My john deere 214 sputters and backfires at an idle and dies when throttled up too fast. It sputters the worst at about half throttle and if not accelerated very slowly it will die. Although it does run fine at full throttle. I have bought a new carburetor for it and changed the in line fuel filter. The carb has been looked at and adjusted by a small engines mechanic. I just wonder if the ignition points, coil or condenser would be the problem? The coil does look old and even has a tiny rust hole in it. I just need help diagnosing a problem like this. Could it still be a fuel/carb problem? Or could the points and ignition components have something to do with it? Any feedback and advice is greatly appreciated thanx.
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John deere 214 sputtering
- Thread starter JD214
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Export threadbertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
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- Nov 29, 2014
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Sounds very much like a flooding problem.
When did you last rebuild the carb or is it still running the 30 year old original unit untouched ?
When did you last rebuild the carb or is it still running the 30 year old original unit untouched ?
Thats what i kept thinking too, so I took the old carb off and cleaned it and put it back on and it still sputtered and stalled, so then i bought a brand new carb from ebay. I tried adjusting it to the best of my ability but was still having problems, so i took it to a small engines mechanic who looked the carb over and replaced the gaskets from the motor to the carb and from the carb to the air cleaner as he said they where very brittle. However it still sputters.
so im not sure if it is something to do with the new carb or not. (would i have been better off rebuilding the original one then buying a new one?)
or could it be possible that it has something to do with the ignition points, condenser, or coil?
so im not sure if it is something to do with the new carb or not. (would i have been better off rebuilding the original one then buying a new one?)
or could it be possible that it has something to do with the ignition points, condenser, or coil?
Perhaps try a new plug if for nothing else to take it out of the equation. In my experience with engines backfires are normally caused by an ignition issue of some sort. I would check the plug wire for cuts, cracks, etc to ensure that it isn't grounding out constantly or intermittently. If that checks out then I would check the coil. It could be points/condenser which, regardless of problem and you get it running again, I would replace with an electronic ignition kit.
Well it does have a new plug, and the plug wire checks out ok. I would say my only option left would be to try replacing points, condenser, and coil. (Assuming that there isn't any other possible cause that i don't know about).
how would i go about replacing the points? Not 100% sure how to gap them and all that.
how would i go about replacing the points? Not 100% sure how to gap them and all that.
Do you have a dwell meter and timing light? If not you can still do it with a good ear.
point gap issue on JD 214 - MyTractorForum.com - The Friendliest Tractor Forum and Best Place for Tractor Information
john deere 214 no spark
Might look at this too. 1979 John Deere 214 Point change
point gap issue on JD 214 - MyTractorForum.com - The Friendliest Tractor Forum and Best Place for Tractor Information
john deere 214 no spark
Might look at this too. 1979 John Deere 214 Point change
Well I replaced the points and condenser, and set the points to 0.020 like the manual says, and I've got it running a lot better then it was. I got it to throttle up like it should, but it still misses and backfires a little bit(not as bad as before, but still noticeable).
I still have yet to replace the coil because i could not buy it locally and will have to order it. So I'm not sure if replacing the coil would help smooth things out and help cure some of the missing and backfiring or not. Should I have set the points a little differently? Will a new coil help?
I still have yet to replace the coil because i could not buy it locally and will have to order it. So I'm not sure if replacing the coil would help smooth things out and help cure some of the missing and backfiring or not. Should I have set the points a little differently? Will a new coil help?