My dad has a problem with his riding mower. It was running great, until it just gave a few "sputters" and quit! He said it has spark. He even tried a new plug. The compression is good. He also tried some starting fluid, but it still wont start. It just cranks and cranks. The engine is a Kawasaki Model FB460V. (12 or 12.5 Horse power?) Any ideas?

Good compression, good spark.

Perhaps water in the carburetor.

Check the flywheel key possibly sheared.

I had a "first hand" look at the tractor. No water in the tank or carb. I pulled the flywheel of to check the key. It looked fine. I checked the spark. The plug was firing, but barely. This engine has no points or condensor, so i narrowed it down to either a bad coil or the "chip" that the coil wire goes to. Since the chip was only $15.00 I tried it. That did the trick. Starts right up, runs perfect.

Thats Great, glad that you got it going again.... :thumbsup: