hello,
I have a John Deere GX 345. Ive been mowing with it weekly since April with no problems. after it sat for a week, I went to start it and white smoke came out of the muffler, it idled for a few seconds then the motor died. I tried to restatrt it for a few minutes then i noticed fuel spitting out of the muffler and it still wont start. I checked the plugs and they are sparking fine. I also took the valve covers off and all four valve springs are moving in and out. any suggestions?
Just wrote the following in another posting. Sounds like you have gas in the crankcase. Pull the dipstick and see if it is overfilled and/or smells like gas. It so do the following.
Welcome to the new world of ethanol enhanced fuel. Your float needle and seat will need to be replaced. This is a constant battle all home owners and service tech's are fighting. Today's ethanol fuels are causing the needles to not set properly and the fuel does not shut off the fuel in the carb, and the fuel goes everywhere. In your case it filled the crankcase. After you replace the needle and seat you will also have to change the oil. We suggest to all our customers to use high octane non ethanol fuel in all there small engines to try to stop this problem. Good Luck, should be a simple but unnecessary fix.
