Did I buy a whoopdee?

[markthoma]

Hi everybody,
Moving out of the downtown area to a 1-acre house/lot a few miles out so I thought it might be a good idea to get a lawn tractor to mow all that grass! So the neighbor says his son-in-law (farmer) has a John Deere mower he'd be willing to sell for a couple hundred bucks. I took one look at it and said "Heck Yes!" The seller says it only has one problem....it'll run for a few minutes and then just die!
So here's the deal. It's a JD F525 (have no idea what year) and when I got it home I threw a battery charger on it, filled it with gas, and she fired right up. Ran for about 3 minutes and then just died. I pulled the float bowl on the carb and there was gas in it. I pulled the fuel filter and there was gas coming out of it. I pulled the spark plug and nothing. No spark whatsoever!
Bought a new plug, put it in this morning (the mower sat overnight) and it fired right up. Ran for 5 minutes and died. Same as before, no spark at the plug. So I'm thinking I must have a short at the magneto or in the plug wire. Does that sound right? Does this thing have a magneto? Does it have a set of points? Does the plug wire screw into the magneto is it a one piece unit. By the way the engine is some big honkin' Kawasaki 17 hp unit.
Any ideas?

 

[zzvyb6]

Your F525 (a 3 legger zero+ turn mower is a good machine and has endured a lot of abuse at my place. I've had a fuel pump problem that also gave it 5 minutes of life and would die. Dirt in the tank was the cause. For specific spark equipment issues, the JD parts area on their website has diagrams on the Kawasaki engine pieces. There are a lot of places on ebay to get used parts for the Kawa motor, too.

There are a few safetys on that machine, brake and seat that will shut it down if they get "open". Check to see if it will just idle with the brake on and then with the brake on and some weight on the seat and the mower engaged at idle. Also check to see if the shrouds and transmission fins are caked with mud or grass. I presume the "Low Oil Pressure" light is off.

If you ever plant a lot of trees, that mower will be able to cruise around them at full throttle. I now use an F935 (72" mower) which is it's big brother, but still bring out the F525 when the going gets rough,

 

[jenkinsph]

Mark,
Don't know the specifics on your engine but it does sound like you are on the right track with possibly a bad coil. Whether you have fuel or ignition issues it sounds like you will have a nice mower once this is resolved. Post some pics.:thumbsup:

 

[Brimstone10x]

Is there a little silver box next to the dipstick tube with a white wire pluged to it ? if so that is a module called an ignitor. will cause loss of spark issues. theres no real test for it only replace and try but its easy and often the problem.

 

[jinman]

I think you did fine with your purchase. Electrical problems are my favorites to fix. I think you got a bargain. BTW: What's a "whoopdee?" I've never heard that expression. It could be like, "Whoopee!" or it could be "Whoop me!" Maybe that's what you meant. You just never know. . . .

 

[markthoma]

whoopdee is a something that looks good on the front end but ends up being more trouble than it's worth. by the way i priced the 'igniter' at my friendly john deere dealer. $65 !
are they kidding?

 

[jinman]

whoopdee is a something that looks good on the front end but ends up being more trouble than it's worth. by the way i priced the 'igniter' at my friendly john deere dealer. $65 !
are they kidding?

Thanks for the explanation.:thumbsup: I'd never heard that expression before.

Expensive parts really ensure that you don't go on an Easter Egg Hunt, don't they? You should be able to check the ignitor for input power and/or an input ground as required. You definitely want to see it working and then quitting when it gets warm, but that may be hard to get with the engine open for access. If you are going to spend $65, you sure want it to be spent on the correct thing. At least, I sure would. Sometimes you can point to one thing being wrong by showing that everything else is okay. That may have to be your method.

 

[WayneB]

whoopdee is a something that looks good on the front end but ends up being more trouble than it's worth. by the way i priced the 'igniter' at my friendly john deere dealer. $65 !
are they kidding?

No they are not kidding, that is what I had to pay two years ago! Not much you can do to fix the one you have so either look on line (ebay or CL) or bite the bullet and pay the $65.00!

WB

 

[Njrotcjdp]

Hi everybody,
Moving out of the downtown area to a 1-acre house/lot a few miles out so I thought it might be a good idea to get a lawn tractor to mow all that grass! So the neighbor says his son-in-law (farmer) has a John Deere mower he'd be willing to sell for a couple hundred bucks. I took one look at it and said "Heck Yes!" The seller says it only has one problem....it'll run for a few minutes and then just die!
So here's the deal. It's a JD F525 (have no idea what year) and when I got it home I threw a battery charger on it, filled it with gas, and she fired right up. Ran for about 3 minutes and then just died. I pulled the float bowl on the carb and there was gas in it. I pulled the fuel filter and there was gas coming out of it. I pulled the spark plug and nothing. No spark whatsoever!
Bought a new plug, put it in this morning (the mower sat overnight) and it fired right up. Ran for 5 minutes and died. Same as before, no spark at the plug. So I'm thinking I must have a short at the magneto or in the plug wire. Does that sound right? Does this thing have a magneto? Does it have a set of points? Does the plug wire screw into the magneto is it a one piece unit. By the way the engine is some big honkin' Kawasaki 17 hp unit.
Any ideas?

Dad had one he ran for years. It's a good mower. However, with that said it can acquire electrical complications. Best I can remember it has 2 or 3 circuit modes it can run in depending on all it's safety features. Dad bought a repair manual and a parts manual from the dealer. That helped us immensely in trouble shooting.
Good luck.

 

[Skyco]

Thanks for the explanation.:thumbsup: I'd never heard that expression before.

I was wondering the same thing and never heard it before either...must be a regional thing
But markthoma doesn't list where he is...so I'm still curious!