Our 317 John Deere will not start and we replaced the points, condenser, coil and verified fuel is getting to the carburetor. We verified spark at the plugs which appear clean and have run out of ideas. Does anyone have any ideas on what to check next or where to go from here?
#2
scott47429
if you have gas to the carb that doesn't mean that its getting to the engine the carb may need to taken off cleaned real good and a carb kit put in it try spring starting fluid in the carb and see if it starts and dies if so you know its a fuel not getting to the engine issue
Are the plugs dry when you check them? If they are you may have an air leak between the carb, manifold and block. You may also have a valve problem, intake not opening.
The plugs are not wet like I would expect them. I ran a compression test and both cylinders have about 70 psi compression. I am going to replace the plugs and try again. If that doesn't work might tear into it and check flywheel/key and verify the timing hasn't shifted.
Thanks for the feed back..
Jere
#6
Mwh0428
Do you have the 17hp or the 18hp kohler and I think 70lbs is low for compression.
70 psi is a little low but ok with today's compression release systems. I would try spraying some carb cleaner or gas into the cylinders and then try to start the engine. If it fires we know that we have a problem getting gas from the carb to the cylinder.
Thanks for all the input guys. I got it running. It seems the connector behind the ignition switch was just corroded enough to give me 12 volts and make everything look like it's working, but just didn't have enough contact to start it. After cleaning the contacts, greasing them and reconnecting the plug, the mower started right up and I got lots of spark at the points and plugs. It runs like a new one..until the next episode.
Thanks again,
Jere
