Need to know some things, tractordata says efi, but the engine does have a carb variant, so is this carb or efi, second is the ignition magneto or electronic ignition according to the engine manual from Kawasaki.

These are the places to look: Ignition is not working on that side, or EFI is injecting to much, or valve issues

Ignition: check for spark, bad plug or wire, bad magneto or firing circuitry on that side.
EFI: Bad injector (stuck open), Bad EFI module, bad connections/grounds.
Valve issues on that side.

Tractordata list engine as FD750D which acording to the Kawasaki manual is the carb/magneto engine, The EFI engine model number is FD791D and has the EFI and the electronic ignition.:dunno::banghead:

 

Spark plugs are best read after the engine has been running for an extended time. Even a properly tuned engine can show some dark plugs if the thing has been started and stopped before warmup a few times.
What were the conditions of operation prior to removing your plugs?

 

With only 60 hours should be under warranty.

 

Your model should be EFI. If the new plugs didn't fix the problem it could be a bad plug wire.
The old plugs look loaded up from too much fuel. Short run cycles can also do this.

Seeing the dealership already has the tractor. They should be able to sort it out.

 

Do you start the engine at full throttle or at least 3/4? Mine did the same thing and someone here (maybe HD Dude) said to try starting it at full throttle and let it run for a period of time before you throttle down. It worked.. My X738 would load up pretty bad and start spewing black soot and blue smoke starting it at low throttle.. I too changed my plugs, oil (but my oil was not dark at all it looked brand new) gas filter, everything you normally would do at the change of seasons. My plugs never looked like that though. I hope your dealer finds your issue, those are great little machines and worth their weight for sure. You have a lot of smart guys here to lean on for advice. One more thing, let the fuel pressure build up when you turn the key to on until you hear the pump stop then turn the key to start.
Jeff :hi:

 

Thanks for all the comments. Mine is the fuel injected version. I didn't notice any stalling during the spring/summer/fall. It only started happening when it was cold out, but I do keep mine in the garage. Since both plugs look similar, I would imagine it is a systematic problem though. No plugs should look like that, hopefully I can report back something useful from the dealer. Thanks all.

 

I forgot to mention it was during the cold seasons mine did load up not n the warmer months.. And mine is also EFI controlled and garaged but not heated. . Good luck.

 

I also have the similar issue with my x738, and stored inside but not heated, yet. It only does it when it is colder, runs rough and smokes for about a minute then runs like a champ. However, I only have 8 hours on it. I previously had an x730 and didn't have this issue, but also had no reason to use it when it was colder out. I just let mine warm up for a couple minutes before using it. Having said that, I am with you all in thinking that these should not spit and sputter on startup. It's EFI, should fire right up and run smooth. Reminds me of a diesel when its cold out.

Also, to my knowledge, the x710 is the only carb engine in the lineup. All the others above that are EFI.

Curious to see what the dealer says about yours. If they find an issue, I'll be taking mine is.

 

My x730 is efi and I don't have any problems with cold start or running

 

So the shop called today and said:
- leak down test good
- compression test good
- sensors good
- fuel line pressure good
- fuel pressure regulator not good

They've ordered the part and will put it in on Wednesday and retest.

 

Thanks for this info, it's good to know what to look for in the future.. Let us know how it runs when you get it back.. Jeff :hi:

 

Interesting, yours is the second one on any forum to report a bad fuel pressure regulator on EFI gas models. Keep us posted, I would like to know the range of pressure it was swing up and down to. Make sure they put that into the repair, not just bad fuel pressure regulator.

 

Soooo the shop called and said the fuel regulator didn't fix the problem. They have looked it over but are at a loss and our now referring it to Corporate. Hope they find out what the problem is. Been 3 weeks now...

 

Sorry to hear this EL, keep your fingers crossed it's something simple, what ever happened to an engine, spark, gas and start her up!!!!! Good old days, now,,, ?????:dunno: Old corvette, tune ups were a snap, new corvette, don't even think about it! You get the analogy.. Good luck with this issue and please keep us informed. Thanks TJ

 

Not sure if this is the issue but on my X585 the fuel pump slipped off the end of the fuel line. It would spray fuel into the end of the hose in the fuel tank. This would initially give the proper fuel pressure when the ignition was switched on and then the pressure would drop off. They said they thought the regulator was bad. What were the symptoms that made them think that?

 

Unfortunately I spoke with the service department phone person not the tech. But it sounds like the tech was just going by a process of elimination. I imagine the tech was assuming it was getting too much fuel and the other possible factors checked off fine so he changed the fuel regulator.

I'm going on the 4th week without my tractor and I'm getting a little upset. Not at the repair shop, just the situation. At some point I will be saying replace the engine or give me a new unit. I assume lemon laws cover stuff besides just cars.

 

That is working under the assumption that the engine is the issue.

EFI machines can be pretty touchy to the wrong fuel pressure. It sucks when they just play the process of elimination game. It means for slow work because they try a part, it doesn't resolve the issue and they are sitting there waiting on the next part to come in. Sometimes that adds days between each attempt at fixing the issue.

If it comes to it, yes most states have some lemon law process. It might vary by state but I think around here I want to say it takes 3 separate visits with the same issue. One other option might be Green Promise. Not sure what the dates are for you. I think it is normally only 30 days but some areas they extend it to the spring because you may not have a chance to buy it. For instance when I bought my ZTrak in Jan a couple years back the Green Promise lasted until April or something like that.

 

It's weird that myself and other people are having the same issue though, and there isn't a TSB or something about it. And like I previously stated, I didn't have this issue on my x730. But I also didn't use it when it was cold. And it's the same motor as the x738.

 

The sputtering and such is pretty common with these. Like I said; I crank it up (3/4) before I start and it does just fine but I still don't like powering up at that rpm right off the bat. I don't care what anyone says. But unfortunately the book says so.. and it does work, but obviously not for all.. It sucks EL is without his machine all this time, that's just not right.. This try this and try that is BS. MY blood pressure would be up there at this point in time.... It's not an atomic accelerator, it's a friggin small gas engine!:nunu: that's a gear grinder and I'm not even on the right thread!

 

Called the dealer again to see what is going. John Deere Corporate said to replace the fuel pump. It will be delivered Wednesday so we'll find out if that's the magic bullet. I think its another shot in the dark personally. I did tell the customer service representative (in a very nice manner) that I am tired of waiting and will be speaking to the manager next about replacing the engine.

 

I would hit them up for a whole new tractor. Just saying.
If the problem is not compression or cam timing related a new engine is not going to fix your problem.

 

That advice makes good sense regarding not just replacing the engine since the actual problem can't be isolated. Can't wait to see how many parts and how much time it takes before they agree to that. :banghead:

 

Dealt with the issue with a few bike owners over the years. Had one guy tell me. Just put a new transmission in it! (All serious) Ain't going to happen. Not unless you have a dealership willing to pay 100% of the bill. They are going to have to really like you for that. lol I sure as hell was not paying. I didn't even make a commission when it sold new. The factory won't either. They usually want to know what went wrong with a major component. And want the old assembly back for reverse engineering. If the manufacturer finds no trouble/defect found. You are back to the dealership eating the cost. DOH!

 

The new fuel pump did not work. Apparently they are disconnecting the return fuel line and the machine is bypassing an incorrect amount of fuel. Unfortunately, they phone person couldn't tell me for sure if it was bypassing too much or too little fuel, but he was included to think too much. Corporate wants them to put on another fuel regulator, which of course has already been replaced and did not work so I expect that to not work (again). Next up to be replaced would be the throttle body. Super frustrated.

 

Go for a new tractor. I would be so agitated by now blood would be coming from my ears... You spent good money for this machine now they need to reciprocate. Give you what you paid for... a new working machine.. All this friggin around with this and that who knows what may have been left undone or loose on top of the problem... Does your local news media have a "help me with my problem" group of reporters? WE have that around here and the TV station will go after issues like this and get results, no one likes to look bad on TV and boy can your reputation go south with the media up your butt.... A last resort of course but the threat may get things accomplished.

When is enough, enough? Gives you a bad taste about John Deere solving a problem.

 

What a pain in the ass. And a big disappointment. But thanks for the updates.

 

I plan to call JD headquarters on Monday and summarize the situation and say times up what are you going to do. I am paying $150 a month for nothing at this point and had to hire a company to spread my premergent. Next I will be paying a company to mow my grass. They are replacing a part that was just replaced which means they have no idea what's going on. I'm tired of being the patient good customer at this point, that apparently does not work. Next step is to take my 2-star review on their website down to 1-star and summarize the whole story. The step after that will be to contact my local CBS news station for a story.

 

Have you asked for a loaner/demo machine based on the amount of time this is taking to be fixed? I don't know what the dealer has for equipment but my new dealer which mainly does commercial mowing and CUT machines has demo machines that they would loan out.

I will say this much. I have had issues with a dealer as well. My local dealer is a PITA that doesn't seem to know much about John Deere machines so I don't do any business with them. They are also a Yamaha dealer and seem to like focusing on the motorcycle/ATV/snowmobile market more than JD and what they sell in JD is mainly the X series or other small machines because the dealer is more in town. While one would think that a Kawasaki engine in a JD isn't much different than a Yamaha engine in an ATV, there are differences. They also need to know how to work in the JD systems. I brought my X585 in because it is where it was bought for an electrical issue. I told them it was an electrical issue and they proceeded to change all kinds of non-electrical things and caused more damage to the engine than what there was to begin with (since there was none). I can only assume they were trying to replace the coolant temp sensor and accidentally removed the oil pressure sensor then when oil came out they quickly put it back in and over-torqued the sensor cracking where it mounts to the engine. They tried to cover that up by removing it again and putting teflon tape on the sensor. I only caught it because I saw it leak oil on my garage floor after bringing it home. It was a fight with the service manager which turned into a fight with the owner because they denied causing the damage even though it had only been a week since picking up the machine. Eventually I provided enough evidence that they agreed to change out the front half of the engine, picked it up and then it was leaking oil from the output seal on the crank. Right back to them and in the end they never fixed the electrical issue. Then I discovered a few months later that they ran the engine harness wrong and it was rubbing up against one of the valve cover bolts. I figured that out when I was out plowing and one of the wires for a fuel injector wore through the insulation and grounded out on the engine which blew the EFI fuse. Eventually I had time to address the temp gauge issue and fixed the dash which was the problem all along. In my case it wasn't a condition where I couldn't use the machine. Well the EFI did put me dead in the water but I fixed that after a day or so of troubleshooting. The original issue was just that it was indicating that it was overheating when the PTO was on. I knew it wasn't actually overheating because I could be cutting grass on a 90F+ day, it will peg out the temp gauge and without lowering the throttle, cut off the PTO and the temp gauge drops to normal temps in about 5 seconds. No way it actually cooled off that fast. I reflowed the solder points on the dash and ran a new ground wire to the dash. The problem has been fixed since then.

As I said I don't do business with this dealer anymore. I get that mistakes happen. If they made one they should have contacted me and addressed it not tried to cover it up and I wouldn't have be nearly as pissed. The service department instead chose the other option to deny it when I called them on it. To make matters worse, I later found out that the issue I was having was a documented issue in the John Deere support system. It was documented several years before I brought my tractor in. All they had to do was log in and do a search for known issues on my model tractor in the SN range and they would have found it. So now whenever someone asks me about getting work done or buying a new machine, I tell them about my experience and send them over to my new dealer.

Unfortunately I think part of the problem dealers face is that it can be hard to find good techs. Seems like people don't want to go into this field anymore so I think the problem will just get worse.

 

I had cold-weather rough running last season w/ my 738. Tracked it down to water in the tank fouling the intake (it doesn't take much moisture to cause a problem). In turn, it dropped fuel pressure to the injectors intermittently, causing rough running and surging. Drained tank and ran high-octane fuel w/ added fuel line cleaner. A few hours of high-rpm running completely solved the problem. Ymmv.

 

Called John Deere Corporate today and got them to give me a case number. The person I talked to made it completely clear that its the dealerships responsibility to handle the issue, I was quite miffed. Pretty sure the machine says John Deere on the side not JR Equipment. I am gonna call the shop on Wednesday and check in. Then its a personal visit to speak with the tech and service manager about a deadline for repair, and when that passes, next steps. Based on my previous experience, I'm sure that will go no where and I'll have to become the irate customer who threatens x,y, and z. I've never had a car problem that wasn't fixed in a day, not sure why this is 100 times harder.

 

To bad you're not closer to where i live. We have in our area a small engine mechanic that would go with you to the dealership and you would have expert advice to go with the temper that will ensue and this guy would be all over them.
I can't believe JD would be ok with bad press on this machine and to throw you back to the dealer knowing they are not getting the job done on top of it. Corporate should be calling that dealer for you and getting it straight and let the dealer know you are on your way out pal. This is all BS, Orange sounds pretty good to you right now doesn't it? What a load of bluvit.... Good luck, you're not on any BP meds are you? If you are take two before you head over tomorrow. :nunu:

 

Well I'm going to pick it up today. The shop said it is working correctly now so we'll see about that when I cold start it. Hopefully my fuel pressure regulator was bad, the replacement regulator was bad, and the replacement's replacement is good. The wait time at the shop is now 3 weeks so it'll be sitting a long time again if it stills isn't working correctly.

Thanks everyone.

 

is it cold enough to give us the skinny after that storm we survived?

 

It works!! I've cranked it about 5 times now with no issues so I think I'm in the clear. I do plan to run Techron and Sea Foam through it for the next couple fill ups to clear any residual carbon out.

 

So does it appear to be a bad regulator and replacement regulator? It may be hard to say for sure if they changed a bunch of stuff like a fuel pump as well.

 

Good deal Eddie!! Makes me happy, for you and me! I am going to get mine out here soon, and take it in for the same issues. And just run this thread by them. Last time I told them about it in the fall they were unsure and hadn't heard of any issues. Maybe by now they have, since I have seen this issue now in more than one place. Thanks for all the updates and I hope it is finally fixed and works great, as it should!!

 

If you find the issue it would be nice to hear that it is resolved as well. Maybe point them to the regulator and see if that fixes it. The more we can document about issues like this the better for everyone.

I have spent my fair share of time around motorcycles and one case in particular is with a bike that isn't very common yet a very common issue that crops up with them. The Honda ST1300 has linked brakes so that if you apply front brake pressure the rear brake is also applied. There is a secondary master cylinder on the front left brake caliper that sends brake pressure to the rear caliper when the front brakes are activated. This SMC is known to have issues where it sticks. It can be caused by weather conditions or improper procedure when doing a brake fluid change. There are bleed points all over the bike and they have to be used in a very specific order and at one point that left caliper removed and tilted at a specific angle. Since a dealer might only sell one of these bikes ever couple years and the type of people that buy them normally don't go to the dealer for service means they have little experience wrenching on them to know these common issues unless you are on one of the forums. I don't know how many times a dealer has replaced rear calipers looking for the reason the rear brake is dragging. We tell the owner to go to the dealer and have them inspect the front brake and they insist it is a rear brake issue. Eventually they give in and all of a sudden come back and say we nailed it.

Sometimes it is hard to get info from the techs on what has been done and what the specific results were but they go a long way to catching trends. In a perfect world this information is passed back on to John Deere so that they can come up with a service bulletin of known issues to save everyone's time. However that also requires that your tech takes the time to actually look and see if this is a known issue. My local dealer screwed this one up on me where they were replacing all kinds of stuff that wasn't the issue. I told them it was an electrical issue but they were chasing other issues and not only didn't fix the issue but caused more damage in the process which they tried to deny. Worst of all this was on my dime as it was out of warranty. The I later find out that this was a known electrical issue with the solder joints cracking in the dash and a less than ideal ground. Hmm electrical just like I said in the first place. All they had to do was go into the system and look up known issues with my model in the SN range and it would have told them this.

I hope they get it resolved for you and keep us informed on what it is. It could be that they got a bad batch of regulators or maybe regulators that are not of the proper specification. All it takes is someone grabbing one out of the wrong bin or maybe the part was subed and they thought it would be fine but it is really a problem.