Engine john deere 160 starts to surge after 20 min and then stalls

[moneyman]

I have a 1985 JD160 lawn tractor that will run for 20 min or so and then starts to surge (sort of like when a load is put on a generator). At first it keeps running and surging just slightly, but eventually it will stall out completely. When this happens I can get it started by putting the throttle in choke but to keep it running I have to move the throttle all the way down to full slow. This is happening wiith the plow blade on and the deck off. I have taken it in for repair once and they have not been able to fix it.

 

[mechanic mark]

OMM152793_H4 scroll down left side to engine troubleshooting. Post engine make as well as all numbers from engine, thanks.

"K&T Parts House Lawn Mower Parts and Chain Saw & Trimmer Parts" your engine manual, click on FB460V & download at bottom left of screen, see troubleshooting section pages 1-13 through 1-16 engine runs erratically, also check oil level, air & fuel filters for replacement, use OEM parts, let us know how it goes, thanks.

 

[moneyman]

The engine is model FB460V Kawasaki serial fb460 080928. In addition, the second time I started it it would not stalled almost immediately and would only work when I had the throttle on dead slow. I did not see anything in troubleshooting that seems to describe what my machine is doing. I saw another thread that suggested the coil might be bad or have a bad connection that would cause it not to run when it gets hot? Could this be an electrical issue or fuel line issue.

Thanks.

 

[Mower Doctor 78006]

Welcome to the forum! !

 

[MRCo.]

I'm discounting the coil idea. If it was coil it wouldn't surge, just die. Changing the choke position wouldn't apply to changing a bad coil. You need to hold the governor linkage still when it surges. If it sops, your governor is bad. If not its in the carb. I suspect the carb.

 

[szyg6h]

Fuel tank cap vent plugged? That caused my stalling

 

[Rivets]

It may be a carb problem, but I would not go there to fast. Running for 20 minutes leads me to want to check the fuel system before the carb. As stated check the fuel cap by removing or loosening the cap when then surging starts. If the problem goes away replace the cap. Next I would check for debris in the tank and fuel line. Also if the fuel line does not have a filter, I would install a clear inline filter so I could monitor fuel flow.

 

[chobbs1957]

My B&S V Twin 23 HP Husqvarna was. Doing something similar. It ran smooth and fine riding, but when I engaged blade it seemed a little underpowered, but still ran okay. After about 15 minutes it would shut off, restart, and shut off again. My repairman says it's running off only the left hand cylinder, no compression on right, no piston movement so broken pushrod.

Sent from my iPad using LMF

 

[moneyman]

Thanks for these suggestions. My gas cap got sort of banged up a while ago. But I also seem to have a rubber tube that leads out of the tank that is not connect to anything on the other end which I have always assumed was some sort of vent. Maybe it is plugged up?? This might also be why I can sometimes run it dead slow......drawing gas slow enough that lack of vent might not be any issue. Also starting at full choke must also somehow allow gas to flow??

 

[JD is best]

Pull out your spark plug, is it black? If so you might have bad spark, check the ignition module along with the coil. they are known to go bad on those engines. Trust me, I went through the same thing. But yeah I would say check fuel system first.