I had a no start issue with the mower. I took the needle out of the solenoid and it runs but will probably flood and leak gas without a manual fuel shut off. Safety issue, fire hazard.

The engine is a Kohler Courage 26 HP twin. It has a Japanese carburetor with a fuel shut off solenoid. I cleaned the solenoid before and it worked for a while. Put on a manual shut off valve anyway.

Mower people told me to replace the solenoid with a bolt. Couldn't find a bolt that short. I did find that I could pull the needle out of the solenoid and use the solenoid body to plug the hole. Now the manual fuel shut off is mandatory and forgetting to turn off the fuel will probably flood the engine and be a safety issue.

The no start issue is fixed and the grass is mowed. Early in the season the weeds outgrow the grass. So really the weeds are mowed to let the grass catch-up.

I suggest get a bolt with the right thread and cut it short enough.
Whenever possible, I put manual fuel shut-offs on all my small engine equipment.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW