Oil & Fuel Kohler Command 20-no gas flow??

wldlif7 · Apr 11, 2009

All,

I have a Cub w/ a Kohler Command 20 engine and for some reason the gas is not flowing. Here's what I have checked. By the way I have not started in several months, had gas in it, but when I started it for the first time this morn, it did start right off and then died and the only way I could get it to act like it would start is dribble a little engine starting fluid in the carb and then it would fire up for a few seconds. Could see the fuel line going into the top of the carb and no fuel flowing at all from it. Choke has been on and off with full throttle and not full throttle and many combination's in between.

- Blew out the fuel lines
- made sure the gas would flow thru the filter, (the old fashioned way, gas still tastes bad)
- took the unit where the actuated vacuum right ofter the filter off.
- I moved the unit in and out and there seemed to be suction on the far side of the fule filter
-plenty of gas in tank, no floaters in tank

Could the actuator just be bad in the vacuum unit and not be easily detected?

Kind of lost right now and have not started replacing parts yet, going to start when I find a place to buy some of the parts for the Engine, should be plentiful since the factory is 4 miles from my house where they build these things.

Any thoughts or input would be appreciated
Dave

J_J · Apr 11, 2009

Does your Kohler have a solenoid on the bottom of the bowl? Is there any water in the bowl? If you do have a solenoid in the bottom of the bowl, unplug the wire going to the solenoid. unscrew the solenoid and clean it out good. That is actually a fuel shutoff, but if clogged, little, or no fuel will pass on to the jets. . To test the solenoid, put 12v to the wire and ground the solenoid, and it should click. Even with the fuel filter, I have had to take the solenoid off many times and clean it. Water is the other main problem. Drain or siphon the water out. I have used the 18, 20, 22, 25 HP engines for a good while on my Dixie Choppers.

diesel_nut · Apr 11, 2009

Went thru this on another site.
Does it has gas in it?

wldlif7 · Apr 11, 2009

Noted above

-plenty of gas in tank, no floaters in tank

J_J · Apr 11, 2009

Make sure the gas cap is venting, not clogged up, find the vent hole and check for sure.

After trying to start or run the engine, pull the fuel bowl and tell us what you find.

diesel_nut · Apr 11, 2009

Just a little water in the bowl will stop things up. Been there done that.

wldlif7 · Apr 12, 2009

More of what I have found so far:
no fuel is even getting to the filter. Checked the fuel pump and it seems to be functioning, but then again I am not sure how much suction it should have. When moving the arm in and out by pushing on it there seems to be some suction on the down side of the filter. Going to remove filter and check suction on pump side of filter by turning over without filter connected. I can blow thru the filter from both sides w/o any restriction so would not think filter is problem but still need to eliminate that.

When removing the hose from the gas tank side of the filter there is no indication of fuel even entering the filter at all.

Maybe fuel pump? I found a crack in the hose before the filter and cut that section out thinking it was a pressure leak possibility.

I have not gotten to the carb yet to start removing things there. Focusing on the fuel pump, just does not seem right no gas in filter.

I appreciate everyone's input and helping ideas! Helps to have other brainwaves that have delt with these issues.

CCinCT · Apr 12, 2009

You didn't say if you've checked the gas cap vent hole yet. Might want to give that a look if you haven't already.

wldlif7 · Apr 12, 2009

Just checked the gas cap vent hole and blew it out. Well, the thing did start after that for a few min, but a few min only. Going to blow it out again and try it again.

Took the filter all the way out and checked the fuel pump suction and seems to be good suction w/o the filter and putting the filter back in-line reduces the suction over 50%. Can't believe I can blow thru and still not be adequate, but maybe so. Also, can't believe all of this and it ends up being the easiest of the fixes. Going to try and find a filter today and replace anyhow. Has 107hrs on it and never had been replaced.

I will update after replacing the filter, still can't believe it's just that.

Thanks All!