Riding mower issues......

I know this is a tundra / truck forum but I am looking for some help regarding my riding mower. It is a 2006 Cub Cadet Timesaver i1046 and has been a workhorse. I have religiously taken care of it from the time that I bought it from my brother in 2018. Here is what i have done in the last 12 months:

oil and filter change
air filter change
replaced spark plugs
replaced ignition coils
replaced all fuel lines
replaced fuel filter
replaced fuel pump
replaced deck belt
replaced ignition switch
removed engine cover and cleaned all fins of grass and leaves

Since mid summer, I started having a surging / sputtering issue. Thinking it was the carburetor, I bought a new one. It helped a little bit, and adjusting the idle screw helped a bit more, but it still sputters occasionally under load (going up hills, thick grass) and surges at idle. Thinking it may have been a bad carburetor, I got another and returned the initial one. Same result.

For the life of me, I can't figure this out. I have literally replaced all components related to fuel and air delivery.......what am I missing? I will admit that I bought a aftermarket carb because I am not willing to spend the $350 on a new oem kohler. The only thinig I haven't done is adjust the valves, though I don't know that this would cause the problems I am experiencing and don't trust my skills to do this myself.

If it matters I am attaching pictures of the engine......anyone with more experience that I have who has any ideas on what to look for, I AM ALL EARS! Thanks in advance.

 

Seems like fuel issue, I would try running some seafoam thru it and see where you land. Mower/motorcycle carbs have such small passages and needles even dust sized dirt/contaminants can be an issue.

And I assume you treat the gas or run non ethenol? Ethenol in todays gas does absorb water/moisture over time and gas does go bad after a while. Everything with a gas motor that may sit more than a couple weeks, lawn equipment, ATVS, boats......should have a gas stabilizer/ethanol treatment added.

I learned this the hard way, similar situation as you with w a motorcycle that needed complete fuel system cleaning and carbs cleaning and rebuild.

If you still have the original carb, may be worth it to clean and rebuilt that one.
Who knows the quality of the aftermarket unit you have now. Its lower priced vs the manufacturer carb for a reason.

 

I would say you are using ethanol cheap gas, or a fuel pump issue. Also, sometimes if you jostle the the gas tank enough you can kick up a lot of crap from the bottom and get it into the fuel lines. I have had this happen on my walk-behind brush hog, but not on a mower yet.

I would check the fuel line and the fuel pump. Hopefully its something simple like that, replacing the carb a bunch sounds like a pain!

 

Were the new parts purchased on ebay or scamazon? Or were they all OEM parts? It can make a huge difference.

 

I can replace the carb in 15 minutes now......feel like a pro.

I thought about the varnish issue in the tank.....forgot to mention that I siphoned out the tank and ran some cleaner through it before I replaced the lines. Blew it out with compressed air and dried it out for two days. I also replaced all of my gas cans with premium fuel.

Unfortunately, I got rid of the original carb......it was running fine after so I chucked it. And I have used Stabil pretty regularly and run it dry (have a fuel shut off) after each use.

I may revisit the gas tank as I feel like this could be the issue with varnish.....and I do have a can of sea foam I can use. I may do that this weekend.


The real problem is I have the bagger attachment and use this to mulch and bag leaves this time of year. My back does not handle raking all these leaves very well!!!!

 

The fuel pump is kohler, the spark plugs are from auto zone, fuel line from autozone, ignition coils OEM and carb is aftermarket.

 

The only other thing...

Earlier this year my mower was running rough, actually pretty similar to yours, and I brought it into the shop as I didn't want to really mess much with it. Turned out one of the sparks running half the engine was dirty and needed to be replaced/cleaned. This made the other half over-work and had issues similar to what you are describing. Ran like a champ after that. So, my last suggestion, is double checking the new plugs set right and decently clean. Sometimes a bad tank of gas will foul them, or a random who knows what.

If that isn't it...it's above my pay grade, which I admit isn't too high to begin with.

 

Oh and this message is for ANYONE who bags leaves.

STOP DOING IT!!! Double or triple cut your lawn and mulch them in. You are stealing TONS OF NUTRIENTS from your lawn. Stop it!!!! If you double cut, or cut every week of october just to get the leaves regardless of grass hight, you will never rake again.

I am passionate about this because I grew up raking 6 acres of leaves, 3 times a year for 10+ years and never want to do something like that again. My dad likes working harder I guess than smarter!

 

Funny, moving to VA has been my first experience with leaves. Got rid of sand toys, got a riding mower. Got a bag attachment and have used it 1x. My neighbor suggested mulching blades and blocking discharge chute. Love it, no raking, no full bag after 75’ of mowing.
Also, I only use non-ethanol fuel in lawn equipment now. I put it in my truck while I’m at that pump too since truck sits a lot.

 

I agree to ap point......i typically only pick up half and mulch the rest. The problem that we have is there is too much mulched debris and it killed the grass. Since I started doing half and half the grass couldn't be healthier

 

Check compression. Rings can be stuck or simply worn too much.

 

Same here. Moved to VA from MO last year and my mower promptly informed me that while it was sufficient for clover and weeds that comprised my lawn in MO (lol), here in VA they have *actual* grass, and I'd need to either replace the mower blades, or replace the mower. LOL

Got a set of mulching blades and lifted it a bit, and....it helped, but I'll either be buying a 60' ZTR or a used tractor in the spring.

 

I'm getting about 170 bags every freakin' fall. That's too much stupid and labor intensive work to do yourself and too expensive to outsource to contractors. Here comes mechanical engineering degree handy.











Mulches and packs 6 paper bags at once. Works like charm. I spend two half days in a fall only. Wife does not participate at all, besides raking her flower and vegetable beds.

 

That’s awesome

sorry your thread is sort of hijacked OP.

 

So on the stabil, and I mention this because I experience it. Ive had issues using the "red"stabil. It was used in my motorcycle and I still had gas issues. It must have been old because it gummed up the carbs. Further research found others also sometimes had issues with the stabil colored red.

Since I have used the Marine blend Stabil, its blue/greenish and it has worked much better for me.

Lastly, stabil does go bad. Once you open it the bottle, the time limit of use begins. I think there are details on the bottle for acceptable use time after it has been opened. They say 2 years after opening, but I am not sure it actually stays good that long, so it is worth a mention.

 

There's a fine line between fuel and ignition. A mixture too lean can prevent the spark from jumping causing missfire. Generally and engine under a load is where a missfire starts to occur first. Modern engines are very picky with sparkplugs. Knowing that, it's usually best to replace plugs with the manufacturers recommendation. Stay away from gimmick plugs and Amazon or Ebay if at all possible.
If you can easily duplicate the problem try pulling the choke lever out slowly and see if conditions improve. If you have access to a timing light try using it and watch the strobe light to see if it misses a beat.

 

If the fuel in the tank is now older than a couple months, i’d just drain it to be safe and start over with fresh fuel from the gas station. Instead of siphoning it out, can you simply disconnect the fuel line from the fuel filter and let it drain out from there? And i’m not really a fan of magical fuel elixirs. I just make sure that i drain the fuel tank and carb float bowl at the end of the season.

 

Needs amber colored ditch lights, 360 degree awning, sand ladders, mud terrains, cast iron cookware, and a spice rack…and that’s if the lawn is perfectly manicured. Gopher mounds will require the addition of long travel suspension, 16.5k winch, one ton axles, sat phone, 1911, 1912, and 1913 pew pews.

 

it’s new premium fuel. I had to siphon because the tank has a tube that pulls from the top - sucks it up the tube when the fuel pump engages. I may take the tank out completely and really scrub it but you essentially have to remove the entire body of the mower to access it

 

how hard is this to do and how would one go about this?

 

Easy. Take spark plug out, screw a compression tester in, cut fuel off, crank for 2-3 seconds.

 

Ok I will give that a shot this week; thanks.

 

...with throttle wide open.

Dan

 

First thought on surging and sputtering was blockage in the carb but since you replaced the carb, probably not that which leaves leaking gasket (too much air in AFR) or partially clogged fuel delivery (again, too much air in AFR). Did you replace the gasket(s) when replacing the carb? How do the new plugs look?

 

yea I replaced the gaskets and cleaned the mounting surfaces prior to installing. I am borrowing a compression tester from a buddy today. Will try to get that done today. Anxious to see the results of that. I am leaning toward it being an issue with the fuel pick up line in the tank. Incidentally I have noticed that only some fuel enters the filter when starting and running…..maybe 1/3 full. Is that normal?

 

In my experience, yes (fuel filter about 1/3 filled), I think it is normal.

On the compression test, remove both spark plugs (to allow the engine to spin freely) and hold the throttle wide open. If at idle, it will pull a slight vacuum and will take more time to reach max pressure on the gauge.

Dan

 

OK so take out both plugs and shut off fuel. Screw in testing tool to one of the spark plug holes and crank the engine for a few seconds and record reading. Repeat on other side. Is that correct? Sounds easy enough

 

Yes, if it is hand start with a rope, keep yanking until the gauge stops moving, throttle wide open.

Dan

 

nope it’s a key operated…..if it was hand start I would have already taken it to the dump hahahaha

 

Ok compression is checked and good. Spark plugs are properly gapped. I found that the headlight wires were melted and arcing in the frame….so I kept popping fuses. That fixed that problem……if it isn’t one thing it’s another!!!!

I warmed up the engine and adjusted the carb slowly and meticulously - it isn’t perfect but it’s 90% there and I got the grass cut before the truck or treaters came. Appreciate everyone’s help - seems like it is a fuel/air idle mix issue that I will continue to fine tune.