John Deere X324 runs then dies

[smalltowntex]

Amen brother on the Technical manual! Money well spent I must say. Good luck TourNut...and everyone else having these head scratchin problems. BTW, the fuel filter I was refering to was just the "clear" inline type. 3/16 or 1/4 inch fuel line. The better ones have an arrow on them showing the direction of fuel flow and a person really shouldn't buy a cheap one anyway. Now, I will leave this thread alone.
smalltowntex

 

[TourNut]

The easiest way to work out if it is a fuel or spark problem is to remove the hood ( it is basically ornamental ) .
Fit a pair of red in line spark testers ( so you can see them in the daylight ) then go mow.
If they keep on glowing while the engine is dieing then your problem is fuel related .
OTOH if they flash irratically or stop glowing all together when the engine is playing up then you have an electrical problem .

On the particular filter you are using the outlet tube extends almost to the end of the paper element.
Thus when hung vertical you trap air in the dead end of the filter.
They are designed to be used horizontal .
You can install it backwards and it will fill completely.
Backwards or forwards makes no difference to the filter except that the crud collected will be inside the paper element so you can not see how much crud has been pulled out of the fuel .

If you look like your spark is the problem, first check that the fuel shut off solenoid is working properly
Then pull the kill wires off the coils and repeat the test mow.
Problem goes away = short or bad switch in the safety circuit
Problem remains = bad coils .
I don't want to sound preachy here but anyone who owns a JD that is giving them grief who has not bought the JD Technical Manual for their mower is smacking their head against a brick wall.
Not only do they have the most comprehensive trouble shooting section that has ever been published but they also have illustrations showing you exactly where every switch plug & even the ECU ( when fitted ) is hidden on the mower.

On mine it , the filter clearly gets empty so the fuel pump is sucking air only , which it is too weak to pull gas all the way from the tank when it has lost the fluid prime . If I add gas just above the filter , ( to fill it up again , with a gas line "T" & a cap ) that primes the pump for a while , until the trapped air in the fuel line , above the tank , ends up emptying the filter again . - BAD DESIGN !
( Will eventually report on my modification - if I fixed the problem by getting fuel from a bottom hose nipple that gravity feeds the filter , eliminating trapped air in the fuel line )

 

[bertsmobile1]

There are thousands of them out there that are all running fine so the design is fine .
The fuel pump is a simple diaphragm pump with a check vale on the inlet ( some have check valves on outlet as well ) they work very well.
There are filters designed to be used in the vertical outlet side up position they are just a bit more expensive .
I have some here for fitting when customers who do not understand the fuel system have a hissy fit cause the filter is not completely full of fuel .
The simple test is to pull the fuel line off the carb and crank the engine.
A good pump will pump fuel to a height of 2' above the height of the fuel tank outlet.
In the 7 years I have been servicing mowers I have only come across 2 failed fuel pumps & I knock over 300 jobs in a good year
The 3 most common fuel supply problem on OLDER mowers are in order
1) debris blocking the outlet
2) blocked fuel tank vent
3) collapsed fuel lines

 

[TourNut]

There are thousands of them out there that are all running fine so the design is fine .

But yet this 10 year old one has been having intermittent fuel delivery problems for over half it's life so far , thus making it not fine ; I'll go with a more common motorcycle setup which I know works , since 1971 .

 

[TourNut]

My John Deere , ( a 2010 w / only 126 hours of mowing & snow blowing ) quit 3 times during the last mowing, Fuel filter was empty all 3 times . After a more careful inspection , found out there was about 7 1/2 feet of fuel line , including fuel filter , from the engine - top - mounted fuel pump to the very top of the tank next to the cap ! then down inside about 2 ft , (where it misses the bottom by 2 " , of unusable gas ! ) They couldn't have made it any longer ! So the weak diaphragm gas pump , driven by crankcase air pulses , would have to suck gas ( or air ) against gravity almost the entire , long way !
The long way over the top of the tank then down along the frame was probably always mostly air trapped to the filter . How retarded !
I clipped the hose close to where it went into the tank , at the back of the J.D. & plugged that off .
I put a 90° brass hose nipple screwed in , with automotive grade sillicone , close to the bottom of the tank in the back , That made the fuel line & filter fill up by gravity alone , all the way up within about 3 inches from the pump , @ a full tank , without trapped air in the system . Now it's getting gas , after years of "mysteriously" quitting !

 

[garberfc]

If it's not too much trouble, what is the in/outlet tube size on the fuel filter? I'm away from my mower so can't measure it...
Thanks in advance.