LX280 continually stalling - can't mow !

[trlsrocny]

Hoping someone out here can give me some thought provokers because I am at my wits end with this. My 2004 LX280 starting giving me problems about a year back. It would start up and run ok 90% of the time, but on occassion (and I have no idea why) it would stall after mowing for a bit. Basically it would start surging and begin to stall, but if I held the choke open and turned the deck off it would run enough to get me back to the garage. Lately it has gotten worse and is now happening every time I mow.

I have religously changed the oil, plugs, fuel/air filter, etc each year. Carb looks good. fuel lines dont seem plugged. Have run it with he gas cap off to determine if vapor lock was issue. Nothing.

I recently tweaked the choke, throttle and governor positions to see if that would help. Once I did that it ran for a full mow (2 acres - 1.5 hours) without problem. Yet the next week when I took it out it did the same thing again after 15 mins !!!

No idea where to go next except bring it to the dealer. Just trying to avoid paying big bucks if possible !!

Thanks

[BruceWard]

I had an issue with my lx279 and worked through the possible causes until replacing the fuel pump solved the problem. More info here http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/j...well-flat.html

Perhaps you have a tired fuel pump that works some of the time?

[trlsrocny]

Thanks Bruce. I am definitely leaning towards a fuel problem. It just seems to be that it is not getting the appropriate fuel/air mixture. Read your post and some of the others referenced in your post and it sounds almost identical to what is happening with mine. Almost like it gets hot after a period of time and then stops running. Runs with choke, but then even dies out with that after a period of time. Will run for awhile once it cools, but then happens again. Thought it was a shifting of the metal plate due to heat which caused the governor to move, but resolved that and still getting the issue.

The electrical suggestions were also something I have considered as well, but after looking up the fuel pump and seeing that I can get it for $30 I think I will try that route first. My gut just says fuel, but we shall see.

Will post back once I get it replaced in about a weeks time and let you know the results.

[BruceWard]

Big difference in fuel pump prices, the Kawasaki pump for my water cooled engine was almost $130. I hope replacing the fuel pump works as well for you as it did for me.

[trlsrocny]

well bad news. No luck with the fuel pump. I swapped it out and was able to mow twice for 1.5 hours each time, but on the third run while pulling a roller on flat surface it began to surge again and stalled out after about 30 mins of running. I have inspected the electrical and found nothing.

I took the carb apart and thoroughly cleaned it tonight. I also tweaked the governor linkage. I am starting to suspect that it may have something to so with the governor or the carb mounting. I am able to recreate the same surging issue when I have the engine running and I either move the carb up and down slightly or mess with the governor linkage and then it will stall out unless I hold the choke open. Hard to explain without a pic to show. Not sure if something is bent, not installed correctly, warped or what. There are a few springs that link the governor to the throttle. I also found an interesting element in the governor mounting plate and that it has slotted screw mounts as it looks like you can adjust it up and down. I have given it a shot and will see what happens, but I am not at all confident that I have resolved the issue.