By
RusTia
Hi all, I stumbled across this forum while trying to diagnose an issue with a 314-8 GT my dad handed down to me when he bought a new one this past spring. He purchased it in August, 1997 and it has been used for general yard work and lawn mowing. It has had a great life so far with no major issues until late last summer when all of a sudden it would not start.
The engine would turn, but not fire up. After some playing around with the carb, I determined that it was not getting fuel when trying to start. However, I would just manually add fuel to the bowl to start it, and it would start right up. Once it started, it got fuel no problem and would run great for hours while cutting grass. A week would go by and I would have to do the same manual adding of fuel to get it to start, but it would run fine again. This went on all summer as I had no time to really look at it. I just assumed it had something to do with the ignition system not activating the fuel pump, but once it turned over, the fuel pump worked as designed.
Then one day toward the end of the summer, I turned the key and nothing. No crank at all. The battery is still good and the lights on the panel would light up, but the engine would not turn or even make a sound.
In searching the forum, I think I have narrowed it down to ignition module, starter, or solenoid. However, I don't want to order parts that I may not need so I am hoping to get some experienced guidance. My thoughts are that the two issues described above are related. Perhaps the fuel issues in the middle of the summer were symptoms of a part going bad, but still able to limp along. The final issue of not starting was when the part finally gave out. Or, perhaps they are not related and I have multiple things to look into.
I would greatly appreciate any information and/or advice. If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize. I thought it would go best in the engine since I am not entirely sure what the issue is.
By Mike-Casella
By Seacrestbf