After 3 years, Gravely zero turn mower with a 23hp Kawasaki started acting up.  Runs fine for an hour or so then all the sudden runs short on fuel.  I've discovered when it coughs, if I immediately shut the blade off and turn the choke on, reach around and lift the fuel line that runs between the tank and fuel pump, hold it until it starts flooding, (usually about 5 seconds), then we are good to go again.  I noticed that the in-line fuel filter in that line shows very little fuel until I lift it, it fills up and that's when it takes off, I shut the choke off and away we go.  If I don't choke it, it dies.  That fuel line is about 8" long. Reading the Kawasaki forum, guys have replaced filters, tubing, coils, plugs and all kinds of stuff but no conclusive answer posted.  One guy said the plastic float in the carb warps from engine heat and to replace it so I did that along with the needle seat but it happened once again today, did my little lift and choke and ran for the rest of the day no problem.  I've not changed the inline filter nor done anything with the tubing.  It does have that stupid little solenoid on the bottom of the carb but I'm pretty sure that's working and normally and if the fuel pump goes bad it pumps fuel in to the crankcase. Short of putting a line from the pump to an auxiliary tank I'm running short on solutions.

 Well,,JW,,I ain't one of them gurus but my experiences with them small engines or all engine for that matter,,,is if you have to choke an engine to keep it runnin,,,there is a blockage somewhere from tank to engine,,and the blockage may be in the carb itself.

 May be some trash in fuel tank that moves around, collapsed fuel line, or a plug in carb,,,,,,, Good Luck,,!!

It does have that stupid little solenoid on the bottom of the carb but I'm pretty sure that's working

They go 'bad' TWO ways...

1) stuck open......drains tank into crankcase....

2) sticky closed....engine stops with gas in tank..

#2 can be an over heated coil in the solenoid valve or 'varnish' buildup. I've yet to see a 'bad' coil but I've cleaned dozens of them. Varnish covers the spring return and plunger assembly, making for a 'lazy' action. The one on B&S engines are FAST, Kohlers are slow... Have no idea how fast  a Kawi plunger  is.

You usually need a thin 1/2" open end wrench to remove the valve from engine. I use spray carb cleaner,spray-blow air,3-4 times, check operation by connectng to cable, then turn key on-off several times. Oh yeah ALWAYS KEEP a finger on the rubber tip when blowing air near it !!!!!!!!!

If you lose yours, I have a spare 'somewhere' in the garage.......

Jay

I forgot that it has never had ethanol in the tank. First time it happened to me I immediately thought about plugged vent, took the cap off the tank and it still sputtered and died and have tried a couple more times with same result.  I've always started out with a full tank also, next time I might start with a quarter tank.

I will throw in that I have to choke it every time I start it unless it's within a couple minutes after I just shut it off.

I'm leaning toward the pick-up tube in the tank but has anybody cut the tip off that little solenoid on the bottom of the carb to render it bypassed?

You can hear the engine start to struggle a few seconds before the full shut down starts.  At first, when it happened, it would die, I'd shut the blade off, restart the engine, if I tried to mow it would continue to do it so I would let it cool, shut it off let it rest for an hour and go again.  I suspected the coils but did the research to find out a lot of guys replaced the coils to no avail.  It's a Kawasaki 691V engine, same as used on Deere mowers but info from them is scarce.

It may be worth taking a piece of emery cloth to the little magnet just to experiment.  At this point it's a challenge, doing things one at a time because I just need to know what the heck it exactly is.  Oh yes, air filter was the first thing, genuine 5 micron Kawasaki.

re:

has anybody cut the tip off that little solenoid on the bottom of the carb to render it bypassed?

yes , on Cub Cadets with Kohler engines as they want $$$$ ($200) for the solenoid valve !! It's easy to pull off the rubber tip, just toss it in the drawer of rider ignition keys and rear wheel keystock...

If you do remove the tip, add an manual inline shutoff( $2) otherwise, one day , the oil sump will be 'thin' and extra full and smelly like gas....

Went to town today and got a new filter, during replacing I may have stumbled on to one of the problems as the float improved operation.  Noticed the tubing has a pretty good bend in it, probably could hold up while it was new  but age being a factor I'm thinking the pump sucks it shut once the heat gets to it.

I'd shorten the top hose to minimum, to allow the bottom one to be longer for a more gentle bend. Tight bends are bad news, might take 3-4 years but tubing will collapse.

If that doesn't work out, grab a section of brake line, bend as required and connect to 2 'stubs' of rubber hose.

'Fuel injector' hose has a stronger 'sidewall'( good for high pressure ) so it won't collapse.

Jay

Here we go on the ethanol high horse again.

My toro Z with Kaw motor is 20 years young and has 1600 hours on it.  I have run it for 16 of those years.  The carb has never been taken apart.  I do not have a problem with E10 in any of my small engines.

Oh and the Z and lawn tractor have always set all winter with E10 and stabilizer in them all winter and have always popped right off in the spring.

Matter of fact the lawn tractor is semi retired and over 20 years old and the carb has never been off of it.  Go figure.

i am not a champion of E10, I use what is available .

Now I will get off my high horse. 

I'd have to pay $5.40 US$ per USG to get 'cheap' gas with NO Ethanol in it... so... I've used stuff with E10 for years.

As long as I drain the tanks and burn off what's in the carb, they all come back to life next time round except for 2 strokes... they hate me..

Jay

The higher octanes are not (necessarily)

 

You need to look for a sign that says "REC Gas".  Lot's available up here.  Not that you "need" to, but just saying if you wanted to find pure gas.

Up here the ONLY source of nonE10 gas that I know is SHELL hitest....

..well, cept for avgas....

 

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov" rel="nofollow - https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov

Well, between Dave in PA and jaybmiller it is fixed.  I shortened the hose between the tank and filter, installed a new filter, put a short piece of hose on the outlet of the filter and then used brake line, bent at a 90 into the hose to the pump.  The amazing thing is that not only did I have a short piece of brake line that fit but I knew exactly where it was.  Thanks a lot guys, mowed for 3-1/2 hours straight and not so much as a hiccup.

Didn't have any small hose clamps so I put some temporary clamps on.  However, as a boss I had years ago once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary repair."

NICE ! Glad that's fixed... I'm impressed you KNEW where the tubing was...yeesh my garage is stuffed of 'have-to-haves' I can't find anything...like my favorite 1/2" deep 3/8 drive socket. It 'shows up' , once every 3-5 years though, then goes 'rollabout'.

Jay