184 Quit running – thoughts?

[Saucymynx]

I was out enjoying my first of the season mowing this evening with my 184. For background, I acquired this tractor about eight months ago and had a fair amount of tuneup work done to it. Plugs, points, condenser, new coil, New PTO shaft in the clutch,…

So, after about 90 minutes of mowing with the tractor running great, she suddenly sputtered and died. No warning, no prior hesitation - just kaput.. she cranked fine when I tried to restart and she would catch briefly but then sputter out again. I of course checked the fuel level and it was almost full. Nothing felt overly hot and there was no smoke or steam. I switched over and did some weed eating for about 30 minutes and came back and tried to restart her. Lo and behold, she started right up, and I drove her to the barn. This was weird, and worries me a bit. What do you think? Bad gas? Clogged fuel filter? I don’t even know if she has one. What else? Your thoughts and intuition would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Renee

[Slim140]

Coil.

[Rick Spivey]

I go with failing coil also.

[Don McCombs]

I'm with Shane and Rick. Even though the coil was new, electrical parts can fail, right out of the box. Especially those made across borders or off-shore.

[Saucymynx]

Thank you – there seems to be a consensus here. Now that raises another question: this will be the third coil that has failed on this. Why would I be going through coils? The first one happened right after I got it and it literally went down in a cloud of smoke. I’m not sure what happened to the second one but the guy who painted my tractor recently said it failed. What might be causing this? Thanks for your help on this puzzle

[Saucymynx]

This also makes me think - I posted about unusual starting situation a few months back in folks thought it might be a miss wiring of the ignition switch to the coil. I haven’t yet got around to checking that but maybe I need to. In a nutshell, the tractor doesn’t start with the key in the start position but starts as soon as I left the key back to the run position. I don’t know if the two issues are related but maybe…

[Rick Spivey]

I think there "could" be a relationship if the wiring is incorrect; for instance, if there's any chance the coil stays energized even with the switch off. But I assume the tractor stops running when you turn the key off, otherwise you would have to starve it for fuel or choke it to get the engine to stop. That does seem to be a lot of coil trouble in a short period of time, so worth checking out that the wiring is not the culprit. I also suggest you "try" and find the best coil possible next time you buy one. I haven't bought one in a long while, but I used to believe that a parts store such as NAPA, who sold a name brand part such as Echlin, was the best chance at getting a good one. That likely has changed, hopefully others with more recent experiences can help direct you to a good source of parts.

[Dale Finch]

Not sure if you already said, but make sure you have the correct coil...6 or 12volts? Also, does it have or need an external or internal resistor?

[Eugene]

The tractor doesn’t start with the key in the start position but starts as soon as I left the key back to the run position.

Bad or faulty solenoid - - or wiring system messed up.

[Larry B]

When the tractor stops you need to figure out either fuel or spark. Run it till it stops, pull a plug wire and check if you have spark. If you have spark spray some starting fluid in the carb and crank it. If it fires up a few seconds and dies then fuel delivery issue. If you have no spark then probably the coil. The 184 uses a 3 ohm coil and no ballast resistor. If the tractor has a 1.5 ohm coil it will start and run but the coils will die shortly. Here is a link to a good coil.

https://pertronix.com/pertronix-40511-f ... LI52BkpCdM

[Greg Armstrong]

Check for debris in the sediment bowl inlet from the tank. If you run it until it shuts off, immediately look at the sediment bowl and see if you can see any air space at the top, if there is you've got an obstruction between the tank and bowl that is starving the fuel system.

[wagonmaster]

Is there anything floating in the tank that might be blocking the flow ?

[Saucymynx]

these are all good thoughts. I was going to let it be until i had time to fool with it but my other mowing tractor blew a tire (there is a story behind that) and i needed to finish mowing. So i went back to Lil’ Red, and she cranked right up. i mowed for an hour with no problem. So maybe it is a fuel issue. I will check that out. I am still worried about the coil possibility. Gotta get that tire on the green tractor replaced first..... Thanks for all the input!