Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hi all

I have been reading your forum for over a year now and I finally need some help.

My father-in-law donated his JD GT265 38 inch cut with a powerflow bagger to me 2 years ago.  Last year, the tractor ran fine.  He had complained at one time of it stalling.  He had the tractor serviced every year by the local dealer.  He doesn't remember what they did to fix his problem.  Well now I have the problem and would like to fix this my self.

I have done the regular maintenance during the fall with empting the fuel and giving it a new plug, oil filter, gas filter, oil etc... in the spring.  The past three weeks the engine would stall towards the end of a 2 hour mowing.  Now it stalls within the first five minutes.  I put a new sparkplug in this morning and still no luck.  It typically stalls when I engage the mower.  I have checked the mower for obstructions but haven't tried it without the powerflow.  I'll try that after I post.

I never noticed before until I started having trouble but the clear gas filter is half full when I start and then empty during operation.  Is that normal?  I can run the engine full throttle and let it sit, but once I move it may or may not stall.

Any ideas would be great.

Thanks Mike

JD GT265, Ariens 11.5 Snowblower.

Sounds like fuel starvation when the engine is under a load. That can be caused by a float issue, Vapolock in the fuel line, and also that fuel filter.

My Scag commercial mower has the same large fuel filter. Past few weeks when its 90+ and in the sun, the fuel filter almost goes dry. The motor sputters as the Pulse fuel pump sucks air, and once reprimes it runs fine.

Im not a expert, but it does sound close to whats happened to me.

I agree with MountainMan. Please throughly clean your carb with automotive Gumout Spray, CAUTION... use goggles when using this product! Make sure you get all orfices inside the carb cleaned very well, including the holes in the bowl screw and or jets. Make sure you reassemble the carb back the way it was before, taking notice of the adjustment screws position before you remove them. If this does not salve your problem than your float may have a leak, or your needle valve is not seating properly dew to wear. Let us know how it goes!

Check and see if your oil smells like gas. 

Check that your fuel cap is venting.
(See if that see-thru gas filter fills up when you remove the cap.)

Check to see if your fuel line is restricted with debris - the one that goes from the filter to the fuel tank. If you can see inside the tank, look for the screen that acts as a pre-filter & see if its clogged with junk. The fuel pump can be "going south" too. It is stalling under load due to a lean fuel condition.

Marty

Majorxlr8n wrote:
also try pulling the fuel line off between the fuel pump and tank (without the fuel filter in place) and check  gravity flow rate out of the tank, the line should run a full stream. if there seems to be a reduced fuel flow from the tank  check the fuel line for kinks, as well as possible obstructions in the line or tank outlet itself.  something ive done in the past, with great care, (and be sure the fuel tank is empty and cap off ) is blow compressed air back through the line, low pressure, 15 or 20 psi, to clear any possible obstruction in the tank outlet. while this wont solve the problem, if the mower runs ok afterwards, it will indicate where the problem area is.

Thanks for all the input.  Many of the recommendations, I already tried or looked at.  The tractor has been dropped off at the local OPE dealer for service.  My best work comes with the checkbook.

We'd sure like to know what the problem was, so please reply back. 

Got my tractor back the other day.  The carburator needed a new kit.  Everything working like a champ.  $135, 2 hours labor, pickup, drop off, and parts.  Not bad.  Cleaned the gas line which isn't much but still did a though job.

Thanks for all the input.  Now time to fix the weed wacker.

Mike

That is a good price in my book.  That was an interesting fix.  I never tried to clean a fuel line, but rather replaced it.  How did you or they clean it?