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My name is Gary

4K views 16 replies 5 participants last post by  motorhead12 
#1 ·
I'm new to the forum but am not sure how this all works but hope to learn how to post an issue to see if I can get helpful feedback. I thought I posted something but can't seem to find where it went or to see if anyone has commented on it.
 
#4 ·
Js38 John Deere has issue after running out of gas & tank is refilled

After running out of gas and refilling the tank my JS38 John Deere will start but won"t stay running. I think the chok gets stuck and don't know why. The other day I held the chock open manually for about 30 seconds while it put putted along then all of a sudden it took off and I was able to finish mowing. I took it to the dealer and he said don't let it run out of gas. Now mowers always run out of gas, they have for years. I do not see this as a viable explanation. Something has to be wrong. It's done it twice in a month. I was charged 60.00 for a cleaning job and only got two mowing before it did it again. Any suggestion for a permanent solution, rather than not let it run out of gas. I have always preferred storing my mower with the tank empty! Any help will be appreciated!
 
#5 ·
Welcome to the forum, Gary! Are you sure you were holding the choke open? It kind of sounds like you were holding it shut, and increasing fuel draw. When you run the mower out of gas, you empty the fuel system, and it takes time for fuel to get through the carburetor and reach the engine. Closing the choke would shut off air and enrich the mixture, causing more fuel to be sucked in to the carburetor, and enabling the engine to run properly. The dealer may be right in saying that running it out of fuel is causing this. However there's nothing wrong with running it out of gas. To reduce this problem, I'd just top it off frequently during the season and only run it out of gas when you want to store it.
 
#8 ·
Maybe I am holding it shut but whatever I am holding has to be done for it to keep running and finally take off and run properly. Is this the "only" fix to it? I've had Lawnboy mowers for years and they've run out of gas everytime I've used them and I simply put more in and away I go. Is this John Deere designed different when it comes to this type of issue. In order to get to the part I held shut or open I had to unscrew the top plastic covering. Seems like a strange thing to have to do any time it runs out of gas. I can surely keep it topped off with gas until seasons end but that seems also strange to me. I thought there might be a setting that would either do the procedure automatically or a manual choke, which there is not on this mower. My old LawnBoys had a manual choke lever so I did not have to dismantle anything to see where I had to push.
 
#6 ·
Welcome to MLF Gary, glad to have you aboard, Sorry to hear about the JD issues.
Its possible that you may have debris or the break down of ethanol (water residue) laying in the bowl and when you run out of gas, the debris gets sucked into the jets/ports causing fuel starvation. When you choke it, you create a stronger vacuum and the engine may suck it through allowing everything to return to normal.
There use to be nothing wrong with turning off the fuel flow with a shut off valve and letting the engine run out of gas. It was only an issue with the older non self priming diesel engines but that's a whole different animal! ;)
 
#9 ·
Yes I paid for the carb. to be cleaned as well as anything else they thought needed cleaning related to the fuel flow issue. The mower is about a year and a half old, bought at Lowe's. I have never used anything but good regular fuel in it and never any sort of treatment. It's running fine now but if it were to run out of gas again I am certain the same problem would occur.
 
#10 ·
Just because the mower is only a year and a half old doesn't mean that the carb is clean. I've had ethanol mess up a year old carb. Ethanol is a notorious enemy of fuel systems. It attracts water, and causes corrosion and varnish. The resulting gum can cause various starting problems. There are many fuel system treatments that are effective at keeping ethanol at bay,(such as Seafoam and Sta-Bil ethanol treatment) and I have found that they work well. Your carb probably needs to be cleaned again. It's not a major task to clean it. All you need are the tools to take the carb apart and some carb cleaner. If it looks like the gaskets are damaged, then you should install a rebuild kit. The first thing I would check is to see it the float bowl is clean.
 
#11 ·
I took the float bowl off and it was perfectly clean. The float operated freely. I have only used regular gas in the mower, not ethanol blend. Does ALL gas have ethanol in it? I thought I was buying gas that had no ethanol in it. Maybe I'm not knowledgeable about gas ingredients. I was told to never use gas with ethanol in it because it would cause small engines to run too hot which was not good for them. Do I have my information straight?
 
#13 ·
I wouldn't say that you can't but you may want to put some ethanol treatment in the gas before using it. I use it in all my modern equipment with Marine Formula StaBil and everything is good to go.
If you have access to regular fuel without Ethanol, I'd use it for sure.
 
#14 ·
Whether your fuel has ethanol in it depends on where you are. Here in New York, all grades have ethanol in them. I also use Marine Formula Sta-Bil, and it works great. Ethanol does burn hotter than petroleum, and it can cause engine damage, but the 10% blend used in most places doesn't cause too many overheats.
 
#15 ·
I have never used the formula treatment you speak of in anything, not even my 5HP outboard motor on my little boat, which is a Briggs and Stratton Air cooled outboard, not a water cooled one. Is there a mixture formula as far as the amount one should use and how often one should use such a treatment? Thanks for these helpful tidbits. I really appreciate them!
 
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