Kohler K582 stalls

Kohler K582 will start and run with choke open for about a minute. Tries to die so I close choke and it will not run or start with choke closed. Any ideas what I should check. I have not checked fuel pressure yet, but I know the pump is working as it has an external electric fuel pump and can hear the fuel. Wondering if it needs a carb rebuild?

 

You can tell the fuel pump is working from the sound? I mean, it looks like you have a fuel delivery problem by your description, so I think it would be good to check to see if you actually have sufficient fuel pressure at the carb. If it runs fine on it's own with no choke for a whole minute before dying, I don't think the carb is to blame.

 

It is an electric fuel pump. This is not on a lawn mower. It runs a truck mounted carpet cleaning machine. That was my next plan to check the pressure. It just seems like it would not want to start if it wasn't getting fuel.

 

Right, except it sounds like it only starts once, then runs good for a minute, then won't run anymore, right? Expansion and contraction of the tank due to temp variations and driving down the road could cause some fuel to be pushed up the line into the carb bowl, then when you start it, it runs off what fuel is in the bowl and whatever residual it can pick up from the lines and then shuts down. Maybe that's not what is happening, but maybe it is. Did you check for spark when it dies and won't start back?

 

Sorry, I need to be more specific. I can get it to start multiple times, but only with choke fully open. As soon as a try to close the choke it shuts off. The van has not moved from the shop. I have not checked spark, as I am able to get it to start back.

I will tell you this, Thursday night I had a crew cleaning an office building and they said it just shut down. I went to check things today and saw that somehow the coil "tab" where the bolts go through to hold it to the intake broke and broke the wire to the oil safety switch. I fixed all that and put a new coil on it as I have another machine with that same engine on it. Up until that happened it had been running fine.

 

Ok, I think you have the choke open/closed terminology backwards. The engine won't and shouldn't be able to run long with the choke closed. That floods it. Once the engine starts, you open the choke and it should keep running. If it only runs with the choke closed and dies with the choke open, then your suspicions about the carb needing work are correct. It probably just needs to be opened up and cleaned out. That engine must be a popular one for carpet cleaning trucks. I rebuilt one like it that was connected to a roots vacuum pump on a carpet truck a while back.

 

Yeah, I got it backwards. Was it on a Steamway?

I am pretty sure it has something to do with the carb, but before I pull it I am going to check the pressure. Do you know of any Kohler classes I can take? We have 4 machines all with kohlers and I am wondering if it would be a good idea to take a class. I am pretty mechanically inclined, just need to learn a little more on diagnosing these small enignes. I can pull a small block chevy down a rebuild it with my eyes closed, but these things get me some times.

 

Nothing to it, just open it up and spray carb cleaner through all ports, jets, and passages. Clean out the float bowl and blow out all passages with compressed air if possible. Button it back up and you should be good to go. On occasion they can be more stubborn and require a more aggressive cleaning, but usually not. Once you get it open, you'll see it's less intimidating than you thought.

Kohler classes won't do much good... that engine is outdated now. I don't think they offer any kind of training for it. The bigger kohler command engines that replaced the K series are still on the market. Is that what you have on the other trucks? The carbs on them are simple enough too usually.

 

Yeah. I have 2 K582 and 2 CH25S's. I just replaced a CH25S in December. Had a lot of hours on it. We don't play around, they get their use that is for sure.