7th horse came home to the stable

[Teddy da Bear 11]

Well I found the reason for it not starting.

The solenoid. Either it was the solenoid or the contacts.

I used my meter to measure the voltage coming off of

various places. I tried the far side of the solenoid and

only 4 volts registered when the key was turned.

This was only enough voltage to spin the starter and

not engage it. Changed it for the solenoid on the B-80

and it fired right up!

Well of course! That problem solved and another one

crops up. I went to finish the mowing job I had started

before I got rained out and it would not start.

I was almost finished with my south yard and the tractor

(almost imperseptably) started to slow down. I raised

the throttle and it responded, but after one more pass

it continued to slow (engine speed, cutting speed and

ground speed). I immediately shut down the deck.

I motored up to the garage and it seem to be "lurching".

I got in the garage and shut it off. It quit....then.......

BANG! It backfired realllllllly loud.! I did notice that this

tractor seemed to want to warm up on the choke longer

than most. And the former owner put this humongous

fuel filter on (size of a coffee can). And you remember

the dead bees in the tank? I wonder if one of them

"buzzed" on down the gas line? I think a fuel filter

replacement is in order. But it is strange that it ran

fine for a few hours and this came on suddenly.

[linen beige 14]

And you remember

the dead bees in the tank? I wonder if one of them

"buzzed" on down the gas line?

Wrong kind of "bee pee" for fuel? :whistle:

[Teddy da Bear 11]

I will get that fuel filter this afternoon when i pick my wife up at work.

I found a briggs & stratton filter that will work and look good too! (it is red like wheel horse).

In the meantime I was out trying to finish those last 2 passes I needed to

make on the south yard. And the deck lost a bolt on the tach-a-matic!!

The attaching bar on the deck came out and the deck went under the rear wheels!!!

I just had to laugh! This machine is throwing a lot of obstacles in

my path......I just need to make a lot of hurdles. But so far none has

been super serious.

[Kelly 1,028]

You might want to check I think that filter, you have is for gravity feed not for use with a fuel pump. pretty sure I read that about those, even though these pumps only put out 2-3 psi.

Make sure you blow out the lines if you don't replace them.

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Mike sorry you are having fits with your tractor. You should probably start with draining your fuel in a clean 2.L pop bottle and examine. Then start from inside the tank outward. Inside your tank where the petcock fuel shutoff is may have a fine mesh screen I would remove the petcock and make sure it is clean with no obstructions. If the fuel was clean then reinstall petcock and install fresh fuel turn petcock on and check for fuel flow. If all is okay at this point I would install fuel filter before fuel pump because you wnt to protect your pump from crud. examine fuel lines as you go and replace with clamps as nessasary. NEXT JOB remove carb and remove all jets float bowl, float needle and seat, give it a good doosh or come over to my place and I have a gallon of carb dunk cleaner and we can give it a bath for 1/2 hr with my aggitator. (I also have carb kits for them) then install needle & seat & set float level. Install float bowl. Theb on the long needle jet make sure the small holes are all open and jet looks good at end and not grooved. Ck all gaskets if bad replace Install carb back on make sure tight then air filter is clean. Initial setting I believe are two turns out main jet and 1 1/2 on idle screw. Next would be new points condensor and new plug all that will most likely set you back a $ 40.00 bill but sounds like the tractor is worth it and if you need a hand Im a phone call away.

Duke

[Teddy da Bear 11]

Thank you so much Kelly... I will check on that filter and return it if it is not correct. And yes....was planning to change lines. I like clear fuel lines not opaque.

I also need to do a little welding on the seat and muffler. But things are shaping up.

[Teddy da Bear 11]

Nope, it is the correct filter. Going to put it on this evening.

Just because inquiring minds want to know. (that's me).

I decided to take the tractor out and mow the north yard. It is about 2 acres in size.

The tractor did fine...no problems until it was half way thru. Then it started slowing down again. I nudged up the throttle again and it responded. But after 2 more passes it was at a crawl and on half-choke. I dissengaged the deck and headed for the garage.

I was wondering if this could be a condenser and not so much a fuel filter/fuel line problem?

I had a chainsaw that acted this way. Got hot and would not run.

Leave it sit for an hour or so and it would run again. The chainsaw mechanic told me that is what it was in that case.

[KyBlue 652]

Maybe the Coil getting hot as its running?? Ive had em go south on cars before and they'll loose spark after they get hot ...

[HorseFixer 2,012]

Maybe the Coil getting hot as its running?? Ive had em go south on cars before and they'll loose spark after they get hot ...

My mushy coil problem kinda felt that way come to think of it! Mike you may want to take the flywheel off and ck! see if the wire is inserted well in the coil.

Duke

[Teddy da Bear 11]

4star I am going to swap my coil and condenser with my b-80 and see what happens. I like doing the "process of elimination stuff. Thanks...

[KyBlue 652]

You dont need to Swap anything, Just run it till the problem occurrs, Pull off the plug wire, insert a spare plug, and crank the motor while grounding the edge of the plug. the color of the spark will tell you if its good or bad. The Condx of the Plug thats in the motor will let a bit of lite on whats going on when its running too.

Hope you get it figured out w/o too much hassle!

[Teddy da Bear 11]

When the original deck lost a bolt from the tach o matic bar and went under the rear wheels.....that was a "hassle".

This stuff is a cream puff compared to getting a tractor off of a deck wedged under it. <_<

[Teddy da Bear 11]

Finally figured it out!!!

The choke is messed up!

I manipulated the choke handle. When it is all the way up...the butterfly is all the way closed or "full choke". But if I bring it half way down....the butterfly is fully open or "no choke".

So what was happening in reality was the tractor was slowing down because I did not realize I was choking it or the butterfly had "slop" and eventually moved itself to a partial choke position. As the tractor warmed up I would move the choke handle downward toward the "no choke" position. But the engine ran perfectly in the "half choke" position. So I never moved the handle further down. The tractor ran great on half choke because the butterfly was in the proper "no choke" position.

Either there is a return spring missing for the butterfly or at some point maybe the P.O. broke the choke cable and it is a little short.

But the best news is....the engine runs normally at the butterfly's "no choke" position. :whistle:

[KyBlue 652]

Thats a good deal!!! Easy fix to hopefully!! Sometimes its the Simple things we overlook

[Teddy da Bear 11]

Well...they won't be calling this one "Lucky #7"

Scratch that comment I made earlier about it running perfectly.

It runs "longer" more perfectly......but now after about 2 1/2 hours

of mowing the tractor starts to slow down. I had it on full choke

and full throttle to get it back into the garage.

Now the new problem. (Is it related?)

I let it cool off and tried to start it...."click"...that was it.

Then a "spurt" of sparks came off of the positive battery terminal

on the next try!

There is nothing touching the positive terminal and I did "refresh"

this connection when I bought the tractor. It is acting like it was being "grounded".

What else could this mean? Bad battery? Bad positive battery cable?

Poor ground? Positive battery cable grounding somewhere I cannot see? (it does not go that far).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.