Have an old JD 110, 1973 model with a K241, which I have been tinkering on for a couple years. Finally got it up and running, began chopping leaves. Ran well for about 2 hours then it stopped dead, seems like fuel starvation. If you wait a few minutes it will restart but only very briefly, not even long enough to suck a float bowl dry. Plenty of good gas, fuel line unobstructed, when you spin the starter with the fuel line disconnected at the carb you can see fuel squirting. Removing the float bowl finds it full of gas, the float bobs freely up and down, and it is clean as a whistle in there. Choke and throttle cables are connected and working well. Sprayed WD40 through the holes for the main and idle circuits, seems no obstruction there either. Put the bowl back on same brief start up. If the main was plugged it would idle and if the idle was plugged it would run with throttle open. It is not smoking and the plug is clean. Any helpful thoughts?
Old K241
- Thread starter wekjo
- Start date
two things that come to mind. Do you have fire and the plug. Could be a plug or coil issue that is allowing intermittent start. the other thing is if you have had the head off and didn't replace the head bolts, you may be blowing the head gasket. Most of the time with this problem the engine will restart and run after cooling down.
Thanks for your input. Seems to me that if it was the head gasket there would have been a more gradual loss of power and shut down, this is just shutting off the gas type of quit. Supposedly the top end of the engine was just professionally redone when I got it and it ran very strong. However I will check the head bolts to see if torqued. This has a compression release to ease starting which makes checking the compression a mystery to me.
Coil is very old and beat up, is there an easy way with no shop equipment to see if it gives a spark and then dies? I recall once in the past it had turned in its holder and a connector on it was touching a bracket but that completely killed it.
Coil is very old and beat up, is there an easy way with no shop equipment to see if it gives a spark and then dies? I recall once in the past it had turned in its holder and a connector on it was touching a bracket but that completely killed it.
Attachments
The ones that I have seen with the head bolt problem will run from 15 minutes to about an hour and then start sputtering, and then die within a few seconds. They would then restart after cooling for about 1-2 hours and do it again. As far as checking spark without a spark tester, which are available for just a few dollars, after the engine dies, you can remove the spark plug, which will be hot, reinstall it into the spark plug wire, hold the plug against a good engine ground and crank the engine and check for spark.
the kolher head bolts are engineered to where then expand and contract with the aluminum head to prevent head gasket problems. When new bolts are installed and torqued to the proper amount, they stretch to a predetermined amount. But that property cannot be reached a second time. For the most part they are a one time use bolt, and have to be replaced any time the head is removed. Kohler had a bulletin about this several years ago, probably back in the 70's or early 80's.
the kolher head bolts are engineered to where then expand and contract with the aluminum head to prevent head gasket problems. When new bolts are installed and torqued to the proper amount, they stretch to a predetermined amount. But that property cannot be reached a second time. For the most part they are a one time use bolt, and have to be replaced any time the head is removed. Kohler had a bulletin about this several years ago, probably back in the 70's or early 80's.
Being as it is veterans day and i have the day off I went out in the cold and took a closer look at the coil. Top plug wire connection seemed loose so I seated it more deeply. Bottom of coil body was resting on frame mounting bolt. Lifted it up, turned it a bit and damn if the mower does not run now. Going to make another thicker insulating collar with a rubber sheet or something like that between the coil and the coil mounting bracket so when snug the coil does not turn or slide up and down with vibration. Hopefully in a few more hours it will be warm enough to mow and drink beer. Thanks
primerbulb120
Moderator
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2014
- Threads
- 43
- Messages
- 1,315
If the magneto is good, one possible explanation is that as the engine warms up, one or more of the valves get stuck open and the engine shuts down. After cooling down, the valve snaps back shut, enabling the engine to be restarted. Once restarted, the valve again sticks.
Re: More Old K241 issues
I moved the coil up in its clamp, turned it a bit, and double checked all the connections to make sure none of them were grounding with the engine running/vibrating.
Started it up and mowed just fine for 7 hours over 2 days. Worked like a charm, even the variator. However after it sat for 2 days I started it up to finish the yard, about another 30 minutes of cutting,
and though it starts and idles OK it will not keep a good steady high RPM to cut. Spits, coughs, loses power, does not backfire. Drained the gas tank, though I can't figure out how it could have
become contaminated just sitting there, put in new gas and same thing. Cables for choke and throttle are fine. Any other thoughts? Fuel pump is new this year. Plug looks OK.
I moved the coil up in its clamp, turned it a bit, and double checked all the connections to make sure none of them were grounding with the engine running/vibrating.
Started it up and mowed just fine for 7 hours over 2 days. Worked like a charm, even the variator. However after it sat for 2 days I started it up to finish the yard, about another 30 minutes of cutting,
and though it starts and idles OK it will not keep a good steady high RPM to cut. Spits, coughs, loses power, does not backfire. Drained the gas tank, though I can't figure out how it could have
become contaminated just sitting there, put in new gas and same thing. Cables for choke and throttle are fine. Any other thoughts? Fuel pump is new this year. Plug looks OK.
Was warm here today so I completely drained the fuel system down to the carb bowl and replaced with gas from a different chain. Starts and does the same thing with the Marathon as it did with the BP so I do not think I have bad gas. Tomorrow if warm enough I will check the points. They have less than 10 hours use on them since replacement so I doubt they are bad, yet they could be loose as so many folks have dicked around with the engine.