Roger Tomfohrde
Member
I hope this does not get too long but I am having trouble keeping my 1541 with a M 18 Kohler running. I bought it for parts four years ago and it ran too well then to part out. Tractor is missing most of the hood. The first 1541 had a snow blower and it ended up on the second one. I had the snow blower fail during the selling of our house with a big driveway and it just sat but would get used every so often. We had to move because of my job ended and didn't really need one this large but it is here and the first one got requested to stay with the former house.I have been using all summer with no problems so one day I decided to change the oil because I finally had time. Put oil in and changed the filter, made sure I had the right amount in it. I ran it and it would baulk and die periodically, If I caught it fast enough it would stay running. Now I can get it to run cold under no load but if I kick the mower in it might go 50 feet or 5 to ten minutes before quitting. It had good spark on both plugs but wide gaps which I changed.Changed air filter,fuel filter and checked the carb setting yesterday. It still will not run very long and had to leave it out because I couldn't get into the shed.I have the harness unplugged to the kill switch right now to check the wiring(wiring was a mess when I bought it)If I let it sit it will start but if i try to restart right away after quitting it puffs white smoke out the exhaust. P.S. when I was checking for spark with the plug out it had a little flash of fire from the cylinder hole of the plug. I am at a loss where to go next in getting this to run. Does any body think it is the oil? The old oil seemed really thin.