Kohler 6.5 engine needs help starting....

[Peavey]

I have a 4 year old log splitter with a Kohler SH265 engine.
I've had it since new and if I start it every week it fires right up, no problem.
However if I let it sit longer than a month or so, it won't pop/fire.
It's a recoil starter so after the 15th pull I get a little Po'ed....
So I've started removing the air cleaner and spraying a 1/4 ounce of gas into the carb then it fires right up and runs for hours, perfectly.
I have other small engines that sit as long or longer and don't act like this one,anyone have a solution/suggestion?
Edited to add, I only run fresh non ethanol gas.

 

[Fried Chicken]

The spraying 1/4 ounce gas bringing it to life has me puzzled... otherwise I'd say bad gas.

Maybe the carb is draining itself, and pulling it by itself doesn't bring enough suction. Your choke ok?

 

[Patrick62]

The pic's I could find, looks like a normal gravity feed fuel system, with a shut off valve.
When something won't run, go back to the basics.
Fuel, air, compression, spark.
Something is missing or in wrong proportion.

Since it will fire off with a snort of fuel, I am suspect the choke... or an empty float bowl.
Since it runs fine once started... Maybe there is just enough restriction on fuel flow that it takes time to refill the carburetor? Check the sediment bowl. Check the needle and seat.

 

[Peavey]

The spraying 1/4 ounce gas bringing it to life has me puzzled... otherwise I'd say bad gas.

Maybe the carb is draining itself, and pulling it by itself doesn't bring enough suction. Your choke ok?

It looks fine, it appears to close completely.
And I see that it has a drain screw in the float bowl, maybe it drips slowly enough to empty the float bowl in a month....
Time to pull the carb I guess....

 

[cookies]

are you shutting the fuel supply off and running it until it shuts off after every use?

 

[Mad Professor]

Dam? I have a Kohler K321 14 HP in my tractor since 1972, it always starts. Never been apart, except carb when it ate some E10 BS fuel....

Is kohler Chi-Com now?

 

[Peavey]

are you shutting the fuel supply off and running it until it shuts off after every use?

I would do this (run it dry) when putting it up for winter storage, I'd still have to prime the carb in the spring to get the engine to fire after opening the fuel tap.

 

[Peavey]

The pic's I could find, looks like a normal gravity feed fuel system, with a shut off valve.
When something won't run, go back to the basics.
Fuel, air, compression, spark.
Something is missing or in wrong proportion.

Since it will fire off with a snort of fuel, I am suspect the choke... or an empty float bowl.
Since it runs fine once started... Maybe there is just enough restriction on fuel flow that it takes time to refill the carburetor? Check the sediment bowl. Check the needle and seat.

I'm reminded of the Courage twin on my tractor. The choke/throttle linkage was re-routed to avoid the exhaust pipe and for a while the set screws would slip and force me to prime it ,like this splitter engine, until I tightened the choke linkage properly. I'm gonna pull/push on the choke linkage to see if I can get it to fire/pop.....

 

[Greg Tracy]

Starting fluid! drill a small hole in the air filter housing and use the straw that comes with the starting fluid. Only need about a 3 /16 hole for the straw for whatever reason new engines chokes seem not to work.

 

[cookies]

The carb needs to be disassembled and all of the jets rodded out, gaskets replaced, tank drained and possibly the main jet sized up one size. A 10-15 micron fuel filter and a fuel shutoff valve should be installed as well, use the fuel shut off to shut the engine down for the day...if it sits more than a week crack the float bowl drain and open the valve to cycle the fuel out of the hose, check the fuel for contamination and clarity.