Last Saturday I discovered this forum and searched for JD model 265 problems in a search for enlightenment regarding a persistent problem: it's more than 20 years old and ran great until about 3 years ago when the engine started dying when it ran for maybe an hour, then it would only take 45 minutes, then less. We (my husband and I) tried cleaning the tank, new gas cap, fuel filter, fuel pump, sprayed carb cleaner, carb cleaner in the gas, and we took it to a repair shop. Some of this helped short term but nothing solved the problem. When I searched the forum I found several people complaining about the same problem, and other people with other models of about the same vintage and with the same problem. One thread suggested vapor lock but at the end of the thread he was sounding pretty discouraged with his efforts to solve it. I believe we have made some progress toward a solution. We took the cover off, to keep the fuel line from heating up, and it's been running great ever since, for more than 3 hours at a time, on an 85 degree day! We are wondering if the 20 year buildup of crud on the engine might be restricting air flow, and when we fix the air compressor we plan to blow the dirt off so we can replace the cover. We'll keep you posted.
