Just joined the Forum this morning and looking for help--I have a 1989 John Deere 240 Lawn Tractor that my Dad bought before his death so it has extremely high sentimental value. Always garaged--well maintained and waxed (I said it had extremely high sentimental value) so it looks almost new. Problem is just like other owners in this thread describe--it will run 45 mins or so, begin to lose power when the mower is engaged and/or going up an incline and finally just die. I can let it sit for 20-30 mins and it fires back up but repeats the cycle in somewhat less time. This only happens in warmer weather; I can run it all day in the fall and early spring with no problems. I have had it to two John Deere dealers and they have run out of ideas. We've replaced filters, carb, spark plug, Kawasaki module (17 hp Kawasaki engine), coil, removed and checked/cleaned the fuel cap,fuel tank and blown out the fuel lines. This is the third summer that I've been chasing this gremlin so I'm really grasping at straws. The only thing that hasn't been replaced according to the JD service managers is the fuel pump but they don't believe that's the problem. The owner who replaced the fuel solenoid and it corrected his problem makes me wonder if that could solve my issue. I just keep pumping money into this lawn tractor but since it's one of the few tangible memories of my Dad, I just need to keep looking. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
