14HP K series Kohler engine.

[electro12 2]

Has anyone had problems with the 14HP engine on your wheel horse just running out of power and either dying or spit and coughing then dying after running & mowing for 45 minutes to an hour and a half ish. I have experienced this with four engines over my 40 years of working on and owning WH tractors. I have done everything i can think of to resolve the problem, Non-Ethanol fuel, new points, replaced condenser, replaced coil from another of my working 12HP units, installed brand new carb, replace the carb off of a 12HP unit that ran great,  ground valves, lapped in the ground valves, installed an electric fuel pump, by passed all the safety systems if the particular tractor had them, some were early WH and did not have. rerouted the fuel lines to keep them away from the engine as well as possible to prevent vaporizing the fuel. changed spark plug, peined the valve seats in. Machined and overhauled one of the engines. As time goes by the run shorter and shorter lengths of time. Once they die, let them sit for a half hour they start and run great again for a short time. Have installed a temporary remote fuel tank and mowed with that. Have tested the spark as soon as it dies and it has Spark??? i must say this has me puzzeled. If anyone else has run into this and has a cure please let me know, And it's only the 14's that i have had this problem with. Because of this i am purchasing a coupl of new Subaru 14 HP engines to replace two i have now on tractors. Again i need some input on this issue.

[8ntruck 6,376]

Have you checked the vent in the gas cap, or just loosened the gas cap when the engine quits?

 

If the gas tank is not vented, eventually a vacuum is created that the fuel pump cannot overcome.

 

Good luck.

[roadapples 6,981]

Had a C160 that acted like that. Facet electric fuel pump cured it...

[electro12 2]

14 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Have you checked the vent in the gas cap, or just loosened the gas cap when the engine quits?

 

If the gas tank is not vented, eventually a vacuum is created that the fuel pump cannot overcome.

 

Good luck.

Yep did that and even drilled larger hole through. It also as mentioned did same thing when i mounted my remote tank to it. The remote tank was higher than the carb so it was gravity flow dirrectly to the carb.

[8ntruck 6,376]

Clogged intake screen in the gas tank?  Something flunky in the crankcase breather?  Fuel filter issue?

 

Just floating ideas here.  Sounds like you've covered most of the bases already.

[squonk 38,935]

2 things come to mind. Since you have checked for spark and have it we can eliminate that.

 

What model and what muffler are you running? A C series say a C 141 is pretty tight under the hood with a stock muffler. The carb gets hot. If it gets too hot fuel will boil in the carb bowl causing vapor lock. The electric pump should solve most of that. Are you running the fuel line directly through to the carb or going thru the existing old pump too? 

 

I would install the thicker Kohler 2711030 carb mounting insulating gasket on the carb. Also I would double check the ignition timing. It may be late. If your running the stock muffler, try another design that's easy to bolt on.

[electro12 2]

1 hour ago, squonk said:

2 things come to mind. Since you have checked for spark and have it we can eliminate that.

 

What model and what muffler are you running? A C series say a C 141 is pretty tight under the hood with a stock muffler. The carb gets hot. If it gets too hot fuel will boil in the carb bowl causing vapor lock. The electric pump should solve most of that. Are you running the fuel line directly through to the carb or going thru the existing old pump too? 

 

I would install the thicker Kohler 2711030 carb mounting insulating gasket on the carb. Also I would double check the ignition timing. It may be late. If your running the stock muffler, try another design that's easy to bolt on.

Ok thanks. that's a possibility on the muffler I am pretty sure on this unit it is stock. The other three i can't remember. But yes, i ran fuel both thru od pump and also bypassed it then as mentioned i also ran a test tank gravity feed to the carb. I can't imagine its the timing as it starts excellent and runs for again 45 Mints maybe an hour maybe just thirty minutes before it just looses power and dies. I will try the thicker gasket or double up a set to see if that helps. I could even make a pretty thick one out of UHMW which would insulate the carb well. This unit has the muffler outside the hood which should keep it from getting as hot as the ones with the muffler under the hood. But as mentioned i have not had this problem with the 10,12 or 16 HP engines. just the 14 and this is my fourth one over 30 /40 years of working on WH. I have eventually just given up on them and replaced with a 12 Which i think is the best engine they made. And you really won't know the difference when running it   Thanks again

[electro12 2]

2 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Clogged intake screen in the gas tank?  Something flunky in the crankcase breather?  Fuel filter issue?

 

Just floating ideas here.  Sounds like you've covered most of the bases already.

Thanks for your input,

I have eliminated the fuel tank possibility and the fuel filter by running the remote fuel tank- no filter directly to the carb  (tank higher than carb so plain old gravity flow) I pulled the breather when I ground the valves and it was cleaned and did not appear to be anything other than normal. Thanks though for your comments i really appreciate all the help

[squonk 38,935]

The only difference between a 12 and 14 is the bore difference of .125" or 1/8". The fact that it only happens to your 14 HP engine(s) is pure coincidence.

[vzy4q8 2]

Craziest issue similar to this that I ran across was a bad coil!  Would run fine until I got into heavy mowing, then would die. After cooling down it would start right up. I checked spark and it always had it, but in hind site I was checking after the mower cooled down. I finally checked when if died and was still hot and I found I had no spark. So I spent ~$10 on a new coil and it fixed the problem. I tor the old coil apart and found a broken coil!  My assumption was that when not working hard there must have been no gap (or very small), but when hot and working hard the gap would get big enough to no longer provide spark.  After changing about everything else, the coil change was the fix.  Probably very low probability of this being the issue, but just throwing out my frustrating experience......... I would not have believed it if someone would have told me this, but coil was about the only thing I hadn't replaced.  And I always like to take bad parts apart to understand what failed.......

[23 Reo 221]

I have had coil problems with modified V8s in 60's and 70's cars. Heat kills them. Try putting in a new coil

[953 nut 51,717]

1 hour ago, vzy4q8 said:

So I spent ~$10 on a new coil and it fixed the problem.

Hope the coil you bought has an internal resistor or you have added an external ignition resistor.

[moe1965 718]

I had similar issues some time ago and found out the head was clogged with debris like grass clippings and gunk causing a over heating issue.I took off the shroud to really see the issue and give it a good cleaning.