mr.pipes 4 #1 Posted October 23, 2011 So about a week and a half ago I went to start my tractor, it wouldn't run right and then died and wouldn't start. It is a 400 series hydro with a kohler M20. I could see a bit of water in the fuel filter so I pulled the tank and carb. I disassembled the carb and this is what I found. Some nice fish egg type of gel from the ethanol absorbing water I guess. So I soaked it in a bucket of carb cleaner for a day or so, rinsed it off, blew it out and reassembled with a rebuild kit. I drained and flushed the gas tank then put everything back together with a new filter and new fuel lines. This afternoon I fired it up and it idled well and throttled up fine. I wanted to put the engine under load to fine tune the carb settings. When I would engage the PTO the engine would die. The governor was closing the throttle. If I slowly pushed on the PTO lever I could get the 48" deck with powerflow bagger up to speed by riding the clutch. But once I would try to push the PTO lever all the way it would start to die. However when I engaged just the hydro everything was cool. The deck, mule drive etc. seem fine and free spinning. I am able to spin everything with the belt pinched between two finger easily. I adjusted the main fuel needle in what seemed like every position and then tried engaging the PTO but it still dies. WTF!!!!! I followed the service manuals instructions on how to make the initial governor adjustment. I noted the position before adjusting the cross shaft and it appeared to be already adjusted properly. I then messed around with the governor sensitivity by trying the governor spring in different holes. I felt the PTO bell? and it was kinda warm so I pulled that and greased it and it spins good. I tried backing off the trunnion so the pulley doesn't push so hard on the clutch liner but still no difference. What it going on? Am I missing something? Did I screw something up? Anything I should try? I would really appreciate your thoughts, ideas and opinions. This is driving me nuts and I need to get this figured out. Thank you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 14,865 #2 Posted October 23, 2011 If I slowly pushed on the PTO lever I could get the 48" deck with powerflow bagger up to speed by riding the clutch. But once I would try to push the PTO lever all the way it would start to die. If you can engage the PTO slowly and the deck runs, then I don't think you have an electrical problem. I think that something is binding in the deck drive system. Have you checked the pulleys in the mule drive to see if they are running free with no binding? Sometimes a bad bearing won't bind until it's under load. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
c175inMA 8 #3 Posted October 23, 2011 sounds like an electrical problem. Try and make sure that the safety switches are all working correctly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr.pipes 4 #4 Posted October 23, 2011 Thanks for the replies guys! Paul, I think you may be onto something. A little light went on in my head after reading your comment. I left out one little bitty piece of info in my original post. There was no seat on the tractor while I was doing all of this. :wh: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hydro 130 #5 Posted October 23, 2011 I had a similar problem with my 416 when I had it. Turned out to be the safety switch for the PTO. In your case it could just be that contact is not being made with the seat off. They can be a real pain especially if you mowing in ditches and need to counterbalance with your body weight. I have switched to 91 octane for my small engines because up here at least there is no ethanol in high test...not yet anyway! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buckrancher 2,673 #6 Posted October 23, 2011 you need the seat back on the tractor and sitting on it as there is a "operator present" safety switch mounted under the seat so you can not run the pto while off the tractor Brian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr.pipes 4 #7 Posted October 25, 2011 Just thought I would post an update and thank you guys for your help. Turns out it was a case of stupidity and me not looking at the big picture. The problem was there was no operator in the seat when I was engaging the PTO. I hadn't put the seat back on yet from when I had it removed to pull the gas tank. In my defense, I was working on it outside and was rushing to get it together cause I was loosing sunlight. The seat I had on it before must have always depressed the seat switch whether or not I was sitting down. Because today with the new seat installed, when I got up and reached to clear the grass screen the engine began to cut out. I never had that happen before with the old seat. Oh well, I'm glad it was something stupid rather than something expensive. :dunno: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
