997 Z Track 2010 mower refuses to run long enough to mow yard.

[Alwaysgreen]

I have searched all over the internet and I see this problem has been discussed hundreds of times. This has been going on for 3 years, and I can only mow patches of my yard, taking turns with each small portion of my yard. It appears that a lazy person lives at my residence the three years this has been going on; not capable of staying on a mower longer than 15 minutes at a time.

I have researched this for so long, and have talked to different John Deere shops and the mower has gone in three times, only to go back to doing the same thing. Stalling out. They will run it a few minutes then report to me that it is repaired. I get it home and run it for 15-20 minutes, and it dies with a white cloud of smoke.

I was told that this mower cannot be plugged into a diagnostics computer, as the 2010 diesel model has no plug in to do so.

Personally, I have replaced these 9 things, and not a one of these problems has corrected it. Next year will be the 4th year with this low hour mower.

I cannot believe that John Deere has made this product. What were the people that designed this mower thinking when they put so many relays and switches on a lawn mower thinking? This is not a heavy duty piece of machinery that is surrounded by so many dangerous situations that it effects so many at one time. Good grief, it is just a lawn mower in a yard. A diesel mower should not create so many problems. It is an expensive mower, and I am thinking, if I can find the problem for now, when does this cycle start back over again next year after reading all the problems that it could be from other articles.
Here are the things that have been replaced on the mower this year, not including what the mechanics have done to it the three years before. The main tag they do it clean out the fuel filter; replace the filter; and flush out the tank and still, it dies in 20 minutes again. Here are the other things they say can be happening to it and we have replaced...

1. Cleaned fuel/water separator
2. Replaced primary fuel filter
3. Replaced fuel transfer pump
4. Replaced pick-up fuel line & strainer
5. Checked fuel pump relay
6. Replaced ignition key switch
7. Replaced fuel pump actuator solenoid
8. Replaced safety switch under seat
9. Checked alternator
10. Checked voltage regulator

If anyone knows another solution to this John Deere mower, please share it with me. I am afraid I will have to sell this mower for pennies and replace it with another brand. I have much fear of John Deere products after all that I have been through with this mower. I own a 3020 and a 4020, which have been great. This new model of John Deere not so much.

 

[Janicholson]

The fuel cap vent may be plugged. Jim

 

[kencombs]

Yanmar? I have what I think is a close relative in my late 90s JD455 garden tractor/mower. The only issues have been the in tank fuel pump and it's associated filter/screen and the shutoff solenoid got sticky. A random shutoff like you're seeing would have me looking at the shutoff solenoid and the circuits that control it. It has two coils, one pull in coil and a smaller hold in coil. A failure of the hold in or the wiring could cause what you are experiencing. If it were mine, I'd rig up a connection to it that could be read while mowing.

Of course there are other suspects, safety switches for instance. I don't know your wiring scheme, but on mine it has an overheat detection/protection circuit. If the coolant overheats it will shut off the PTO, and if extreme the shutoff solenoid.

Does it restart after cooling or how do you get it going again?

 

[super99]

I think I would wash it and trade it off!!

 

[1970-1655]

Mine was doing the same thing. I checked the solenoid and it was good. I put on a new injector pump from Mother Deere and have not had any issues since. 4 years going strong. Not a cheap fix but it worked. I could not find a shop local that knew these pumps so I went to the source and bought new.

 

[Alwaysgreen]

Thanks Jim. I had read about the cap being clogged and loosened the cap on the tank to a half turn so that it was freely turning on the tank. Not a seal at all. It still refused to run.

Yes, Ken, it is a Yanmar. The fuel filter at the bottom of the fuel tank has been replaced several times and this year twice. The screen on that tiny hose, is very fine, but we have kept a close eye on that.
When you speak of the shut off solenoid, is this the same as the fuel actuator solenoid? That was replaced a couple of weeks ago.

We washed out the radiator and oil cooler real well in case there was something clogging up that. But when the mower shuts down, it will crank back for just about 2 minutes at a time for about 3 or 4 starts before just the ignition turning over and over as if it is starving of fuel.

When the mower shuts off, it does not turn the PTO off. It just chokes down to that white cloud of smoke. All systems shut down at that time.

What makes it blow that large cloud of white smoke when it crashes? This mower does not smoke at all when starting, but only at the point it dies.

If I could rig up a connection to read while it were running..........? Sounds like you might could figure this out!! When it quits, don't shut the key off, and test the fuel actuator solenoid with a meter? See if there is power shut off to it? Good grief, the beeping when it dies!!

Wish I were a mechanical and electrical wiz, but I am not.

 

[Janicholson]

White smoke in a diesel is usually fuel not burned, not real "smoke" as in combustion gasses. does the smoke smell very strong of diesel? I would also check the air cleaner and any rubber hoses conducting air into the engine. If it has a air valve to stop a runaway situation, that could be closing. Jim

 

[wore out]

White smoke in a diesel is usually fuel not burned, not real "smoke" as in combustion gasses. does the smoke smell very strong of diesel? I would also check the air cleaner and any rubber hoses conducting air into the engine. If it has a air valve to stop a runaway situation, that could be closing. Jim

I agree with Jim, and I would disconnect the air intake system from the intake manifold and see if will keep running that way, to rule out any freak thing wrong in the air induction system that may somehow be choking off air supply. OBVIOUSLY don't run it in dirty conditions without the air filtration system in place & functional.

 

[used red MN]

I think I would wash it and trade it off!!

I would say the timing is getting thrown out of wack. This is totally a guess of what may be the problem. Fuel injected at the wrong time equals unburned fuel as in gray smoke. Of course this would take you down the path of 1970-1655 who suggested buying a new pump. Maybe Super99 has got a point. Trade it off at the John Deere dealer you bought it at if possible. Or the one that gave you the highest bill for a the repair that wasn’t a repair.

 

[super99]

I would say the timing is getting thrown out of wack. This is totally a guess of what may be the problem. Fuel injected at the wrong time equals unburned fuel as in gray smoke. Of course this would take you down the path of 1970-1655 who suggested buying a new pump. Maybe Super99 has got a point. Trade it off at the John Deere dealer you bought it at if possible. Or the one that gave you the highest bill for a the repair that wasn’t a repair.

Take it to the dealer and when they tell you they fixed it go to the salesman and trade it right then with a clear conscience.

 

[Russ from MN]

I would put some 2-cycle oil in the fuel, the pump might be sticking when it gets warm.

 

[Hemmjo]

did a repair on a JD lawn tractor a few years ago, had the same symptoms. There was a technical bulletin in regard to a plastic VENT tube from the carb leading downward. If that tube was too close to the exhaust it melted closed. Then the carb float bowl was no longer vented and the extra fuel choked the engine, making black smoke and eventually killing it..


OH, just realized yours is diesel,, OOPS


Good Luck

 

[Part Time Pete]

We had a similar problem with our Kubota 3130. Turns out it was the operator presence timer - basically it provides a delay in your seat switch shutdown circuit, so when you hit a bump the engine doesn't cut out

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

What does it take to get it going again? Do you have to prime the fuel system?

If you just start it up, set the parking brake, and let it idle, does it still quit after 15 minutes?

 

[Mule Meat]

Install a new fuel pump.

 

[dick1234]

I have searched all over the internet and I see this problem has been discussed hundreds of times. This has been going on for 3 years, and I can only mow patches of my yard, taking turns with each small portion of my yard. It appears that a lazy person lives at my residence the three years this has been going on; not capable of staying on a mower longer than 15 minutes at a time.

I have researched this for so long, and have talked to different John Deere shops and the mower has gone in three times, only to go back to doing the same thing. Stalling out. They will run it a few minutes then report to me that it is repaired. I get it home and run it for 15-20 minutes, and it dies with a white cloud of smoke.

I was told that this mower cannot be plugged into a diagnostics computer, as the 2010 diesel model has no plug in to do so.

Personally, I have replaced these 9 things, and not a one of these problems has corrected it. Next year will be the 4th year with this low hour mower.

I cannot believe that John Deere has made this product. What were the people that designed this mower thinking when they put so many relays and switches on a lawn mower thinking? This is not a heavy duty piece of machinery that is surrounded by so many dangerous situations that it effects so many at one time. Good grief, it is just a lawn mower in a yard. A diesel mower should not create so many problems. It is an expensive mower, and I am thinking, if I can find the problem for now, when does this cycle start back over again next year after reading all the problems that it could be from other articles.
Here are the things that have been replaced on the mower this year, not including what the mechanics have done to it the three years before. The main tag they do it clean out the fuel filter; replace the filter; and flush out the tank and still, it dies in 20 minutes again. Here are the other things they say can be happening to it and we have replaced...

1. Cleaned fuel/water separator
2. Replaced primary fuel filter
3. Replaced fuel transfer pump
4. Replaced pick-up fuel line & strainer
5. Checked fuel pump relay
6. Replaced ignition key switch
7. Replaced fuel pump actuator solenoid
8. Replaced safety switch under seat
9. Checked alternator
10. Checked voltage regulator

If anyone knows another solution to this John Deere mower, please share it with me. I am afraid I will have to sell this mower for pennies and replace it with another brand. I have much fear of John Deere products after all that I have been through with this mower. I own a 3020 and a 4020, which have been great. This new model of John Deere not so much.

I had same problem. Cleaned air filter. TA DA! fixed.

 

[Alwaysgreen]

OK, I sent it to a mower mechanic at Deere that has only done mowers for over 20 years. Was I expecting a miracle? YES! He drove it and it shut off and said they jerked the line going down in the diesel tank with that tiny little filter and it was clogged with green crap?? We changed those same filters twice to only have it run long enough that it was a long drag back to the shop. But this mechanic said that the filter change this time let it run long enough to mow the entire John Deere yard. Hmmmm? I am willing to bet that when I get it home it will run just a few minutes before it shuts down. Please let me be wrong!!!!

If it shuts down again, I will go through the list that everyone added to this since I wrote last.

Here is what makes me so angry. Why does Caterpillar Equipment not have issues with this so called algae clogging the fuel lines and filters? Why does John Deere have so much of an issue with this? I am told that Caterpillar has a very fine screen that does not have this issue with algae. I am not hearing any other tractor that cannot run on the diesel now. This mower is 14 years old and why did it just now start dying on me all the time? Now I am told that I need to buy a $100 a gallon additive to kill the algae. I will have to add so much to the tank each time I fill it up.

That line to the tank has been changed at least 3 times. UGH!

He also changed out the computer read out on the starter panel that shows you the warning lights in case that was the problem.

A very experienced BIG TRUCK mechanic, high demand, "spot on" from people who deal with him, said to add transmission fluid to the diesel fuel since sulfur has been removed as it is slicker and will help lubricate the inside of diesel engines. So we have added that to our fuel now. The mower stopped running long before we added the transmission fluid. I was loading the mower up and taking it straight to the pump in town when I would fill it up. So, it was not coming out of a plastic can before. Now we have a metal tank at the house to fill up tractors and the mower. Tractors run like a top on the same fuel. New filter in that tank.

super99, I am thinking along the same lines you are speaking of. If I get this mower fixed to run, it is time to send it off. They talk about what a great mower this one is, and it does a fine job if it will run. But I keep thinking, if I get it running now, when something else goes wrong, how long will it take me to find it again?

I am anxious to get it back home and see what it does. I had them check on the 997 R with a gas motor. Kawasaki engine. Good grief. The new diesel mowers have to have DEF to run if the engine is over 25 horsepower.

The tag on the new 997R 72" cut was $19,500. OUCH! I asked the lady on the show room if it had a diagnostic plug in for trouble shooting what happens to the mower. She did not know.

On the mower, they said the tube filter in the diesel tank was the problem. It was covered with algae again. I keep thinking what ever the tank is made of on this mower promotes algae as the tank was cleaned last fall.

The mechanics put that fuel additive that kills algae and let it sit overnight. It says 1 ounce per 100 gallons, but on the first treatment, use 2 ounces to shock your fuel tank.
He took a picture of the fuel tank filter, and it looked like it was huge chunks of tarry looking mess on it. They replaced it and then the next filter that is on this one. I am adding a photo of the tip of the fuel line and the algae that had accumulated on it.

He did this with the mower and then got on it the next morning and it ran long enough for him to mow almost the whole lat at the John Deere store. I purchased some of this algae killer and will keep it in the tank to see if this is the problem. I will report back tomorrow or the next day and let you know if I mowed two large yards as it is getting late in the afternoon.

 

[wore out]

OK, I sent it to a mower mechanic at Deere that has only done mowers for over 20 years. Was I expecting a miracle? YES! He drove it and it shut off and said they jerked the line going down in the diesel tank with that tiny little filter and it was clogged with green crap?? We changed those same filters twice to only have it run long enough that it was a long drag back to the shop. But this mechanic said that the filter change this time let it run long enough to mow the entire John Deere yard. Hmmmm? I am willing to bet that when I get it home it will run just a few minutes before it shuts down. Please let me be wrong!!!!

If it shuts down again, I will go through the list that everyone added to this since I wrote last.

Here is what makes me so angry. Why does Caterpillar Equipment not have issues with this so called algae clogging the fuel lines and filters? Why does John Deere have so much of an issue with this? I am told that Caterpillar has a very fine screen that does not have this issue with algae. I am not hearing any other tractor that cannot run on the diesel now. This mower is 14 years old and why did it just now start dying on me all the time? Now I am told that I need to buy a $100 a gallon additive to kill the algae. I will have to add so much to the tank each time I fill it up.

That line to the tank has been changed at least 3 times. UGH!

He also changed out the computer read out on the starter panel that shows you the warning lights in case that was the problem.

A very experienced BIG TRUCK mechanic, high demand, "spot on" from people who deal with him, said to add transmission fluid to the diesel fuel since sulfur has been removed as it is slicker and will help lubricate the inside of diesel engines. So we have added that to our fuel now. The mower stopped running long before we added the transmission fluid. I was loading the mower up and taking it straight to the pump in town when I would fill it up. So, it was not coming out of a plastic can before. Now we have a metal tank at the house to fill up tractors and the mower. Tractors run like a top on the same fuel. New filter in that tank.

super99, I am thinking along the same lines you are speaking of. If I get this mower fixed to run, it is time to send it off. They talk about what a great mower this one is, and it does a fine job if it will run. But I keep thinking, if I get it running now, when something else goes wrong, how long will it take me to find it again?

I am anxious to get it back home and see what it does. I had them check on the 997 R with a gas motor. Kawasaki engine. Good grief. The new diesel mowers have to have DEF to run if the engine is over 25 horsepower.

The tag on the new 997R 72" cut was $19,500. OUCH! I asked the lady on the show room if it had a diagnostic plug in for trouble shooting what happens to the mower. She did not know.

On the mower, they said the tube filter in the diesel tank was the problem. It was covered with algae again. I keep thinking what ever the tank is made of on this mower promotes algae as the tank was cleaned last fall.

The mechanics put that fuel additive that kills algae and let it sit overnight. It says 1 ounce per 100 gallons, but on the first treatment, use 2 ounces to shock your fuel tank.
He took a picture of the fuel tank filter, and it looked like it was huge chunks of tarry looking mess on it. They replaced it and then the next filter that is on this one. I am adding a photo of the tip of the fuel line and the algae that had accumulated on it.

View attachment 89209
He did this with the mower and then got on it the next morning and it ran long enough for him to mow almost the whole lat at the John Deere store. I purchased some of this algae killer and will keep it in the tank to see if this is the problem. I will report back tomorrow or the next day and let you know if I mowed two large yards as it is getting late in the afternoon.

According to most of what I've read about stuff growing in diesel fuel is that it needs moisture

Are you EXTREMELY careful when handling your fuel that moisture never gets is your fuel service tank, cans or jugs that you use to fill the mower's fuel tank?.

 

[TerryfromSWIowa]

A farmer I help has 5 diesel tractors only one had a problem like this. For 2 years we fought the problem before it stopped. He had something added to his bulk storage to resolve it.

 

[Alwaysgreen]

wore out, I am very careful with the water situation. I never use jugs for fuel. They said the enemy for water in tanks is condensation. I know that I can have a tractor that I use seldom, will sit and condensation still will get in the oil and I must change it each year.

I always use fuel from a tank or have taken the mower directly to the pump to fill it up. The mower has a fuel/water separator bowl and it has not shown to have any water in the fuel.

They had put the algae killer solution in the tank and it has run without stopping. I was able to mow my entire yard and I am so relieved. I hope the mow a second yard today. So this was the problem. I will keep this solution in my tanks as it is 1oz per 100 gallons. It cost $1.39 an ounce.
TerryfromSWlow, I too will keep it in my storage tanks. Thank you to all that offered help on this thread. This is a great forum for sure!!!