Carb question

Cub Cadet zero-turn; 26 hp Kawasaki engine.

This thing has been acting up all summer. One time it will run perfectly all afternoon, but the next time it will act like it's starved for fuel--will stumble, and only run with the choke pulled out, and eventually will die altogether. Sometimes, it will start right back up and then run perfectly, other times I'll tap lightly on the carburetor bowl a couple times, then it will run fine again. Yesterday it did this 10 times in an hour and a half!

I'm assuming there's some crud in there someplace. I wanted to pull the bowl off the carb and clean it out, but not sure how to do that. Instead of a nut on the bottom, there is a solenoid type thing with a wire on it. I have no idea what it is or what it does. I thought it screwed out, but it is crimped on there and just spins when I try and turn it.

I guess my question is-how do I get the bowl off this carburetor? Or is there something else going on here?
Thanks in advance!

Taryl fixes all
Check the choke isn't sticking.

This post was edited by circus on 08/11/2023 at 05:49 am.

That is a fuel shut off solenoid. Look just above where it is crimped, it does unscrew there are flat spots on it for a wrench. It will need to be a fairly thin wrench to fit in the gap.

I would try some Sea-foam first, it might fix it without taking anything apart.

There are 2 flats above the crimp.
Takes a slim 13 mm wrench. Take it
out and clean it good with brake
cleaner or electrical cleaner until
the plunger moves easily its full
travel. Put it back in and see if
that takes care of your problem.

I have tried adding a splash of Sea Foam to the gas, and also have tried Gumout injector cleaner. As mentioned, it will work fine one day, and act up the next time.

After looking at it again, I did see the flat spots for the wrench. I'll have to try pulling it off and cleaning it.

Thanks for all the replies.

Not the same engine, but I've had a choke plate flopping around giving me fits until I figured it out.

From the looks of the pics. You mow in a rather dusty area.

I would remove the carb and give it and everything connected to it a good cleaning. Your problem sounds more like the float is sticking at times by running good one time then cutting out the next.

May also be a good time to replace the fuel lines and filter. Or at least the filter. And drain and flush the fuel tank to remove any crud or water that may be in it.

Update:
Yesterday I was able to get the bowl off. Had to modify a wrench to get it done. Was surprised to find only one small piece of debris in there, but I guess that's all it takes if it floats up and blocks the hole. Took it out and cleaned up the bowl with carb cleaner. The plunger on the solenoid was moving freely, but sprayed carb cleaner on it also.
Put it back together. It started right up and ran for over 5 minutes in the shed till I shut it down. Today I added some more Sea Foam to the gas tank and mowed with it for over an hour and it never missed a beat! Hopefully that's a good sign! I have some more mowing to do in the next couple days, so keeping my fingers crossed!

Well.....everything has been working fine---until today. Took it out and within 10 minutes it started doing the same thing all over again! I pulled the bowl off the carb again. There was nothing in there, but I cleaned it again. Also sprayed carb cleaner on that solenoid and up around the float area. I did not pull the whole carb off, as carbs are generally above my pay grade.

Went back to mowing, but every few minutes it would act up--start surging like it was running out of gas, and not run unless the choke was pulled out. Push in the choke and it would die. Funny thing is, it would always start right back up and run fine for 3-5 minutes, till it decided to do it again. I finally got that section of lawn mowed, but by that time I was about ready to drive the thing into the lake! I confess it's got me stumped.

When was the last time you changed the fuel filter?

I wasn't kidding about a choke plate flopping around. If you didn't take that seriously, you should.

The choke plate is tight. Plus it has a spring that holds it in the open position till you pull the button to close it.

The only fuel filter I am aware of is an inline filter between the tank and the fuel pump. I've tried replacing it and even removing it entirely. I pulled the tank earlier on in this adventure and rinsed it out good. There was no foreign matter in it.

Yesterday I mowed with it for close to an hour with no problems. Then suddenly it did it again and just quit. This time it would not restart and stay running, no matter how the choke was set. Unfortunately, I was at the farthest point away from the shop as I could be on our property. I ended up towing it back to the shop. When I got it there, I turned the key and it started right up!

Today, I pulled the bowl and that solenoid off the carb for the third time. There was nothing in it, but I cleaned it up again, sprayed carb cleaner all over everything again, and put it back together. I started it up and mowed for at least an hour, and today it never missed a beat! Go figure!

This post was edited by Rich'sToys on 09/01/2023 at 09:06 pm.

Been fighting a similar problem on
my son in laws Bad Boy. After
spending $600 on it at a small
engine shop it ran perfectly for
one cutting. Then it was back to
cutting out and when it wasn't it
had no power. I replaced the
carburetor and fuel pump again
which stopped the cutting out but
didn't help the power issue. Pulled
the plug wire and found it had a
bad coil. Replaced that and all was
fine until yesterday.

It started cutting out again just
like it was running out of gas. I
had my little streamlight looking
at the filter and noticed a bubble
going into it. A minute later there
was another. I thought the pick up
tube must have a hole so I pulled
the tube and fitting. Blocked the
outlet and blew into the tube. No
leak. Tried blowing straight
through the tube and it would
barely come out. Blew from the
fitting and it was open. Did that
several times and some kind of
round seed finally popped out. It
looked like an overgrown okra seed.
I found another one in the bottom
of the tank and got it out with a
pick up claw. Ran great after that.

You might want to check your pick
up tube. Hold the grommet down
while you wiggle the fitting out or
you'll end up having to buy a new
grommet like I did. Lol Good luck!

I did have the pick up tube out when I rinsed out the tank. Don't recall if I physically blew through it or not, as there was no crud in the tank. If it acts up again I may have to check that. The last couple days it has been working great, including this morning when I went back and finished mowing the area where it stopped working last time. Keeping my fingers crossed!