I have a Honda GX240QAE on my bucket lift which runs the hydraulics. Once the engine gets fully warmed up (invariably when I'm 40' in the air), the engine will sputter and pop and die. After restart it then will only run in a no load state, but as soon as it has to do any work it dies again. Plug has been checked & gapped, valves have been adjusted, carb has been cleaned, & new air filter installed. Anyone have any ideas?:confused:

Perhaps the coil is breaking down when it gets warm and the spark is weak.

Then I'm guessing that the only way to know if that's the problem is to replace the coil as I can't think of any way to test a hot coil on a running engine.

You can check the coil output with an inline tester. Hook it up between the plug and lead wire and observe the spark when the engine starts acting up. You should be able to tell if you loose spark.

I received my new coil the other day and now I can't find the air gap spec for it anywhere on line without (apparently) purchasing a shop manual. Any idea what it should be?

.016" air gap at flywheel should do the trick.

Or a business card.

I used the business card to set the gap and the engine seems to run smoother than before.As for the cutting out problem, I guess I'll find out for sure the next time I use it. I did run it for a while to warm it up fairly well and it didn't miss a beat, even while running the hydraulics, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'd like to thank everyone for the help.