John Deere 324 Runs for 15min then dies

[dejado]

Hi,

I have a John Deere 324 riding lawn mover that starts up very reliably and runs for 15-20 minutes then starts to search with high revs and low revs then just stops. After waiting a minute it will start up and run for a few minutes and then stop again. Once it is warmed up it tends to die. Here is what I have troubleshooted so far. I replaced the spark plugs. I cleaned the air filter. I replaced the gas filter. I have used a quart of fuel stabilizer and carb cleaner in the gas.I also cleaned out the vent on the gas cap. It seems like it might be an electrical problem. I have read that it could be secondary to faulty ignition coils but have not tested them yet. Any thought on what might be causing this and if it is something I might be able to fix without a PhD in mechanics or electrical engineering.

 

[Roadworthy]

When it stalls you could try removing the fuel tank cap. Many newer engines have a fuel stop solenoid in the carburetor. They are supposed to stop fuel flow when the key is turned off but on some the solenoid fails when hot and turns off the fuel. Heat can also affect ignition coils. Intermittent problems are the absolute worst to solve!!

 

[DanMc77]

@dejado: When debugging things like this, it's important to quickly figure out if it's an electrical problem (loss of spark), or a fuel problem. Your description of it quitting by first increasing RPM, then dying off sounds more like it's a fuel problem. Electrical problems tend to be instantaneous - it either runs or it doesn't and when it quits, it would just quit. So to confirm that it's fuel, get a can of starter fluid. When the engine starts to die off, spray that into the intake. With a fuel issue, the starting fluid will give the engine a boost of power. You can also do the same thing if you can add choke when it starts to die off. If you can't tweak the choke, then put your hand over the intake for just a moment, if you can get to it. That should also bring back some power as it dies off.

Assuming it's a fuel issue, then you could have water in the fuel, a stuck float in the carb bowl, a plugged up fuel filter (but you already changed that), or the gas cap vent. The easiest thing to try at this point may be to drain the fuel tank and put in fresh gas, because water in the gas will drive you crazy.

Incidentally, never use starter fluid with a diesel engine - starter fluid can create too much power in the cylinder and bend piston rods.

 

[beenthere]

Figuring you have the X324 ?

Gas, and sounds fuel related.

 

[Diggin It]

Is there a clear fuel filter so that you can see if there is fuel in it? If so, look when it dies and see if it's empty/dry, then watch to see if it fills slowly. You may have an obstruction in either the tank or the line between the tank and filter.

 

[RalphVa]

Could be a tight valve lash. Had this happen on a JD 14SB mower.

 

[tomplum]

Coils won't drop at the same time, so typically not a stall but miss and loss of power. This thread might help. There are many more just like it. John Deere X300 Running rough Quitting while mowing

 

[ZFreak]

Wanted to post my fix for this for those having this issue. I have a 2010 X324 and it was doing exactly as you described. I tried replacing and checking absolutely everything - fuel pump, plugs, checking magnet, checking valves, replacing all filters, etc... the culprit? The "ECU" or little black box under the dash. It's a 5 minute replacement and about $100. It was always heat related - as soon as it warmed up and got hot, it just stopped running. Wouldn't restart unless it sat there for a few minutes. Went to my JD dealer and the parts guy was telling me that they have had to replace quite a few of them. I replaced mine when it had about 400 hours on it. Has about 600 now and has been problem free in that regard. Part AM138537 is what I used and it looks like it fits a the other Kawasaki engine'd X3xx and x5xx models.