed!