5105 engine surging

[aebsmithcreek]

Hello all, my 5105 started surging at mid and high rpm's so I drained the fuel tank and purged it with about 5 gallons of new fuel, changed filter and had a short lived improvement. Now it surges to the point of shutting down even at low rpm's and is extremely hard to restart. I drained the filter today and primed by hand, very few bubbles were present but it was still a bear to get started. When it started at high rpm the exhaust smoke was white and then went black before it shut down, this was the first try. It took quite a few attempts to get it to stay running and I didn't run it very much above idle because I had a set of concrete steps to unload from my truck and get moved and I was afraid it would die if I offered it any fuel. One thing that I noticed that I don't remember happening before is that when it started the plunger on the priming pump would be sucked down as if the manual priming pump was under a vacuum, is this normal and I just haven't noticed it before?
I am going to dump the fuel again, replace the fuel filter and at the advice of another replace the fitting at the bottom of the fuel tank. If I remember right he told me the factory fitting is a check that is prone to sticking and impeding the flow of fuel. The advice came from a heavy equipment mechanic with a outfit I used to work for, he told me that they replaced the fitting on every John Deere tractor in the fleet the first time it came in for repair.
Is my thought process correct or should I be looking elsewhere?
Many Thanks,
Earl.

 

[Quebecguy]

My 5205 has two fuel filters and I suspect your tractor does too. Replace them both and check for fuel flow,

 

[Tx Jim]

If your tractor has inline filter(item 29) have you changed it? Is fuel tank venting when engine is operating?

 

[aebsmithcreek]

Thank you both for the reply. I did not notice a inline filter but to be honest I was in a bind at the time and really didn't suspect or look for one. I didn't mess with it today because of the wonderful weather we had last night and today and I have to go visit with my mother tomorrow so it will be Saturday before I can get back on it but when I do I will make sure to check that and replace it if there is one. I bought this tractor used and it was used for clearing so if there was one it could have been drug off at some point and simply not replaced, I say this because I cleaned some thick scrub with it right after I bought it and snagged the fuel line and it yanked loose.
Thanks again and I will post back as soon as I can get something accomplished.
Oh, I forgot to add that I did try taking one of the fuel caps completely off and it made no difference.

 

[Quebecguy]

The inline filter on mine is located at the rear top of the motor just behind the valve cover.

 

[AWSubie]

Have u checked the air filter?

 

[aebsmithcreek]

The inline filter on mine is located at the rear top of the motor just behind the valve cover.

Is that on JD tractor?

Sorry, I see you have the 5205

 

[aebsmithcreek]

Have u checked the air filter?

I have checked it even though it was replaced probably less than 50 hours ago. I do appreciate your asking though because I tend to anticipate the complicated. At work I used to tell my guys that sometimes when you hear hoof beats it's just a horse not a giraffe but at home when it's my money I seem to always hear giraffes.
Many Thanks, all the responses are sincerely appreciated.

 

[Quebecguy]

That inline filter is not mentioned in my Operator's Manual, not even in any of the maintenance schedules.

 

[Tx Jim]

That inline filter is not mentioned in my Operator's Manual, not even in any of the maintenance schedules.

In line fuel filter presence/location could possibly be determined by different models 5105 vs 5205 or year models.