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I have a John Deere lawn tractor that my parents gave me several years ago when they didn't need it anymore. I used it for a few years then put it in the garage where I started it every few weeks. Forgot to start it for the last fewonths, now it won't start. Put in a new battery, made sure the gas was fresh and the fuel line was clear, but no results. Tried using starter spray into the carburetor also, but no real success. Any suggestions?

Spark plugs?

Pull plug(s) , clean and check/set gap.

Attempt to start w/ plug (s) out

install plug(s)

cross fingers and start it up

Bob fought our John Deere, that had the same issue, for months. New fuel lines, carb rebuild, plugs, clean out gas tank, plug wires, checked the seat thingy that makes it stop when you get off, replaced said thingy then bypassed said thingy, checked all wiring (rats had chewed through some once before), battery cables, battery, you name it he checked it. The solution was a trip to Lowes and purchase of a Husquavarna zero turn. The John Deere is still sitting in a storage building dead. Need a parts tractor?

My guess would be the friggin ethanol laced fuel has plugged up the Carburetor.

The first things to check on and internal combustion engine:

Fuel - is fuel getting to the combustion chamber ?

Fire - are the plugs firing ?

Air - is it getting enough oxygen to combust ?

Compression - do you have enough compression to combust

Red Oak
Air - is it getting enough oxygen to combust ?

This has happened me more often than I care to think about late in the mowing season. Check your air filter for excess debris and some, if not all require a bit of oil in them, why I dont know, they just do. Squeeze out the excess.

Glenn the oil that some air filters require is to better trap the dust and small debris.

Remember the old school Oil Bath Air Cleaners ?

There is a product called Start Your Engines. Sounds like that might do the trick on this case

Similar problem this spring. Did all the above. Finally discovered a ruptured membrane in the fuel pump.

grouchy wrote:Similar problem this spring. Did all the above. Finally discovered a ruptured membrane in the fuel pump.

Okay, I'm dumb, where was the gas going? I mean was it obviously dripping or anything? Maybe I should mention this to Bob.

Never mind. He said ours doesn't have a fuel pump. It's gravity feed.

If it sat that long the needle valve in the carb is probably stuck. Gravity flow will have a fuel bowl, usually has 2 what looks like plugs in the bottom, one in center will let you take the bowl off. There is a little float, pull the pin where the float piviots, and carefully take the float out. There is a small needle valve that the float moves up and down, bet you it is stuck shut. It can be pulled out, cleaned and put back. The bowl will probably be full of rust and crud, clean it and see what happens.
Report back with results perfavor.

Haven't been on in few days; just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all of the suggestions. I really appreciate it.

RaisinCain wrote:Haven't been on in few days; just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all of the suggestions. I really appreciate it.

Did you get it fixed?

Not yet; we're building a pool, taking vacation, etc so it has moved down the list. I'm basically fixing it up to sell it.

Nuke it.

I suggested to Bob that we park the John Deere by the road. Maybe someone would steal it. He just looked at me.

millergrovesue wrote:I suggested to Bob that we park the John Deere by the road. Maybe someone would steal it. He just looked at me.

In our neighborhood, anything left out in front of the house is gone in 5 minutes.

I'd love to see it gone. Bob has enough uncompleted projects to last him for the next 50 years. Won't say anything about my uncompleted projects.