john deere--LT155-ready to give it away

[doncuddy]

After my first post last week, I attempted several of the suggested interventions to remedy some of the larger issues this tractor has. Briefly, it ended up with gas in the oil and wouldn't run. shortly before this, the tractor would smoke alot, would run for crap, didn't have much power--would chugalug when given fulll throttle--etc. To recap--it had a head gasket replaced in the spring. my mower guy said that mice had stuffed the engine shroud and it overheated and blew the gasket. it still never ran well after that. some of the things I tried after reading the posted responses--a) installed an inline fuel shutoff b) took off the carb for the third time--again cleaned it as good as I could. looked at the float. one suggestion was adjusting the float. it is plastic and I know there is a way--but honestly-it looked to be in good shape. took out the needle valve--didn't look worn and was seating correctly. the hinge pin on the float appeared a little stiff--could this cause it to stick? also put dry gas in the fuel--. waited to see if gas seeped back into the sump and with the fuel shutoff it didn't appear to . replaced the oil. when I attempted to turn it over- it started rather quick--ran for just a minute or two before smoking alot and chugging to a stop. then it would just turn and turn and not start. I then let it sit overnight thinking maybe I had flooded it. it again started for just a minute--smoked and chugged to a stop. but this time--it had sprayed gas from underneath--looked like under the cylinder all over the ground--not from the carb like I might have thought. If the head gasket was new, then what would cause this? Do I need to rebuild the engine? I sure don/t have the knowledge for this. How complicated is it and buy the time you would do this--are you further ahead to buy a used engine? the other suggestion was that the inlet valve was worn. again, is this difficult and expensive? Are there videos showing how to do all this? I need to learn as our financial status is taking a hit thanks to the government. any more suggestions will be greatly appreciated as I am about at my wits end with this mower--but do realize that 95% of its problems are because I am an amateur and not the best maintainer.

 

[mullins87]

Wow, sounds like you're having a lot of fun with this one!!!!! :frown: Spraying gas from under one of the cylinders doesn't sound good, nor does the smoking. I wish I could help you, maybe someone else has an idea.

 

[crazyoldtractor]

Sounds like the engine's been through a lot. If it's spraying gas that could be a crack in the engine. A good way to see if this is true is to put some baby powder on the place where you think the leak is. Crank the engine and see if the power poofs off. If it does, thats you leak, if not, keep looking. It may be the head gasket again. Put the baby power there and crank the engine and see what happens. If it poofs off, then its your head gasket again.

My thoughts are that this engine has been pretty beat up and maybe its time to put a different one on it. Find another engine off another mower somewhere and put it on. For the most part they are all usually the same mounting and same pulley sizes. Thats a way you can reclaim your tractor. If you don't want to bother and you want to be done with it, tow it somewhere you cant see it and then you'll have a nice parts tractor to take parts off of.

 

[benski]

I hadn't heard about the baby powder trick.:biggrin: With the gas vapor looking like it's escaping again, I wouldn't doubt that you've got another headgasket or cracked block, or both. I'd start looking for another engine, or another mower.:frown:

 

[taxidermist]

Don,

what motor do you have in your JD?

Rob

 

[doncuddy]

Don,

what motor do you have in your JD?

Rob

rob--the engine is a kohler command 15hp 426cc----single cylinder

 

[taxidermist]

Sounds to me that the needle and seat in carb is not seating and causing the motor to flood. If it is spraying gas near the cylinder I bet it is because the fuel is flooding the carb and running into the muffler. Youtube has some good videos on carb cleaning.


Rob

 

[beendunned]

Don; I am inclined to agree the motor may be toast. especially if the smoke it is putting out is more shaded blue, but if the smoke is black, stings the eyes, and smells like gas, you might want to verify that the choke butterfly is moving correctly, and not remaining fully closed. I have reattached my cables and not tighten the lock enough, allowing the cable to slip and remain in full choke. the engine will of course start up and die smoking, then laugh at your attempts to restart. until you figure it out, or the battery runs down. As for floats the rule of thumb is level at very light lift pressure. if you have a clean piece of hose, (one that doesn't taste like gasoline lol! ) you can attach it to the carbs fuel inlet and blow, then lift the float (with the bowl removed) and it should stop your airflow, at level or near what would be the top of the bowl, it should be close enough to work. some carbs have neoprene needle seat that likes to disappear after cleaning. and when reinstalling the float/sediment bowl, make sure that nothing binds. I wish you luck.

 

[bskarin]

I had a lot of trouble when I first bought mine used as well. The blue smoke was coming from gas getting into the oil and thinning it out till it could blow past the seals. There are lot of folks that recommended a fuel shutoff valve, but that ended up not being the problem. It was the fuel pump! It had worn out and was spraying gas back into the crankcase. It's a simple fix and not terribly expensive part. My guess is that you've since moved on, but hopefully this will help others that have this problem.