jd300

[Leroy]

I newly aquired this little gem. i only had to pick it up. I have no specs on the unit. it has the decal 300 on the hood . My research indicates this number may be misleading because it does not have a 3 point and it is a 16 to 18 horse Kohler. I put a pic in my profile of the simular unit new looking. The actual one is much older looking. It turns over but will not fire up. I have not replaced anything. but the previous owner had it running last year after he did a valve job on it. Any resources for info on this baby is appreciated.

[BLT]

Well for starts you can download service manual. http://www.kohlerengines.com/service_manuals.html I assume it has a coil ignition. Wild guess, condensor?

[DonNewberry]

I have a jd400. Somebody took an old john deer 2 cylinder motor, parts from an old chevy, assorted metal scrap, and built it.They painted jd400 on the side, probably as a joke. I used it for hauling until it wouldn't start one summer. By then I had my ac. It's sitting waiting for the spark plugs to be changed. Don

[Dutch]

Leroy, There's a lot of JD reference material here > http://www.weekendfreedommachines.com/

[Leroy]

Yes Bob it has a condenser and a coil. I went to kohler site on my own and could not find the manual for it Thanks for the help here Bob. I did my own search for refrences and only found large frame tractors that are from the 50's with the 300 designation on them. I knew someone here could help. Thanks Bob and Dutch

[Leroy]

Well i got it running, thanks to the manual. The coil didn't have a hotwire going to it. I dont know how the previous owner ran it that way. Now it idles ok. but the slow of increse of the throttle makes it act kind of radical. I expect it is a spring missing or some such.

[BLT]

Maybe now you have to pay some attention to the governor settings. Wild guess.

[Leroy]

Right on again Bob. I downloaded and printed the manual. Got it started by putting a hot to the coil. I took it for a yard ride and upon applying the brake the unit died. What up with that? Not to start again. I went back to the electrical and traced it the starter was not getting juice. No that doesn't make sense. I replaced the solonoid. Hooked er up and there was power to the starter but it wouldnt turn over. while the battery pan was out i see the connector that was supposed to go to the coil, and hooked it up and pulled my new one. Still no go. i have to jump the starter direct with the key on and it will idle. Ignition switch? I tryed one of the others i have round here, still no go. The govenor in obviously the problem to the idleing. when i hold it back on the butterfly in the carb it is stable. when i let go of it at anything other than idle it is crazy. the book does discribe the details of the govornor but the picture is not the same as mine but it should improve. I will try it tomorrow.

[Leroy]

Well i have it going barely. The engine idles ok but when i tryed to move it. The tractor died when I applied the brakes. So i dont use them. Hydro is easy to control speed. When i got on the slightest of a grade it wanted to die. Maybe the float, I pushed it to level ground and restarted it. Again it idles fine. i hooked up the mower deck and took it around the yard a few times hooked up the belt to test the mower deck. I cranked up the rpms to allow for the added load and it died. Subsequent attempts to actually cut grass did work . But the engine will sooner or later start makeing a metallic noise and act like it is going to quit. To recover i stop the pto for the mower deck and drop the throttle to idle, then it is fine again. returning to mowing then gives me about the same amount of time before a repeat occures. I checked the oil before opperating and it is not to thin or to thick. Any ideas are appreciated. Leroy