Engine Old 165 idles but has no power under a load.

[sledder gone green]

I have an older JD165. I thought I had an intake leak. The lawn mower would run great wide open when the choke was closed. When I engaged the deck it would fall on its face. When I pull the throttle lever down out of the choke into wide open it will spit and sputter. If I pull it out of the choke while running right down to an idle it will sit there and idle without a problem.

It sounds like its starving for fuel(new filter). I checked for intake leaks, cleaned the carb. The only thing left is the fuel pump diaphragms. Any ideas of known issues? I've had this mower for a few years and has been properly maintained.

 

[wheats71]

have you checked you float level in the carb?
when you say cleaned the carb i assume that you have blown out all the passages with compressed air and made sure that the needle isnt sticking
what about a cracked fuel line?

 

[sledder gone green]

have you checked you float level in the carb? Nope, why would it change?
when you say cleaned the carb i assume that you have blown out all the passages with compressed air and made sure that the needle isnt sticking
what about a cracked fuel line?

Well I re-cleaned the carb and found out there is a fuel shut off under the seat. I closed/opened. Now I have plenty of fuel coming out of the gas line.

But in the process I must of messed up the needle and seat. Now when I try to start it, I have to use the recently discovered fuel shut off. I have to shut the fuel off until it fires and starts running. Other than the hard starting now it runs almost like it did last week. It still seams like its still low on power. This is only the second time I've been on this hot rod in the last two years. The wife likes to cut the grass, so I let her.

By any chance, anyone know what the compression of this rig should be?

So after I cleaned the carb and got it running yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to add some fuel treatment to the tank. I stopped at the store and bought some NOS and dumped it in the tank. Well now I can get the darn thing to run at all.

Is there a for sale section here? Anyone want a nice JD?