Why Small Engine Shuts off and Doesn't Start Until Its Cool
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2024
- I get asked about this all the time, figured I would make a video explaining what is happening and what can be done to fix it, I have videos on my channel on how to actually do the repairs, this is just a troubleshooting / information video. Thanks for Watching!!!
I would have never thought any of these could be the problem, you are a genius! Thank you Sir!
I have run into this problem before and it turned out to be the vented gas cap being unable to vent properly. I replaced the gas cap and "boogied on." If the gas cap is not venting you will get negative air pressure (vacuum) in your tank and the gas CANNOT flow from the tank to the carburetor. It will be held in the tank by the negative air pressure. If your mower dies AND IT MIMICS RUNNING OUT OF GAS, simply remove the gas cap and replace it on the tank. If your engine fires right up you need to get another gas cap. The more fuel you have in your tank the quicker this will happen because you have less air in the tank. The less fuel you have, the more air you have, and the longer it will take for the vacuum to form in the tank which will shut down your engine. Again, this will manifest itself BY MIMICKING THE ENGINE'S RUNNING OUT OF GAS. This is important to remember. If the engine just shuts off suddenly as fnaguitarplayer9 is saying then the gas cap IS NOT the problem!
I have also had this problem where the engine simply shut down all at once and would not start until it was stone cold again. It turned out to be a crack in the coil. I removed it, placed it in a pan and put it in the oven at 250 degrees for half an hour and then removed it from the oven and painted the crack with shellac. The oven removed moisture from the coil and the shellac sealed it off so moisture could not reenter the coil. It ran fine like that for years and saved me $100 (commercial engine).
Please, however, pay close attention to what fnaguitarplayer9 is saying in his video as he knows much, much more than I. That is why I am watching this video myself. I have learned very much from him and he knows what he is talking about!
Happy wrenching, everyone!
That is a very good point to bring up, i should have mentioned that on the video, i've ran into that alot! Thanks for Watching!!!
I had this problem. Just as you said. I replaced the coil. It was NOT the coil. It was not a dirty fuel filter or a dirty carburetor. It turned out to be the carburetor fuel shutoff valve wire that was laying across the cylinder head. I reran the wire under the bottom of the engine.... problem solved.
Thank you, have a older Briggs and Stratton pressure washer and it will start first pull every time. Runs out of gas, fill it up and would not start. Buddy has a 70’ x 70’ single floor home and same thing. Looked it up and found your video. Thank you Sir.
Great explanation! Easy to understand. I almost feel like an expert.
Check your cooling fins first. Then go from their. Thank you for watching.
Where I live in the desert area of New Mexico, everything gets hot. We have weeks of above 110 degrees temperatures. It is very hard on all of my small engines when I have to cut the Prarie grass and weeds in my yard. I've seen my Toro gas powered weed whacker actually have gas boiling in the plastic gas tank. And as you mentioned all you can do is let it cool down. Good video 😊😊😊
Why would anyone live there ;-) its not Living , its Surviving buy diesel engines--its never get hot or boil
Thanks for letting us know how to diagnose this problem. I have seen those cheaper coils online for quite awhile now but I've been wondering how they hold up.
Your welcome, glad to help out. I have one on my opposed twin cylinder for about a year or 2 now and it still works good so far. Thanks for Watching!!!
@@fnaguitarplayer9 I have a 2011 John Deere x530 that was shutting off when it got hot. And started when it cooled down that same you described, but here's what my problem was. I gave up before I replaced the coils and took it to the John Deere dealer. They field tested it while was there and it did shut down after about 15 minutes and it was a very hot day. Turned out to be the electronic control module. It's a little black rectangular plastic module mounted up under the dash area by the hour and gas meter. It controls all the safety start is functions along with several other things. When it got hot it malfunctioned. When it cooled down it worked fine. It's around $100.00 and is easy to replace.
Perhaps the easiest to check and believe me , I've had it happen to me is a clogged air filter. I blow my air filters out at times, and kept an air filter in there too long one time. The filter looked fine, but it was clogged from probably blow by gases. This was on a riding mower. Happened while I was mowing. Engine died, pulled out the filter and it fired right up. Lesson learned on my part. While blowing out the filter prolongs it, it definitely needs to be changed more often than what I use to do.
Engines with borderline filters or worse filters can take being choked off when they are cold as the cold engine enjoys a rich mixture, but not when it's hot.
All the things you listed, I totally agree with for sure.
That is true to, another thing to check. Thanks for Watching!!!
I have kawasaki FR 691 V, 23 hp on my mower. It was getting hot and shutting down just like you turned off the key, such as you described. It's a twin cylinder. I replaced both ignition coils and it still didn't help. Then I replaced the gas shut off solenoid and that was my problem.
Interesting. Never thought of checking the coil after she dies .
Thanks, this tip is great to have in ones bag of troubleshooting tips!
Yep! It was the ignition coils on my 5yo JD D160 rider. So far so good. Wife is happy!
I’m having almost exactly this issue, with the difference that, while my mower starts to surge and run a little rough, as long it has gas it never just stops. If I stop it myself once it’s hot I have to wait a while for it to start again. You mention that you have videos showing the actual repair. I’d appreciate a link to those videos, I’m having trouble finding them. I’m working on a 20 yr old Briggs 6.5 horsepower mower. Thanks!
I love playing with engines when they show signs like that.... Like can you shim the coil with paper or cork gasket to help stop heat transfer from the head? That way you can look for and order parts online usually cheaper than locally. Fun stuff to play with.
I've never tried that but it might help, but you would still have to make sure its grounded good. Sure is, i love working on small engines. Thanks for Watching!!!
Ps. Video is NOT boring.👍
I hear ya!
Thank you! I hadn’t heard of the coil issue before.
You're my hero
Thanks for Watching!!!
I hope he’s my hero too !!!!
My Briggs & Stratton is a newer model I don’t know maybe 6or 7 years old. It was given to me by my grandfather.
It starts up easily when it gets hot I was about finished my front yard and it just cut off that instantly but it cut off. Wouldn’t start back up but for a second and then it wouldn’t start at all. About 20 minutes later it started for like 10 seconds but then wouldn’t start and an hour later it started and ran.
I’m hoping it’s the spark plug.
Or the coil.
I did make the mistake of putting last years gas in there. 🫣
I have a question about my old 1979 1200 cub cadet it’s a 12hp kolher and it loses power when mowing to the point of shutting off and the grass is not thick at all. It sounds good when it’s run not mowing
Man, I've been convinced I had vapor lock. I'll try this now
Man I think you just helped me and it's probably the coil thing
Thanks for this great video. I have a 2012 B&S11.5 in a Troy Bilt wood chipper that won't start when is hot. It seems to have spark because it starts right up when is cold and doesn't stall at all. Compression seems low at about 62psi but this reading doesn't change when is hot. Given what you show on the video, I'm starting to think it's a vapor lock. What test would help me find out that the problem is definitely a vapor lock?
Your welcome! I'd try to check for spark, use a inline checker first to rule out spark issues, because they will do that when the coil gets hot and won't spark again until the engine is cool, a spark plug can do that too. If it is vapor lock, it can be hard to figure out sometimes, when it does it check and see if the carburetor or fuel lines are real hot, if they are cool or just barely warm then its probably not that, sometimes if a heat shield is missing or something it can cause it to heat up. It can be hard to figure out, i'm currently fighting a situation on my opposed twin. trial and error. Thanks for Watching!!!
My Ztrak 925a would run fine for 20 to 50 minutes, then lose power. I replaced the 2 magneto coil assemblies and that fixed that problem.
I hear ya! Its a common problem. Thanks for Watching!!!
Would this cause the fuel to dump out and on top of the muffler on a Kawasaki v twin?? My mower gets hot and then shuts off and it wont start again. Then fuel just starts dumping out like its flooded.
I think the headgasket was bad and the water and then engine would probably get hot quickly due to exhaust blow entering the cooling chamber which probably created vapour lock as a result.
My generator does this. The spark plug has no cracks and it has a brand new carb. It runs for about 5 minutes then shuts down.
Update: ran it with and without the gas cap on, made no difference. ALSO I can start it right back up, I do not have to wait for it to cool down but still stalls after a few minutes
so did you find the issue ?
@@martindesmarais7158 unfortunately no
did you check the coil talked here? ( I ask to you cause I have really same issue n I don't want to remove it if it's not that)
So pls answer me again if you find.
Really tnx to you ☺
Did you check the oil? Some generators have low oil sensors.
Very good video. Informative and knowledgeable.
Hi,I have a toro] personal pace mower it starts first pull, if I shut it off to empty bag it starts first pull. If it sets for 5 minutes or so, it's hard to start. Has new plug and fuel, clean air filter. Thanks for your help
My engine doesn't shut off on it's own. It is when I shut it off and try to restart it within a few minutes it won't restart. After about a half an hour it will start back up. What could that be from?
Thanks for your videos. They are quite helpful....
That's my problem too. I start it and mow then shut it off to move a big stick or something and depending how hot the engine is, is how long it takes to cool down and start again.
Did you find out what was causing the problem?
My lawn more after I cut down grass for a pretty long time in a hot day it usually revs itself up like a lot then it just shuts off and won't start unless cooled down.
Fnaguitarplayer9 maybe you’ve come across this problem: my 16 yr old riding mower will start right up when cold, but if I move it from the garage, and shut it off just long enough to fuel up, it will not restart for 15-20 minutes. So if I take a break, then go back to resume mowing, it won’t start again for another 15-20 min. But it will start eventually. My mechanic is baffled, because, of course, it won’t fail for him. Any ideas? Thanks!
I have the same exact problem with my Briggs motor on a troybilt pony. How did you fix yours?
I’ve got a real head scratcher. 19.5 hp Briggs & Stratton on a rider, has a hard time starting, and when it does get started the governor is constantly hunting. And if I push to full throttle it revs up really high and then the governor chokes it out, if I put The throttle down, the governor chokes it out. I can get it to run for about half an hour if I find a sweet spot on the throttle, but the governor is constantly surging. I have followed the governor adjustment video, no change. New carburetor, good spark, even after it stops working, and then it won’t start up again until hours later. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Just subed after watching the video and seeing your replies in the comments i can tell you seem to know what your talking about
What should i look for i replaced the cdi and battery and took the carb apart and i have changed my spark plug just not my coil
Thanks
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
Replaced coils and fuel pump still shuts off though. Kubota 1860g is there a resistor thats getting hot? After 20 minutes it acts like choke is on then dies. Sometimes i can feather the the speed to get it back to garage but usually have to pull it in.
My dr200 is doing this right now. Coil Was on the top end of acceptable resistance at about 6.1 ohms (2-6 ok)
My old Kubota mower got hot and shut off. Went to check spark and now it won't even click when I turn the key. Battery is charged, fuse is good, safety switches in seat and brake are clicking when engaged, but won't even hint at turning over. Any suggestions?
This is true. Changed mine on Troy bilt bronco and fixed
Fairly common problem. Thanks for Watching!
I have a cub cadet 1050 that gets hot and barely moves when it does it has no oil leak burns the normal amount runs smooth when I let it sit for a few minutes it works til it gets hot again
Hi my name is Greg I have a 3 cylinder Kubota motor that when it gets hot it quits running and And I changed the oil that wasn't soon or had enough in it but it still shutting down do you have any idea what I should be looking for . Could it be an old pressure Shinding unit that's failing?
Although you sound like eating while speaking, and 'I had my trouble to understand you, it gave me good hints on how to source out the issue .thank you Sir!
Thanks for Watching!
So you are going to berate fnaguitarplayer9 for his accent? How about you take a little time and learn how to write correctly! "you sound like eating while speaking," You want to eat him? "I had my trouble to understand you," C'mon man, if you are going to take someone down at least do it correctly!
A cure for everything Sweat tears or the salty sea so I liked this gentleman’s video, I thanked him for the good hints, yet in your opinion I berated him because I find his accent funny/not easy to understand? Well ok
What if it's lighting up a little is it supposed to be bright my moped just broke down and I have a new coil wire and carb
I thought if you have vapor lock on a push mower or riding mower. You can take off the spark plug then crank the engine and de flood the combustion chamber by letting all the gas out of the plug hole.
I guess I'm a decent mechanic. I have a gravely zero turn. It's very hard to start after i run it a long time and turn it off. I just ordered 2 new plugs, 2 new coils and the fuel sylnoid shut off just incase. Because it lets out a small pop when i turn it off.
I had a "no start" issue that's a bit different. I shut my Toro L-head push mower down (released the bail) while mowing so I could adjust my safety glasses. It was mowing fine up to that point. When I pulled the cord to re-start, the cord wouldn't budge (recoil is new.) An hour later, I turned it on its side and moved the blade and whatever was binding it suddenly, and easily, released. Then up-righted it, pulled the cord & it started right up ... then ran just fine. What could have caused that do you think? Thanks.
Sounds like for some odd reason the blade brake on the flywheel stuck somehow, if the engine seized up (usually do to low oil) it wouldn't usually free up, and it would probably be smoking. That is odd though and its hard to say exactly what happened. Hopefully it was just a one time thing. Thanks for Watching!!!
Thanks for the tips! 👍
Your welcome, Thanks for Watching!!!
thanks for sharing. have this tipe of problem with a br 430 blower. and its about to drive me nuts. lol.
My Briggs push mower and riding mower do the same thing, starts right up when it’s cool. My new push Briggs motor starts up when it stops from tall grass one pull.
I have a troybilt the 42 23 hp engine and it will run fine till it gets hot and then shutdown I replaced the spark plug and fuel filter and it's still doing the same thing I put in the shop and they reset the valves be they said that they were out of adjustment but it's still doing the same thing
I remember a petrol/tvo tractor that used to do this.
I got a murray that somebody gave me small 4.50 ftlb engine push mower runs fine for 15 to 30 mins then you can hear it starts run at slower or more slugish speed then start spurting like its gonna die then eventually dies sometimes i can get it to go a little longer by pressing the primer bulb a couple times but eventually it still just dies and either i can get it started for a few seconds or it just wont start at all after that happens. Any thoughts or ideas on what to try? Its not super old or new i think around 2013 when it was made
good video my friend thank you for advise
Hi I have no experience at all with small engines so I want to ask you I have the se problem with a 2003 suzuki drz 400 starts very easy I ride for 15 20m. If I turned off it won't starts until I let it set around 20m.
I have same problem. Mower starts fine and after mowing a while I shut it off for some reason and it won't start until engine cools down.
Did you find out what the problem was?
What if it runs like crap when it warms up I put new coils and and plugs still happens
What if a 650 dirt bike run 5 minutes I changed the call I changed the spark plug still doing the same thing
My 11 HP Troy Built riding mower with a Briggs and Stratton engine, starts right up and runs great for about 20 to 30 minutes, then starts to sputter and shuts off. Once it has cooled down about 10 minutes, it starts again and runs another 10 minutes then sputters and quits. I pulled the fuel line off at the carburetor and plenty of fuel comes out, so I don't think the riding mower getting fuel is an issue or clogged jets etc or it would not run in the first place, I and I kind of doubt the valves are too tight. Do you have any idea what the problem is? Perhaps a bad coil? The riding mower does not have that that many hours of usage in fact it was just serviced by an authorized dealer. Also, would a car parts dealer have that spark plug tester you demonstrate?
It could be bad coil or even a bad spark plug causing that, i'd suggest getting a inline checker and see if it quits sparking when it acts up. Thanks for Watching!!!
@@fnaguitarplayer9 I'll get an inline checker. I've had two spark plugs in it and did not make a difference, so I do suspect it is the coil. Do car parts dealers have in-line spark plug checkers?
Good tips! Appreciated!
Thanks some great info brother.
mine gets hot like and looses all eletrial power have a 16hp vangaurd on a encore z42 let it set n cool run while n same looses all total power key or anything wont do nothing
What causes one to go off in use
Thanks for the video's.
Your welcome, Thanks for Watching!!!
I have a Toro LX425 and mine runs great for half acre then shuts off . turn key and no turnover at all, lights work, but dead silence when turning key, new battery ,changed solenoid, starter, plug, my question is when they say wont start does that mean its turning over and not starting or does it act like it has no power at all? last thing for me to do is change the coil. starter was needed because it turns over faster now ans then there was no spark. put in new plug started right up . thought problem was fixed then cut whole acre and turned off to put away mower and tried it and nothing?? so Im confused now.
Sounds like the coil is bad to me. Thanks for Watching!!!
This sounds similar to my John Deere LX 277 with a Kawasaki 17hp engine, bought in 2002. Battery was dead so was having to jump start using electric charger on100 amp jump start setting. It would run okay for awhile running mower as well. Then it would start to run rough but I could stop mower and get it back in the shed without dying. Replaced battery and it cold started perfectly. Today I mowed for about 10 minutes and even though the battery indicator light was own it was running fine. Then it started running rough and losing power and even with mower off it wouldn’t make it back to the shed without dying. When I turned the ignition key to start position it was totally dead , nothing, complete silence, like no electrical power to the starter at all. Can a bad coil cause both of those issues, dying when hot and then no juice to the starter? I will check in the morning to see if it cold starts okay again, but if it doesn’t.......what then?
Don’t buy the cheap coils folks
There just junk period
I am having this exact same problem on an old troy built kohler command 12.5 hp. It will run perfect for like 10 minutes and just shuts off and will not start for hours. I will look into your suggestions.
That's very common. Try running with the gas cap loose if cleaning the cap vent doesn't fix it.
Check for spark when it won't start, and as 999 said it can be the gas cap as well. Thanks for Watching!!!
@@fnaguitarplayer9 just a follow up. I did the gas cap no work. Changed the coil no work. I have a new solenoid too. Guess the carburetor may be the problem. I haven't changed the spark plug yet. I will try that too.
@@john.brown. Could be a carb problem, but if its running good for those 10 min then probably not, it could a fuel delivery problem, if it has a fuel pump, check the vacuum line and it could be a bad pump, or fuel line collapsing. Alot of possibilities.
@@fnaguitarplayer9 just wanted to let you know and anybody else that may come across this problem. I found it was the fuel pump. Had someone look at it and found the pump has broken parts in it.
Check that fuel filter.
I replace mine every other season.
Any suggestions about the purchase of a spark tester ?
Hey! I have 3 methods/testers, first is just a spark plug, 2nd is a inline spark checker, which actually only tests voltage, not necessarily spark, and 3rd is a spark plug looking tester that has a ground clamp on it, and a big spark gap. Usually using 1 or 2 of them i can tell if its got good spark. Thanks for Watching!!!
I have this problem with my 1999 suzuki king quad ltf300f 4wd
Thank you so much
My 12 hp Briggs on a 32" walkbehind shuts off while mowing on an incline
What might it be?
Float is set incorrectly
Mine shoots out a huge white cloud and stops. It's oil smoke.
my 17.5 Briggs intak has been doing this for some time. I am on my 3rd coil. My present one is a oem made in the u.s bought it used. I ohm it out at around 4.5. I have changed carb, fuel lines ,plugs. air in cap yes. It acts up when I run wide open with blades on, and at a slight incline. I forgot to mention that key way lines up good and I also set the valves recently. It will start back up after cooling for 5 min. Any help?
Have you checked the governor? Make sure its set correctly or possibly binding?
Also check your key switch . Ive seen those ground out and cause those symptoms.
Had I known this I would have kept my xr500 my dad got me for my 21st birthday
thanks
I changed the carb. And coil it still doing it
A bad valve will do the same thing.
True. Thanks for Watching!!!
how do you connect that (plug tester)
👍
Thanks for Watching!!!