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JD 316 hard start & stalling

1532 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Jtizzle17, 
J
New to the forum and new owner of a JD 316. During my lawn tractor research stumbled upon this site and you all inspired me to go vintage!

The find:
Previously loved '84 JD 316. Got the mower for a decent price and it fired right up and didn't smoke or tick or do anything crazy. Upon initial inspection the machine looked rather clean and looked like it was kept indoors as there is no frame or body rust, being from NH it's hard to find anything not rotted out that has seen outdoor time.

Gentleman dropped off the tractor at my house and performed my first cut. Fired right up no choke needed and proceeded to mow the lawn for the first time. Acted a little funny with the PTO engaged and going up hills, wanted to stall out, and found just backing off the throttle kept her moving so figured I would look into after a tune up. Dropped the oil and cleaned the fins, right side may have a leak as there was considerable build up while left side was clean, and kicked around to see what bones were not discovered upon initial inspection. While removing tins I accidentally bumped one of the spark plug wires and it just fell out of the starter coil, no bueno, rather alarming how that stayed in while I was mowing.

After sitting for two days decided to get a quick mow in while wife was out with the kiddo. Went to fire and was an extremely hard start. Got it moving and did a warmup lap around the house then dropped the deck and engaged the PTO. Didn't like engaging the PTO and wanted to stall so I backed off the throttle and proceded to cut for about 100 feet and hit a small incline where she stalled out. 20 mins later got her going again and parked in the garage. Lifted the air filter cover and took a closer look to see if it was getting fuel and it appeared it was pushing a good amount up through the carb and even pooling a little around the pan. After carb inspection I popped the plugs out, grounded to the motor and tested spark and looked like I was getting good spark.

Not sure if I whacked something during oil change or what but looks like next steps is new plugs, new wires, clean points and replace fuel lines. The battery light is also always on so not sure if the battery is charging or not. Could be battery is just drained and not getting enough juice to the plugs but that is another problem to track down.

Any suggestions or diagnostic things I may try?? Plan on hunting down fuses and getting a voltage meter to check the stator when I have a chance but it sounds like a carb issue.
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K
:MTF_wel: Sounds like a decent buy. I'm going to bet the intank fuel pickup line is either split or completely off and that is your stalling issue. The PTO will also need 12V to stay engaged. You should check the air gap on it too just to be sure. I think you have a good plan of attack :fing32: See Drake's list in the faqs too for more ideas http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=194994
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jar19800
oil leak on RH side would likely be the oil filter adapter gasket.
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J
Thanks for the tips guys.

Not sure if my 316 has an oil filter so I will investigate to see if I missed it somehow but I thought this was a model without one.

Just got around to pulling the seat tin off and yanking the tank. Pulled the fuel intake plug and noticed a nice see through piece of tubing and a a filter attached. Previous owner must have already changed out the lines at one point but the intake plug looks like there is some gunk in it so I'm going to replace a new one. Should I get another screen for the tube that extends into the tank? Also, it appears there is only one intake as the previous owner just put a bolt in the other hole, should I try to cut this out or do I only need one line from the tank?

Trans and rearend was covered in crap so also did a preliminary degrease on that. Couldn't believe the amount of crap that can accumulate up there!

Will try to post some pics but need to figure out how to accomplish that first.
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K
316 only has 1 fuel line in the tank. It shares the same tank as a 318 which has a fuel petcock and a reserve line. There is supposed to be a plug in the second hole. Your 316 probably does not have an oil filter, however, if you are lucky there is a blockoff plate in place and you can easily add a filter if you like :fing32:
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mrbeef
Two things strike me:
1) were you mowing at wide open throttle when it was trying to stall? Not sure if you mean backed off the actual throttle or the hydro lever to reduce the speed.

2) with gas bubbling back up and lack of power I might almost be concerned about the right side connecting rod. These engines will do a lot on one cylinder. (Not trying to be an alarmist, but just something to look into) :)
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biker3777
Points are my guess.
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J
mrbeef said:
Two things strike me:
1) were you mowing at wide open throttle when it was trying to stall? Not sure if you mean backed off the actual throttle or the hydro lever to reduce the speed.

2) with gas bubbling back up and lack of power I might almost be concerned about the right side connecting rod. These engines will do a lot on one cylinder. (Not trying to be an alarmist, but just something to look into) :)
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1) Was mowing at wide open throttle and had no loss of power on level ground but the stalling tends to occur on inclines.

2) Actually had the same thought.

Crossing my fingers for electrical or fuel pump but have not had a lot of time recently to get some work done
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J
k91 said:
316 only has 1 fuel line in the tank. It shares the same tank as a 318 which has a fuel petcock and a reserve line. There is supposed to be a plug in the second hole. Your 316 probably does not have an oil filter, however, if you are lucky there is a blockoff plate in place and you can easily add a filter if you like :fing32:
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Ok, that makes me feel better. I was worried someone just chucked a bolt or something in one hole for some odd reason. Thanks for the heads up on the plate, when I drag the motor out I'll take a look and see if I can add, no filter scares me. The previous owner said he changed the oil a week prior to selling it to me and it looked like it hadn't been changed in a year when I dropped it last week.
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