Deere 214 Strange Carb/Fuel Issue

[comalia]

Hello,
I have an old Deere 214 with the Kohler K series that has been giving me some troubles. Came with a house I bought so don't have much history on it. Not long ago, it would start up fine and then die about 10 seconds or so later, regardless of choke and throttle positions. Started troubleshooting and decided to take the carb off and examine it. Was really gunked up, gaskets were pretty bad, and the float needle seemed to stick a little. Looked online and saw that a brand new carb, including gaskets, fuel line, etc. was nearly the same price as just the few parts I needed. Granted, it was from Amazon and likely garbage from China. I hooked it up and it fit nicely. Fired it up and started leaking fuel out the top of the bowl and out the air intake. Some of the reviews had the same issue, so figured I'd return and try a different one. Hooked it up, same exact problem. Decided to finally clean the original one up real good, soaked it overnight, checked the needled seemed to be not sticking, and put it back on with new gaskets. Started it up, fired right up and started running great. Drove it around the property for 10 minutes or so no issues. Let it sit for 15 minutes, started it up again and BOOM fuel everywhere.

One other maybe interesting detail is that the fuel pump is wired directly to the positive battery terminal; I hook it up and unhook it when I'm done mowing. I know that's not ideal, but it's run fine for me in the year or so I've had it that way.

Any help or suggestions is appreciated!

 

[5030]

Interesting. My Kohler K series has a mechanical fuel pump located below the carb that runs off the camshaft. Sounds to me like you need to bend the float tab to set the fuel level, just level with the top of the bowl.

 

[comalia]

I will certainly give that a shot. I hadn't gone down that path yet because the original carb used to work fine and never leaked. And figured the odds of the 2 new ones both leaking as well were slim. Thanks for the reply.

 

[RandyT]

Make sure that the hole in the carb body for the bowl vent isn't being blocked by a gasket for mounting the air cleaner housing. That vent hole blocked will cause a siphoning effect

 

[5030]

The air cleaner mount plate on my Kohler as a stamped in ident for just that. Long ago I removed the EPA mandated non adjustable jet carb and replaced it with an aftermarket one you can adjust.

 

[Rarefish383]

I've found the K series Kohler's to be very reliable. But, one thing. If you don't use the tractor during the winter. Don't let it set for months on end. When the ethanol starts to evaporate it leaves detergents and additives that get gummy. Often a good soak in a sonic cleaner is not good enough to get the crud out. Just checking the needle valve is not good enough. I have 5 JD's, a 265 with 3000 hours on it, a 318, X500 X540 and an X738.The 265 is just a toy, because it has so many hours on it, I just use it like a golf cart running around the neighborhood. The others get used year round with mowing and firewood duty. They never have carb problems. I had a brand new walk behind snow blower. I always said I planned on starting it every now and then to keep the carb clean, but never did. Come the first snow I was pulling the carb because it was all gooped up. For the past couple years I'll line all of the JD's up periodically and take pics of them running, just for show and tell on the JD forums.

 

[comalia]

Make sure that the hole in the carb body for the bowl vent isn't being blocked by a gasket for mounting the air cleaner housing. That vent hole blocked will cause a siphoning effect

Would it still create a siphon if the engine isn't running? Even just hooking the fuel pump up to the battery when it's not running causes fuel to start pouring out the top of bowl.

 

[Rarefish383]

Every tractor I've seen with the fuel tank higher than the carb, siphon fed, have pet cocks to turn the flow off. If the needle valve sticks open they can siphon into the cylinders and bleed past the rings, filling the crankcase.

 

[RandyT]

Would it still create a siphon if the engine isn't running? Even just hooking the fuel pump up to the battery when it's not running causes fuel to start pouring out the top of bowl.

Yes because if the fuel bowl can't vent it overrides the float because the carb is basically air locked. If you have every looked at a jiggler for siphoning fuel from a tank The float basically becomes the jiggler.