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Bogging down after a few laps

8K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  whateverweasel 
#1 ·
I just purchased a JD 170 in great shape and have already washed, clayed, polished and waxed it. It is a beautiful tractor. I am having an issue keeping it running. It works great for the first few rounds of my lawn, but soon it bogs down and I cannot engage the PTO again without it bogging down. He lives in my neighborhood, so I got my wife to drop me off and I drove it home, about 1/4 mile or so. When I started cutting grass though it bogged down. The guy that sold it to me replaced the fuel cutoff solenoid (M122917). After that is started, but it still bogs down. It will run rough with the choke on. Any ideas on what to do??? The guy at Trigreen thought it might be the coil... I want to cut some grass.
 
#9 ·
Bought an inline ignition spark tester and found the coil/ignitor to be good. Then I took the carb off and gave it a good cleaning. still same issue. Then I notice that there were bubbles coming thru the fuel line that I could see in the fuel filter and I am not sure that is a good thing. I messed with that a little and thought I had a good flow of fuel going and sure enough, the mower started running real strong and I went for a few more laps and it started boggin down again. I looked at the fuel filter again and there were more bubbles. Can anyone tell me if this is not what should be occurring? Could the shut-of valve under the seat need replacing? I hope it is a fuel line issue, I could take care of that, maybe have to replace the valve... Any feedback on this is greatly appreciated. That includes the proir feedback. This is a good forum.
 
#14 ·
Hows the battery is good if it low it will make the PTO not engage.
 
#16 · (Edited)
The deck engages fine, so I am thinking the battery is ok.
It keeps boggin down even after I disengage the deck.
It sounds like the fuel line has an issue, because there are bubbles coming from the tank line into the filter then out to the fuel pump. I will try replacing the fuel line & filter and report. I will also check the shutoff valve at the tank and the gas caps vent hole.
Thanks again.
This thing runs great when it runs. I want to cut some grass.
I also found a 2" hitch on ebay that I am bidding on that I want to put on the tractor.
 
#17 ·
It was the cut-off valve. It was clogged. When I took it off I could not even blow air thru it. I have replaced it, the fuel lines and the filter; now I am cutting grass.
Thanx to all for the insight. Oh, the gas cap was clogged also.
:greendr:
 
#18 ·
I'm having this very issue with my 1989 265. I luv this machine but it's driving me nuts. I've been throwing parts at it like crazy and feel like I've replaced everything but the seat. It runs so great when it first starts out that I think I've fixed it every single time -- only to be dashed minutes later when it coughs and sputters back to the garage in shame. Would you mind telling me exactly what the cutoff valve is? You mean the valve under the seat? Is that a fuel petcock?

Strange thing is, I ran a new tube directly from the (new) fuel pump and dropped it right in the tank (with a big bundle of washers over the end so it would lie in the tank, but not right on the bottom) and ran with the fuel cap off -- didn't help a bit. So I don't really think I'm having a fuel-starvation problem although that's sure what it sounds/feels like.

This tractor has been rock solid for 20 years, and I don't really even see anything at the dealer that makes me want to start making payments, but at the same time I am just about fed up with looking at the engine more than the steering wheel.

Anyway, curious about this cutoff valve.

Thanks!
/WW

p.s. Congratulations!! I'm very glad that you got yours running and that you took the time to post your solution.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Well I took off the fender pan (with seat of course), and floorboard pan so I could get at everything under there. I pulled out the fuel tank, emptied it and flushed a couple times with some more gas. I popped out the fuel shutoff petcock and blew through it and could tell it was totally clean and unobstructed. I replaced the fuel line (except for the solid tubing that runs along the floorboard) and connected it to the new fuel filter and new fuel pump. I put in fresh gas and took it out to cut a lap around the house and of course half way around it started to die until I quickly turned off the pto and stopped moving. After the engine stopped sputtering and surging, I was able to drive back to the garage. Defeated again. I'm running out of ideas here. Had the carb off and the float/needle are working and all the passages are clear.

In case I do have a valve sticking (it's not smoking at all though, compression is 120, and the valves clearance is about 10/1000's) -- but if it were a sticky valve after warmup would it be worth doing a fresh oil change with some seafoam or some other additive? Anybody have a good experience with something like that?

Other ideas welcomed too of course. :) I've also replaced the "igniter", the pto clutch, the entire wiring harness, the battery, battery cables and probably some other stuff I can't recall at the moment.

Taking all the sheetmetal off did give me an opportunity to clean everything up under there, so that was good anyway.

/WW
 
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