John Deere z335e engine issue

[Lost76]

So write the is cause I am at my wits end with this mower. When my father passed away my mother was not going to run a zero turn so I took her to get a riding mower and took this z335e. She told me my father always said it had some issue but was not sure what was wrong. When I got it home I mowed my yard the engine seemed to search when it was not under load. I have two acres took a few hours to mow no issues other than that strange surge when not under load. I then performed a full clean up pulled every cover and clean all the old grass and dirt. Full service, oil, air cleaner, fuel filter, plugs. Found the plastic tube from valve cover to fuel pump had holes so changed it. Next mow ran about an hour and started sputter like it was running out of fuel, then would restart and run for another twenty minutes, do the sputter and die. Next mow was around 45 minutes. Pulled the carb and cleaned it, ran good for about an hour. Sputter and die. Thought maybe I had a charging system issue and the battery was dying shows 13 volts. Took to auto parts to test, needed a charge to test, so just bought a new battery. Same situation 45 minutes started to sputter and die, ok maybe coils in-line spark tester coils show good as it’s sputtering. No change in sound of I pull right or left as the sputter occurs. Pull the cover re gap coils for shitzngiggles. Try again same issue replace the coil on the carb. No difference. Buy a carb rebuild kit, pull carb and rebuild, no difference. Today I replaced the fuel line from the tank to the carb. No difference. I have sprayed carb cleaner around the intake listening for any changes. I am at a loss, anyone have any ideas?

briggs and Stratton 20HP 656cc
Model 40N877
Type 0011G1
Code 16052YG

 

[mechanic mark]

Results

www.briggsandstratton.com

Engine cold adjust valves intake .004 - .006 exhaust .004 - .006.

Best valve adjustment procedure for B&S twin cylinder Engines, I know you do not have Big Block neither do I, specs. & procedure are same. Clean engine by hand, no water, remove blower housing cover over engine & clean engine cooling fins, I prefer using Shop Vac, nylon brushes, small tools to loosen crud between fins. Let us know if this helps, thanks, Mark

https://www.google.com/search?q=star+tron&oq=STAR+TRON&aqs=chrome.0.69i59i512j69i59j0i512l4j46i199i465i512j0i512l3.21832j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Pick up a small bottle of Star Tron Fuel Treatment & add to gas can per instructions on bottle.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Debris also builds up in the fuel tank that partially blocks off the outlet the floats away the instant the engine stops.

 

[Flint_Fredstone123]

does your model have a fuel pump? didn't see it posted in the first message

 

[Donna.Faye.Hinson]

So write the is cause I am at my wits end with this mower. When my father passed away my mother was not going to run a zero turn so I took her to get a riding mower and took this z335e. She told me my father always said it had some issue but was not sure what was wrong. When I got it home I mowed my yard the engine seemed to search when it was not under load. I have two acres took a few hours to mow no issues other than that strange surge when not under load. I then performed a full clean up pulled every cover and clean all the old grass and dirt. Full service, oil, air cleaner, fuel filter, plugs. Found the plastic tube from valve cover to fuel pump had holes so changed it. Next mow ran about an hour and started sputter like it was running out of fuel, then would restart and run for another twenty minutes, do the sputter and die. Next mow was around 45 minutes. Pulled the carb and cleaned it, ran good for about an hour. Sputter and die. Thought maybe I had a charging system issue and the battery was dying shows 13 volts. Took to auto parts to test, needed a charge to test, so just bought a new battery. Same situation 45 minutes started to sputter and die, ok maybe coils in-line spark tester coils show good as it’s sputtering. No change in sound of I pull right or left as the sputter occurs. Pull the cover re gap coils for shitzngiggles. Try again same issue replace the coil on the carb. No difference. Buy a carb rebuild kit, pull carb and rebuild, no difference. Today I replaced the fuel line from the tank to the carb. No difference. I have sprayed carb cleaner around the intake listening for any changes. I am at a loss, anyone have any ideas?

briggs and Stratton 20HP 656cc
Model 40N877
Type 0011G1
Code 16052YG

We have the same brand mower and it will run 20 mins sometimes 30 sometimes 10, eventually it cuts off. We have changed out the file filter and had multiple mechanics look at it..checked it for bad gas… change our lines… look at all sorts of stuff and the mower still cuts off. It seems to be worse when it is hot … we can mow longer on cool days. When the mower cools off it runs again… usually long enough to get it in the building. We can get it out the next day and it will run 20 mins and cut off. It is ridiculous… we just bought it in July 2020 at lowes and less than 250 hours on it and this is what we get

 

[bertsmobile1]

Unfortunately Lost never came back so we would assume that one of the replies fixed his problem .
For you it is the same .
When presented with your symptoms I firstly determine if it is fuel or electrical .
A couple of ways to do that
1) rig up an alternative fuel supply above the engine ( easy if yours has ROPS ) to gravity feed directly to the carb
Problem goes away = debris in the fuel tank . fuel lines , faulty fuel pump . blocked filter .

2) get a pair of red inline spark testers and hook them up to the spark plugs then go mow
When the engine dies watch the testers
If they just go of or flash eratically then you have an ignition / coil problem

3) the instant the engine stops whip the air filter off & and spray some starter fluid / carb cleaner down the carb
If the engine starts right off and runs for a second or two till it burns off then you have a fuel supply problem .

It helps greatly if we know the engine make model & serial numbers .

 

[Lost76]

Sorry for being gone so long. I eventually pulled the tank and there is no way to get into it. I was able to pull the pickup tube and found a small piece of plastic from the manufacturing process that i am assuming would eventually block the tube. I was able to mess with it for a bit and eventually got it to fall out. That seemed to fix the issue.

 

[Lost76]

This reply lead me to the fix. I do see grass and crap in there, but need to find a way to suck it out. Which is a fun thing to watch a friend do with a shop vac!!

Debris also builds up in the fuel tank that partially blocks off the outlet the floats away the instant the engine stop

 

[Lost76]

does your model have a fuel pump? didn't see it posted in the first message

yeah it has one of those vacuum fuel pumps. I had changed it and the hose tot he valve cover. I checked it and it was pulling a vacuum, just not sure what amount of vacuum is needed to operate that pump.

 

[Lost76]

Unfortunately Lost never came back so we would assume that one of the replies fixed his problem .
For you it is the same .
When presented with your symptoms I firstly determine if it is fuel or electrical .
A couple of ways to do that
1) rig up an alternative fuel supply above the engine ( easy if yours has ROPS ) to gravity feed directly to the carb
Problem goes away = debris in the fuel tank . fuel lines , faulty fuel pump . blocked filter .

2) get a pair of red inline spark testers and hook them up to the spark plugs then go mow
When the engine dies watch the testers
If they just go of or flash eratically then you have an ignition / coil problem

3) the instant the engine stops whip the air filter off & and spray some starter fluid / carb cleaner down the carb
If the engine starts right off and runs for a second or two till it burns off then you have a fuel supply problem .

It helps greatly if we know the engine make model & serial numbers .

This is great information. My fix seemed to be working till the last time i mowed and noticed that when i started mowing the fuel filled the fuel filter about half way. then it started to surge and after that the fuel would not go into the fuel filter. If I pressurized the fuel tank I could force fuel into the filter and the surge would go away. I was in a rush so I still have to see if something broke in the tank or fuel line issue. with all the lines being new and the last issue in the tank i am assuming in the tank.