# Craftsman GS 6500



## Guest (Apr 23, 2020)

I recently acquired a farm home. A Craftsman GS 6500 lawn tractor that had sat outdoors for two seasons was included in the deal. 
The problem is the machine dies after a short time of running. It runs fine, even after reaching operating temperature. After about 15 minutes or so in operating temperature though, the engine begins to stumble, then dies. Will not start until it cools down to ambient temperatures. 
A carburetor replacement made the problem worse. So we put the old unit back on. If the gasoline tank cap is loosened, the problem is lessened, but still occurs.
We are now stumped.


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## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

_"sat outdoors for two seasons"_..... Can't tell you the number of times I've seen field mice, or wasp, build nest under the cooling shrouds and flywheel. Blocks the air flow and causes the engine to overheat. For some reason, field mice love to eat wiring also, so check your spark plug wires at the magneto end to make sure they haven't chewed through them and they are arcing to ground and overheating the mags.


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2020)

Bob Driver said:


> _"sat outdoors for two seasons"_..... Can't tell you the number of times I've seen field mice, or wasp, build nest under the cooling shrouds and flywheel. Blocks the air flow and causes the engine to overheat. For some reason, field mice love to eat wiring also, so check your spark plug wires at the magneto end to make sure they haven't chewed through them and they are arcing to ground and overheating the mags.


Thanks for the tip Bob. We had already thought of that, and cleaned up the machine, which was in surprisingly good shape. It had a tarp over it which had decayed a bit. Wiring checked as well as all major components. So the mystery continues.


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