kohler start puzzler

[38racing]

dealer friend did a demo for me today. 2 year old Columbia zt with kohler vtwin. turn key to start and it cranks great but no fire. choke applied.he removes gas cap which is about level with engine top and blows into it. cranks it over and it fires right up. he stops it. re cranks and again no fire. so i blow into tank. he cranks and it fires up. he's done this several times apparently. unit has fuel pump. my thought is maybe choke is not actually closing but got to wonder how blowing into tank might prime it all the way through pump. Or possibly ABS is not retracting without the pressure assist? But I think he blew with key in off position. and again if ABS is up when he blows then how could it get primed?

[bgsengine]

If you can prime a kohler V-twin with a fuel pump on it by blowing into the fuel tank then you got multiple issues - FUel pump would not necessarily stop that but gas could be draining out of the pump through a ruptured diahpragm into the crankcase (check oil level, sniff for gas in oil?) or the float needle and seat may require some work (it should hold that pressure back) or your float needle (some are plated aluminum) could be corroded and sticking in the seat (pressure pops it loose) you may need to adjust the choke, and finally you could just be chasing a red herring and problem could be in your key switch (try cranking it , then stop, move things around, re-crank, see if it fires on second attempt)

[KE4AVB]

That a good point. Is it firing the plugs? As for the after fire solenoid try directly powering it or using a substitute fuel bowl screw; unless, it is one of those solenoids with the main jet attached. BGS probably know this well too that these solenoid do stick just enough to cause problems from being overheated or partially shorted and melting the plastic inside. Done replace several this year on Courages.

The equipment numbers would help some as we could look-up the engine's IPL to see what your working on.

[Luffydog]

Fuel line could be partly blocked and also might be the hose to vent has hole in it as well.

[38racing]

Fuel line could be partly blocked and also might be the hose to vent has hole in it as well.

I'll have to ask him how long he's left it running because if it runs for a while then it would seem that there is enough fuel flowing and should be enough left in the carb bowl for it to restart and run.