Are you sure the choke is dis-engaging all the way once it gets warmed up? Does it smoke at all?

 

I use the choke momentarily to start and then push it back up so I'm pretty sure it works fine. I don't know much about these little engines( I use to work on cars) How does the ignition work on these engines? The reason I ask is because years ago I know that a coil in a car could work fine when cold and quit when it got warm. These engines fire off a magneto, right? what about a condenser? do they have one and could it be bad? I'm just reaching for anything. Thanks for any input

 

Welcome, and these 230s have a coil. You can find it by the upper steering stem clamp on the front of the vehicle.

Here's a pic, its #4:



Can't say if that's what's causing your problem! But now you know where to find it!

 

Another thing, does the engine seem to get excessively hot? Loss of power could be a sign of overheating. Runs good when cold, but as it gets hot power drops. Whats the plug look like?

 

i ended up putting the oil drain plug housing on last night. this is what fell out when i took it off

 

 

thats a good one....
im thinking about putting them back in...
now it wont start!!!

 

I hate it when stuff like that happens. You know it should run tons better and it ends up not running at all!

Sorry, I must have missed it though....what exactly did you have to replace?

 

the oil drain plug housing and drain plug.
so i think it might have jumped time also
its getting fuel, air and spark but not running.

 

To bashr52, thanks for responding, The plug looks a little black and sooty when I pull it out but not to bad, the engine doesn't overheat. I found a coil on ebay, think I ought to experiment with buying it and sticking it on? I know that most electronic things either work or they don't with not a lot of gray area in between but it is just strange that sometimes it seems to run pretty good for a little while and then last night I started it and it quit running decent within a few minutes. It sat for a while, think I should pull the plate and check the mag for rust, dirt, broken parts etc? Any ideas greatly appreciated. Didn't get to look at it tonight, had to work OT. thanks again