John Deere Lawn Mower

[Stranger ranger]

i have a john deer 160 lawn tractors, i'm going to say late 80's year with a kawasaki engine and lately its been stalling out on me after about 10 min of cutting and every time i go to start it each week, the battery is dead. New battery = same issue. Now this thing has no lights so what could be drawing the battery dead each night? However it is charging because once i jump start it, after everytime it stalls i do not need to jump it again. when it starts to bog down if i pull the throttle down to idle it will run but when i give it any throttle it will stall out. It also will only run at idle for a min or so before it eventually stalls out completely, this being after i de-throttle when it begins to stall out. when i first start it, it will sit there and idle perfect. i'm not very electrically inclined so i'm at a loss here. I'm assuming that the stalling has something to do with the battery dying out each night but i could be wrong. anyone have any insight to this?

[mfennema]

I'm not familiar with that tractor but it sounds like its getting starved on fuel which is why its stalling out. And when you lower the throttle it allows it to run a little longer. To keep the battery from goin dead you could always just unhook it when you're done mowing I suppose. Otherwise, could the key switch not be going fully in the "off" position maybe?

[Stranger ranger]

I was thinking that with regards to the fuel. I'm going to remove the inline fuel filter and replace it with a straight run of hose and see what happens.

As for the battery, i could unhook it but i would rather fix the problem you know, It could be that the key is not in the off position, but with no lights or anything what would it matter?

[mfennema]

I'm not really sure. Maybe there coule be a bad ground on the tractor or something? I'm kind of at a loss on that one.

[hockeypro1411]

I'm not sure about the battery issue, but from my experience with small engines, the stalling out is more than likely 1 of 2 things. It's either a clogged fuel filter, or a bad gas cap vent.

 

Try unscrewing the gas cap as soon as it starts to die to check for the vent issue.

[mfennema]

Good thought with the gas cap there Jake!!

[GPSilverado]

Does the Kawasaki engine have an electric fuel pump (I think mine does, but it is a 2001 345 model)

[Stranger ranger]

do you have a picture of what it looks like? by chance.

[GPSilverado]

do you have a picture of what it looks like? by chance.

 

I just checked, and mine is a mechanical pump. It does have a return line, so I thought maybe it was electric.

 

Here is a link of the parts catalog for your mower (I think).

 

http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.dee...HomePageServlet

[mfennema]

do you have a picture of what it looks like? by chance.

 

I just checked, and mine is a mechanical pump. It does have a return line, so I thought maybe it was electric.

 

Here is a link of the parts catalog for your mower (I think).

 

http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.dee...HomePageServlet

 

 

 

Tells me that I have to have a login and password to view that link.

[GPSilverado]

do you have a picture of what it looks like? by chance.

 

I just checked, and mine is a mechanical pump. It does have a return line, so I thought maybe it was electric.

 

Here is a link of the parts catalog for your mower (I think).

 

http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.dee...HomePageServlet

 

 

 

Tells me that I have to have a login and password to view that link.

 

 

 

Sorry about that. I didn't login, but I guess my PC was set to remember my login. I believe the login is a free service, you just need to sign up. Basically, the 160 has a mechanical fuel pump, which has servicable parts inside of it.

[catmechanic07]

Battery: Sounds like you have a positive cable with a hole rubbed in it somewhere letting the juice drain.

 

Running: Almost sounds like you need to drill a VERY small hole inthe cap or you have a clogged air intake. Sounds like its starving for air

[SavageNFS]

To me it sounds like it is starving for air or fuel. If I had to guess, prolly a little of both. Replace the fuel filter (don't put in a temporary straight run, the filter is there for a reason). Replace the air cleaner element, don't drill small holes in the top. It worked for years without the hole, that is just a band-aid. As far as the battery is concerned...check the cables (both power and ground). Start at the battery, check the starter, switch, etc. It sounds like something has failed. When you start the tractor, you say it will run a while. Can you try shutting down the tractor with the key switch? If it doesn't shut down, the key switch is likely the culprit. That is all I can think of at this point...