Hello all, I am running into a similar issue I saw posted a couple days ago and hoped to pick up some info. Live in KY too... have a 10323 with 6.5 Silver Duraforce and it has run perfectly up until about 2 weeks ago where it started making an odd rattling noise.. then it backfired and spit out a puff of smoke. I didn't think much of it until it did it again a couple minutes later on a hill and it seems to be losing power when I hit high grass. Am bagging and the grass is always damp it seems. Running about 32-40 mixture of actual
LawnBoy oil and have never had any issues with it in any of my other mowers or weedeaters.
I thought maybe I got some bad gas, so I changed the gas and put a little SeaFoam in and finished mowing... it did backfire a few more times each time with a little puff of white smoke. Not smoking all the time, just when it backfires.
I went out to mow today and it was a little hard to start, but fired up. Seemed to be running a little slower and not as strong on the self propelled as I started. Then i went onto a small hill through probably 4 inch damp grass and she bogs down, loses power and dies. I take it off the hill onto level ground, cleaned out the bagging chute, fired it back up after a few pulls and it still seems weak. I try again to mow on the hill slowly and it is struggling and dies again. Now I am pretty worried as this is my favorite mower and I got it a few years ago from a guy who bought it new, mowed 7 times with it, and put it away for 12 years and paid to have yard mowed. So it is in pristine shape.
Any ideas, brainstorming or suggestions are greatly appreciated as I have to get my Boy back to right...
As you stated these old mules are nearly unstoppable. I’m guessing because of its age and probably never really being serviced your carb needs a little TLC. If it came to me I would be removing, cleaning and rebuilding the carb with a new float needle and seat. Adjust the float level and install. I’ve attached the service manual and if you have any questions come on back. https://www.lawnboy.com/getpub/13300
I did a quick cleaning of it... it was filthy... and that might have helped... But I noticed a new and worse issue now.. So while I was cleaning the entire mower, I cleaned off all the dust and gunk on the aluminum part where the engine bolts to the deck and after I got it running again I noticed it seemed like it was smoking a bit from under the deck or near. So I stop the mower and get a light and look where I had just cleaned to shiny aluminum and it looked like liquid on it. So I wiped it off again and started the mower and clamped it to keep it running and got down with my light again... I could literally see I guess fuel droplets and it looked like they were coming out of the aluminum to the right of the muffler. So I am guessing something is cracked as I can't figure out where fuel would be coming from in that area..
That first one is a close up of the second pic.. It looks like a bead of fuel comes up right above that second line/crack in the aluminum.. The second pic shows it leaking down the deck..
Those cracks you are seeing are casting marks, not cracks. If this came to my with your symptoms I would be giving the unit a good hot pressure wash to remove every bit of dirt or oil I could see. Next I would make sure everything is dry without running the unit. Next I use an old farmers trick to find oil leaks. I coat all areas I suspect to be leaking with a light powder, as in flour, foot or body. Next I run the engine until hot, then shut it down and look for signs of an oil leak. You may have to do this two or three times. I suspect the leak may be the sump gasket. If nothing shows up clean all powder off with the pressure washer, use the unit until you find leaks and start over.. I understand this may take time, but I hate to tear into something until I have an idea of what I’m looking for.
