Deere 170 PTO Killing Motor

[daddymikey]

Hi all. Glad to join as this is my first riding mower in my 51 years of life. lol...Anyway I have a 1990 JD 170 38" cut with a Kawasaki 420v motor. I bought this used and when I first got it it ran ok, but after 3/4 of my entire yard it would shut down. I would let it set and then go back to it and finish. as time has gone on, the cut time is shorter and shorter until now whenever I engage the PTO then motor dies. I have checked that the belts are good, the blades and pullys turn freely, cleaned any residual grass out of the way. On the "firewall" of the mower is a black what I think is a regulator with a plug off the wiring harness plugged in it. I checked and when the PTO kills the motor, this device will burn the fingerprints off your hands. I mean hot as fire. Could this be my culprit? and how would I go about checking before I invest in a new one? there are 2 different inline fuses I can find and they seems to be ok.

Help!
Daddymikey

 

[daddymikey]

well I fixed that problem with rewiring safety switch under the seat...but now I have the original problem of it running so rough it just dies...it runs fine for 5 minutes, then begins to chug and sputter and then dies...let it sit for 1/2 hour and go back and you can get 5 more minutes out of it and the same thing. check wiring to solonoid, checked bottom of float bowl, checked gas cap WTH!

daddymikey

 

[Fish]

First thing that I would do is check your valve gaps, it is easy and free to check.

 

[Fish]

http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/engine_specs/kawasaki_valve_gaps.asp

 

[daddymikey]

http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/engine_specs/kawasaki_valve_gaps.asp

used micrometer and valve gaps at 0058

 

[mechanic mark]

"K&T Parts House Lawn Mower Parts and Chain Saw & Trimmer Parts"

Page 42 in manual shows valve adjustment with feeler gauge for your engine.

Page 11 troubleshooting engine overheating.

Check air gap at pto clutch per manual specs.

OMM147259_J1

 

[Fish]

Micrometer? no feeler gauges? just curious.

 

[daddymikey]

Micrometer? no feeler gauges? just curious.

had the guy down the road use what he called a "feeler" and said the gap looked like they were in line with what yall said they should be. I can make the mower sit for 2 hours and run at high idle without a miss, but engage pto and you get 2 minutes from cold start and about 45 seconds once it is warmed up. then the motor begins to chug like it's choking out...flip off pto switch and it will chug a sec and then run back up to the high idle with a couple of misses in between. it had an inline 20a fuse coming from the sh573-12 regulator on the firewall that was very hot and when removed and wired directly it made no difference. does the regulator have something to do with pto and engine performance? checked all pulleys and belts on deck and they move and nothing is stuck in them and it does run great for that 2 minutes or so. Im not the greatest home mechanic but this is really starting to get to me. I dont have the bucks to take it to a dealer and spend a small fortune on it...lol

HHHEEELLLLPPPP!!!!