GT275 Stalling - Even JD is unsure!

[billyk72]

My 12 year-old GT275 has stalling issues, and I am stumped, and my local JD repair center is not sure of what is going on.

A few months back, my GT275 just would not start and JD troubleshooted it (they think) to being caused by the shut-off valve. It was replaced and it ran for a few hours across a few weeks. Then one weekend morning it stalled after 60 seconds of running and would not restart. I did some troubleshooting, checked the shut-off valve (now that I know how to check it) and it wouldn't retract - so they gave me a new valve to install. It would not retract either. I also cleaned the gas cap hole to ensure there was no vacuum issues.

So JD took it back in. It started right up for them with some starting fluid, they checked the shut-off valve and they said it's working 'cause they can hear it clicking (I check it by taking it out and keeping it connected and touching the side to ground looking for the pin to retract). They gave it back saying that it must be old/stale fuel and to run it out and be sure to use fresh fuel.

I ran out the gas, having to restart it a couple of times with my new best friend - starting fluid. It's got 100% fresh fuel in it, and still randomly stalls. Sometimes after 60 seconds of running, sometimes after 20 minutes. Kind of random.

Any ideas??

 

[beenthere]

Not clear if you have isolated the problem to be fuel related.

Will it start with starting fluid after the random stalls? Or is there a time delay needed to get restarted again?

 

[BruceWard]

Sounds like the fuel shut off solenoind "shut-off valve" marked as 16 in the image below is not receiving + 12 volts.

For testing I suggest that you either;

1. Run a wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the solenoid and touch it to ground to make sure it retracts. Then install it with the wire to the battery.

2. Replace the stop solenoid with a short bolt with the same thread.

3. Cut the pin off of a broken stop solenoid and reinstall it.

I believe that your problem is in the electrical supply to the solenoid and not the solenoid itself. You may not have ever had a bad solenoid. So I reccommend options 1 or 2. If 1 or 2 make your mower run then you can decide whether or not to repair the electrical fault. Personally I would search for and attempt to repair a break in the solenoid wire.

I bought a used LX279 earlier in the year. While troubleshooting a fuel starvation problem I found that the fuel shut off solenoid had been cut off. I went to my local small engine repair shop and asked the owner about a replacement. He said they often cut them instead of replacing as they are very expensive and not necessary. My problem was a fuel pump, once I replaced the fuel pump it runs great with a cut solenoid. If I replace the solenoid someday I will buy a whole carb from JD as the complete carb kit is not much more than the solenoid alone.

 

[billyk72]

Not clear if you have isolated the problem to be fuel related.

Will it start with starting fluid after the random stalls? Or is there a time delay needed to get restarted again?

Thanks for the response!
Not sure that fuel was ever the problem either.
Starting fluid always gets it going again - no time delay.

 

[billyk72]

Sounds like the fuel shut off solenoind "shut-off valve" marked as 16 in the image below is not receiving + 12 volts.

For testing I suggest that you either;

1. Run a wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the solenoid and touch it to ground to make sure it retracts. Then install it with the wire to the battery.

2. Replace the stop solenoid with a short bolt with the same thread.

3. Cut the pin off of a broken stop solenoid and reinstall it.

I believe that your problem is in the electrical supply to the solenoid and not the solenoid itself. You may not have ever had a bad solenoid. So I reccommend options 1 or 2. If 1 or 2 make your mower run then you can decide whether or not to repair the electrical fault. Personally I would search for and attempt to repair a break in the solenoid wire.

I bought a used LX279 earlier in the year. While troubleshooting a fuel starvation problem I found that the fuel shut off solenoid had been cut off. I went to my local small engine repair shop and asked the owner about a replacement. He said they often cut them instead of replacing as they are very expensive and not necessary. My problem was a fuel pump, once I replaced the fuel pump it runs great with a cut solenoid. If I replace the solenoid someday I will buy a whole carb from JD as the complete carb kit is not much more than the solenoid alone.

Some great troubleshooting suggestions here - Thanks!!

The weird thing is that whenever I pulled the solenoid to test it (the original one and the new one) I never got it to retract - ever! I test it by keeping the 12v wire attached and touching the side of the solenoid to ground. I have also tested the wire for 12v with a multimeter, and there's always been 12v. Crazy. Then, it'll run!

I haven't had time to troubleshoot it since I got it back from JD. I think I need to take a systematic approach, now that I have more info on the subject.

I did wonder about the integrity of the solenoid wire and tried to trace it back, but the wire goes into a harness that is attached to a number of things behind the dash - I couldn't locate the other end to test for stable continuity.

Thanks again. I think I have enough info to take another run at this.
-bk