Airens mower w/Kohler Courage engine

[Donald]

This 1 yr old self propelled mower ran fine last year, but this year it would not run, with starter fluid it would run for a few seconds. In looking for the problem I found an odd fuel filter. It kind of looks like 2 pieces of spaghetti connected together, one piece being about the diameter of the ID of the fuel line and the other much smaller. They go inside the fuel line where is connects to the fuel tank. There is not a lot of surface area for the screen. I am half thinking of replacing it with a normal type of in-line fuel filter. Ok, and I may have lost the filter, its somewhere on my garage workbench, which is really a Delta table saw.

The problem with it running is with the float needle valve. The needle valve looks clean, cannot really see the seat, but did spray some carb cleaner in the area of the seat. The only troubling thing is one of the times I removed the fuel bowl today I did see a few specs of dirt at the bottom of the fuel bowl. It could have come from the fuel (fuel is a day or two old) or possibly a spec of dirt on my fingers while putting in the float.

 

[01rangerxl]

Kohler will probably replace the whole carb under warranty if you take it to a dealer/shop. This is a well known problem.

 

[Donald]

What is the problem description? Float needle valve jams?

I wonder how long the warranty is? Its probably 14 or so months old.

 

[FNFAL308]

Clean the carb, replace the fuel line and f/filter, bet your GTG..

I am not aware of a "known" problem with these carbs..
It would most likely be an issue related to old nasty fuel after the unit sat for a long time.

"IF" it is a "warranty" issue the dealer will need to diagnose the issue and submit the warranty claim.. Be aware that if it's NOT a warranty issue (which I suspect is the case) you will be responsible for the repair bill..

 

[Donald]

Its not easy to find an Airens mower dealer. Home Depot no longer carries Airens. I solved the problem by installing a small inline filter (John Deere part). I did not have enough room for the generic inline filter sold at Home Depot. I will make it a point to run stabilized gas 100% of the time in all my small engines.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Its not easy to find an Airens mower dealer.


I found that to be the case in my area too when I was researching push/self-propelled mowers in my area. In fact, I couldn't find anything locally with a Kohler Courage XT engine on it. Ariens or most mowers with a decent OHV engine had to be ordered by a shop or myself.

I would have loved to go with this Ariens, but $839 shipped to the door exceeded the cap. Talk about a TANK though. I believe it's got a friction wheel drive system like my Snapper.

 

[Donald]

I also started to have a problem with the engine starting OK, but it would die after 2 minutes of rough running. I was thinking the automatic choke was not opening fast enough. If I stuck a pen in the intake to hold the choke open, it ran fine. After a few minutes I could pull the pen out and it would continue to run fine. After mowing the grass I looked and the choke was wide open. Thur I stopped the mower and could not get it restarted. When I took off the air cleaner, there was some gas wetness there.

I suspect now that the choke is fine, but the inlet valve is causing me problems. I contacted Airens and they say there is a problem with the plating on the inlet valve on some engines and if that is the problem it will be fixed under warranty. I know the carb is spotless, so I hoping this is it.

I cannot fix the plating myself and I doubt they would give me the part so I need to bring it to a dealer and hope they just throw on a new carb under warranty. Not even sure if its the actual valve or seat.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: FNFAL308
Clean the carb, replace the fuel line and f/filter, bet your GTG..

I am not aware of a "known" problem with these carbs..
It would most likely be an issue related to old nasty fuel after the unit sat for a long time.

"IF" it is a "warranty" issue the dealer will need to diagnose the issue and submit the warranty claim.. Be aware that if it's NOT a warranty issue (which I suspect is the case) you will be responsible for the repair bill..


There is a recall for this carburetor. Kohler was replacing all of them within a certain serial number range for a while, even if they were running despite the plating issues. Earlier in the season and last summer I had days where I went through 20 or more of these carbs, nearly all of them covered under warranty.

 

[Donald]

Well things went in a circle (or circus) between a local Kohler dealer, Airens, Kohler and Home Depot. However a new carb arrived today free of charge from Kohler. They came through. The local dealer wanted an extra $35 for any warranty work when you did not buy the item there. That seems un-American!!

Maybe a winter project. I can deal with the annoyance for another use or two.

 

[dwendt44]

Report the dealer that's charging extra for warranty work.

 

[Rick65]

The brass cap nut that secures the carb bowl is actually the fuel feed to the main jet, and usually gets set aside during carb cleaning. It has 2 to 4 small holes on its sides and a center hole. The center hole gets clogged as it is the lowest point in the carb. A small piece of wire will clean it good, . Even carb cleaners won't break up the hard sediment. If this is your carb problem, it should start right up.