Repairs John Deere L108

Hatch415

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Good Morning everyone,
I have a John Deere L108 that is an older tractor. The mower sat for about a year and half in storage before i got it. First time mowing it did fine for about the first 10-15 minutes cutting grass but i noticed as i was going up hill you could see some faint white smoke coming out as it went up hill. Roughly 15 minutes into mowing it threw a rather large white ball of smoke out of it and started sputtering and died. I let it sit a few minutes and tried to at least get it back to the garage and it would only run for a few minutes and stop again and again. I've taken carb off and cleaned it out, new fuel filter, new fuel pump, oil change and filter, cleaned the solenoid on the bottom of the carb and it will now run for about 5-10 minutes cutting grass but then it will bog down after few minutes and quit. I've even tried rigging the seat safety switch and the reverse switch and it is still causing problems. Almost forgot i also changed out one of my deck spindles that seemed to be garbage. If anyone could have any other ideas to check I would appreciate very much.
 

dfbroxy

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Im not a expert like some of the guys on this forum but Ill give it a go. For a mower to run you need, 1. Fuel 2. Compression 3. Spark. It is getting fuel so we have that covered. Im assuming you dont work in a mechanic shop so lets keep the checks simple at this point. Start the mower and run it wide open for a couple of minutes. Return to idle and remove the dipstick. If there is heavy smoke or oil coming out (blowby) could be headgasket or rings. That takes care of compression. Now spark. This is where I think your trouble lies. The siloniod that works untill it gets hot. The only sure way to check it is to change it with one that you know works and see if your problem is solved.

So my advice is make the blowby check to be sure, and then change the siloniod.
 
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Hatch what you can do is have a spark plug wrench with you and someone else. When it dies out hurry and take the plug out and check for spark.

If you don't have spark then your coil is bad. 1 or 2 cylinders on your engine ?

Hope this helps Mon Ami ~!~!
 
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As far as cleaning the carb sometimes even a ultra sonic will not do the job in those small passages the first time.

Welch plugs have to come out and then a good cooking in a sonic cleaner then air blown out real good. Too much varnish and gum can accumilate in a year and a half.
 

dfbroxy

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OOOPS I ment to say coil and not silinoid
 
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Dfb Roxy I wasn't trying to correct you. I thought you wer talking about the carb solenoid. I have a bad habit of speed reading sometimes ~!~!

What does your handle mean on here ??
 

dfbroxy

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Dfb is my initials, and Roxy is my Rottie.
 

Fragger

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I had an engine do that would run good and then just lay down; i pulled the carb 4 times and then finally changed the spark plug and that tfixed it. Thye are inexpensive and when they get hot, like your coil, they will open up with age and heat . hope this helps!!!:thumbsup:
 
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