Hard starting gator

I've got a jd gator with a one cylinder gas engine.I bought it new. It has around 450 hours.When it's cold it cranks for probably a minute till it will start with the choke pulled out.Then you have to feather the gas pedal and pull the choke out to move. After it runs a few minutes it runs fine.I've replaced the spark plug,fuel pump, and fuel filter.I don'the know what else to try.

Bet you have crap in the carb. Corrosion from water in the fuel, will give you fuzzy jets, and fuzz in the bottom of the bowl. Very tipical in chinsaw carbs too. I hate ethinol in feul. I just did last week the float in one of my tiny generators. Was set wrong from the factory. Runs like a little bear now.

I have no use for ethanol fuel either. Has messed up fuel systems on ATV, rototiller,generator, and weed whacker. Non ethanol gas is available near me at a few gas stations. It's a little more expensive but I'd rather use that than keep having problems. I agree if you pulled off the carb you would find a bunch of crud.

have a Club Car Carryall here with a Kawasaki 292 single cyl 4 stroke motor in it
we replaced the motor in it 2 yrs ago
was complete with carb and ignition system
basicly bolted it in hooked up a cple wires came with new fuel pump so swapped that out and while I was at it put in a new muffler, clutch and battery so motor wise everything was new from the factory
old motor went 9000 + hrs and burned more oil than gas have 12000+ now on it
it gets run daily here yr round
both did exactly what your's does
when cold I pull the chock out and crank for about 20 sec then let it rest for about 10 sec it'll usually start right up then but I still have to feather the choke and gas for a cple mins
my carb and ignition have no ajustments other than the cables
I've never been able to solve the cold start problem
will be watching for a solution to this if there is one
one other problem I have with ours is after a long run of about 10 mins it will backfire out the muffler about 30 secs after the motor is shut down ad both the old did and the new one dose this
there are no computers on this but it dose have electronic ignition

(quoted from post at ignition

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I bought a used ranger side by side a few years ago and someone told me to not by one with carb. This 500cc engine has fuel injection and I haven't had a minutes trouble with gas or starting trble(with exception of bad battery).

The 4x2 Gator were cold blooded from the day they where new. I have one that is a little better but not much. IF your in a hurry then take some thing else on a cold day. LOL

There is a high altitude kit you can get for the carburetor that will help it some. The motor was designed to be a real lean running engine as they knew these units would set and idle a lot.

Mine backfires after being shut off also.I thought about trying an electric fuel pump to force fuel to the carb.I wonder if there is a sack on the end of the fuel line inside the tank that is partially plugged restricting the fuel flow.

I almost bought a 2016 Kubota diesel 900 4x4 with 200 hours at an auction today.I thought that might solve my problem.I chased it to 10500 and that'she where it ended.

If the carb is clean and going by what JD says, I would put a size larger pilot jet (starting circuit jet) in the thing. This is assuming the pilot jet is replaceable in the first place. If all else fails take the carb to a GOOD machinist and have the hole in the pilot jet drilled a touch larger. Mikuni and Kihein carbs both have dozens of sizes of pilot jets available. Other brands I'm not sure about. In this day of electronic everything, carb tuning is becoming a lost art.

adjusting the valve lash won't make it worse .

Bought mine new in 1998, it's always been that way, about 1-2 minutes of warmup and its fine

I've got one that just rolled 1000 hours. It's a cold blooded sucker since the day it was new. However, it will fire right off with the choke, but you have to let her warm.

A while back it was running much slower than usual. I looked under the bed and found that the cable had stretched and wasn't opening it up all of the way. Is your choke knob closing the butterfly for the choke all the way? I had a hard starting Kohler that had that problem.

I worked at the local golf course for 8 years and we used Club car carryalls for work vehicles. When the Kawasaki engine in them backfires like that check and see if the throttle butterfly is completely closing or if the shaft and bushings are worn and letting air in. Those two things usually are the cause. Those engines should not idle when the accelerator is closed since the throttle butterfly should shut off all air to the engine due to the spring on the carburetor end of the governor cable closing it.

(quoted from post at 12:39:57 11/05/16) I've got a jd gator with a one cylinder gas engine.I bought it new. It has around 450 hours.When it's cold it cranks for probably a minute till it will start with the choke pulled out.Then you have to feather the gas pedal and pull the choke out to move. After it runs a few minutes it runs fine.I've replaced the spark plug,fuel pump, and fuel filter.I don'the know what else to try.

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I have a gas golf cart that was always hard starting when cold. The battery went bad, so I put it this huge deep cycle battery that I had sitting here....starts great now! I would try that first.

Gene this was a new engine supplied by Club car that came complete with new carb attached all we did was bolt it in attached a few wires and fuel line oil muffler n cables even had the oil filter on it no adjustments back fired from the 1st run
the throttle plate screw you mentioned has never touched the stop its turned out that far and the plate closes completley I've even put on an extra spring to be sure it closes
my problem is when you stop the motor shuts down just like any other golf cart I've driven we have yamahas and ezgos as well about 30 sec to 45 secs or 10 to 12 steps away from it with the motor shut off not running and the key off or on it back fires out the exhaust sounds like a 12 guage I've had ppl hit the ground ducking remember that was from day one on a totaly new engine carb muffler fuel pump and ignition not a remane also the old motor with 9000+ hrs on it did exactly the same thing but not everytime maybe once in 5 to 8 shut downs
I agree on the butterfly or the bushings that's the main cause on golfcarts but not on this as both the old ad new carb did and does the same I tryied swapping out the old carb onto the new motor and verified the shaft and bushings on the new one as well made sure the butterfly closed completly that's why I'm stumed
BTW the club car tech hasn't been able to solve it either he's tired to 3 times now

the in tank filter has been replaced as well as the inline filter and the fuel pump
to me it sounds like the muffler is getting raw fuel in it while driving the longer the run the bigger the bang
it has a large muffler considering its a 1 cyl motor about 8" in dia and about 12 to 16" long it's bigger than my AC WD 4 cyl muffler and still louder
don't think it's a fuel pump issue needing more as less maybe

sorry Ray just relised you were referring to yours
you can try that but note both m old and new engine were both hard starting cold and the new one has a new fuel pump
I tried using a spray bottle with st8 as in it that I would give it spray into open carb before starting it made it start a bit quicker but still had to feather the choke and peddle till it warmed up

Had the same problem with my 2008 model. The diaphragm in the carb was bad. I replaced the diaphram and it runs ok now. I don't use ethanol gas in it any more and haven't had the problem since.