Help with hot start failure troubleshooting??

[louky]

This is an older Craftsman with a Kohler MV18S engine. I had trouble the last two times I mowed with restarting it after about a 2 hour mowing session. The first time I was able to let it sit long enough that it started up and finished the job. The second time was hotter outside and I wasn't able to get it started. This mower is located on a rural property about an hour from my shop and tools. I hope to be able to do some troubleshooting on site and hopefully won't have to bring it back to town.

1) Starts OK cold
2) has never died from being hot, only a restart issue
3) Often restarts when cooled off
4) Starter is spinning fine, battery up
5) Starting fluid will NOT make it fire

I'm leaning towards some ignition component breakdown, and will take a spark tester with me to see if I can verify no spark when it gets hot. Am I right in thinking it can't be a fuel problem if the starter fluid won't help it fire? Are there other likely scenarios besides the ignition module breaking down? Any other ideas to troubleshoot this would be greatly appreciated.

Ray

 

[RandyT]

I would check for spark when it won't start. Could be due to heat sink of the ignition module.

 

[Lou66]

If starting fluid won't work then you are not getting a spark,, module or coil.. would be my guess.. Lou