Oil & Fuel John Deere 445 weak under load

Dutch445 · Jun 5, 2012

i wouldn't rule out spark or a coil. if you have weak spark,
the services you did may help it run better, but the spark
could still be breaking down under load.
you thought initially it may have been running on 1 cylinder,
there are testers out there that can test the spark while
the motor is running. it doesn't sound like anything transmission/deck
or pto related to me.

There is 1 fuel filter under the frame of the tractor, and probably
just a screen in the fuel pump which is in the fuel tank under
your seat. unless you can see crud down there, i wouldn't think
that was the problem, but did you change the filter under
the right side of the tractor? (under where your foot rest is)

snapline · Jun 5, 2012

THANK YOU!

Yes I did replace the fuel filter under the foot rest, which was attached to the frame.

It was the original fuel filter and seemed to be okay with reference to fuel flow. Even though I relieved the pressure in the fuel line prior to removal the gas flowed thru the filter when I broke off the line from the filter to the engine.
Replaced it with a new fuel filter anyway!

Fuel tank itself looks VERY CLEAN inside when I inspected it with a flash light thru the fill port.

I just got a spark tester to test the spark on the plugs. Will test and report back.
The information with the spark plug tester says that I attach in series to the spark plug wire. There is a small light bulb in the tester, which is suppose to flash as the plug gets current.

I will report back and thanks again for the info.

snapline · Jun 5, 2012

Looks like I have found the problem.

The ignition coil on the left cylinder of the engine is DEAD!
Part # is AM120732.

Checking tomorrow locally for a replacement.
I will post results after I install new one.

Thank you all!:thumbsup:

snapline · Jun 6, 2012

It was the coil!
Replaced same this morning, also placed two [2] new spark plugs into the game and BAM! We are good to go!

THANKS TO ALL FOR THE ADVICE AND HELP

:thumbsup: