John Deere mower dies on hill

[Levi_88]

I have a John Deere water cooled riding lawnmower. It’s an older mower that was left with the house we bought. I’ve mowed twice and both times it’s done great in the back yard which is flat, but when I start going up the hill to the front yard the mower dies. Once it dies, it won’t start up right away, turns over like it’s trying to, but never does. I’ve checked air filter, spark plugs, put a new battery on it, cleaned the mowing deck. Any advice or tips on where to begin or try to start would be great!

 

[bertsmobile1]

Welcome
It would help greatly if you posted the mower details off the ID tag on the frame rail and the engine make & model number
General guesses
1) crap in the fuel tank that is getting sucked into the engine when on a slope
2) crap in the carb, same story
3) loose / bare kill wire that touched to ground when the mower is at an angle

JD make excellent technical manuals that a 5 year old apartment living NewYork kid can understand so buying one is a very good idea.
They only cost 1 to 2 hours of a techs charge out fee so pay for themselves the firt time they are used
Tells you how each & every bit works
How to test each & every bit
Then how to fix it

 

[Deleted member 97405]

Being water cooled that narrows it down to a handful of models but there are still enough differences that we still need the model number. It will be on the side of the hood, i.e. LX178, LX188, 345, GX345, 320, 425. These are just examples of model numbers. I've been a Deere tech since the 90's. I'm sure we can help you here, but we need some machine identification like Bert said above.

 

[Levi_88]

Appreciate your response! Sorry I didn’t specify, it’s the LX188. I’ve been looking into Manual, assuming the service repair manual is one I need to pick up. Any advice on where to start troubleshooting would be greatly appreciated. I’m just now kinda getting into fixing things on my own, looking forward to learning how to

 

[bertsmobile1]

Start by removing the carburettor bowl with a shallow dish underneath it to see what comes out
Take the fuel line off the carburettor on the flat and crank the engine for 15 seconds with the spark plugs removed so it does not start.
Catch the fuel that comes out and measure it
The drive to the place where it runs the worst & repeat
If the volume of fuel pumped is significantly less than on the flat this confirms a fuel blockage

 

[Deleted member 97405]

These were great tractors! I agree, it sounds like a fuel issue. First, make sure the fuel cap vent hole is not plugged up. I’ve seen the hole get plugged by dirt over time. If the tank can’t vent, it will create a vacuum, which will eventually overtake the fuel pump. It will be noticed quicker on a hill since the pump will now have to fight gravity in addition to the vacuum effect. If the engine is still starving for fuel, the first places to look is in the 90 degree elbow in the fuel pickup tube at the gas tank. You will have to remove the fenderdeck to access it. It’s really easy to remove. Two 13mm headed bolts under the seat(slide seat platform forward to see them), two 13mm nuts under the floorboards, pull height setting knob off, unplug seat switch wire, and lift the fenderdeck off. Its that easy! Disconnect your fuel line and pop the pickup tube out of the tank. Blow through it and make sure it’s open. If your tank had debris in it, now is the time to simply lift it off the tractor and flush it out. Second place to look is at the fuel shut off valve. If it has one, it will be in the engine bay before your fuel filter somewhere. Ive seen grass and bug bodies get sucked up into both places and restrict fuel flow. I’m not suspecting an issue in the carb just yet since it runs fine on the flat. The fuel pickup in the carb is in the middle and if there was an issue in there, it should run bad no matter what the terrain. But it still wouldnt hurt to check if there is any debris in the bowl. With this age of machine, it is also possible you have deteriorated fuel parts and need to replace the fuel lines and pump due to the effects of ethanol since your machine was built pre ethanol.

 

[Levi_88]

Update:
Today was first day I’ve had off work, so I spent the day making 15 trips to lowes for parts they didn’t have. I removed the fender deck, thanks for the seamless instructions, went super smooth. The fuel tank had tons of debris in it, so I emptied gas and flushed it, checked all my hoses, replaced fuel filter with the closest one I could find to the one on mower, replaced one piece of hose. The right angle vacuum was clear, however the gasket going into tank was starting to erode. I couldn’t find one anywhere around, so I used 3m double sided tape just around the bottom of gasket and onto pickup tube. Didn’t use much tape, just wanted to try and keep the corrosion from getting into tank until I can get one in, also hoping it would help the seal. Mower still won’t start. I pulled air filter and sprayed carb spray down into intake and what do you know it started…and then immediately died…when I spray it’ll start, but no matter what I do to throttle it just dies. Assuming I might need to look at carburetor and maybe clean it out? Also, my new fuel filter has some gas in it, but it’s not full. Want to make sure that’s normal since the mower isn’t running and not something going on with fuel pump. When I first bought the house and the owner showed me the mower, he cranked it and then had to throw the throttle up to get it going. There’s been times where it wouldn’t turn over, go back later and it would. This time when it died I haven’t been able to start it back up since, so I don’t know if something was hanging on by a thread and finally went out. I appreciate everyone’s input and help, it’s probably frustrating bc I’m new at this, but I’m gonna get this thing running.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Pounds to peanuts the carb will be full of gunk so pull it apart & clean it .
If yous has the cut off solenoid, these are particularly vunerable to varnish build up and fine particulates clogging the plunger .

 

[Deleted member 97405]

Yep, definitely debris in the carb. Kawasaki carbs usually have a jet in the top that has a super fine hole in the end of it. Doesn't take much to plug it up. If that jet is plugged, the engine will not run. I usually take a strand from a wire brush and run it through the hole to make sure it's open. Once you get the jet out, you'll see what I'm talking about. Definitely take Bert's advice and clean the carb! As a further note, once you clean the carb and reinstall it, the engine may surge if you try and run it without the air filter installed. The carb is jetted to allow for the restriction the air filter places on the air flow. I dont know why the LX188 and LX178 were like that, but just wanted to give you a heads up. Threw me for a loop the first time I had it happen!

 

[Levi_88]

i removed the carburetor, wasn’t super bad but was definitely dirty. The gasket, o rings, manifold top were eroding. I cut gaskets, replaced o rings. I took the bowl off, cleaned it real good. I didn’t have gas in my line or in the bowl when I took it apart and I came across a video saying the fuel solenoid goes bad a lot of times and it’s a really hard thing to catch, so I grinded the tip down and put in a manual bypass. In the middle of all this I realized the carburetor thread was stripped when I tried to put bowl back on…the bolt was fine, but the threads up inside the carburetor were pretty much gone. I tried to use epoxy glue, but it wouldn’t hold…whenever I try to start it, gas just leaks out of the bottom bolt. I will say that since I put the manual bypass on, gas is flowing, so I’m starting to think that was problem initially. I ordered a carburetor, so once it gets here I’m hoping this puppy will fire up. I’ll let y’all know! Thanks again for all the help, I’ve learned a lot in the last week!