Deere 212 with Kohler flooded (!?)

DMartin9N-2N · May 8, 2016

History: A few days ago, I emptied part of a 2-gallon gas can into the tank on my 212 lawn/garden tractor. Yesterday, I started it and it had a little black smoke in the exhaust for about two minutes, then quit running. My instinct was to try a little starting fluid, but when I opened the air filter, I got one hand filled with gasoline and grass cuttings! I feel sure the grass cuttings were blown in by the flywheel fan, and were between the metal filter housing and the element, so that part makes sense. But why was there about two or three ounces of gas standing in the bottom of the filter housing? This tractor has a fuel pump, I think because the gas tank is lower than the carburetor. Could I have overfilled the tank a few days ago and gravity-fed several ounces in to the air filter? (After cleaning things up a little, the tractor ran fine for over an hour's grass cutting until I shut it off.)

Dennis M in W. Tenn.

Lance Skene · May 8, 2016

It makes no sense that there was grass in the airbox around the filter.... but since there was then it was running extremely rich because it could not get air through the filter, which caused it to flood the carb and stall. The question is 'Why was the airbox full of grass?'

T.R.K. · May 9, 2016

Check the level of oil in the crankcase. If you got that much gas in the air cleaner, you probably have gas in the oil. Don't run it much like that as it thins the oil and then wipes out the piston rings.

You probably have a gasoline fouled sparkplug and that is why it quit running.

It is absolutely possible to get grass clippings in the air cleaner of a 212. The air cleaner entrance is a hose that runs to the blower cover. Grass can make its way through the flywheel screen and the flywheel fan will blow it through the hose into the air cleaner. You may also have grass packed in the fins on the cylinder and head too and worth checking out as it can cause overheat problems. And the flywheel is right there by the front of the deck, allowing easy entry for the grass.

The needle valve in your carburetor could be leaking gas while the machine sits in storage.
It is also possible that your fuel pump diaphragm is leaking gas into the crankcase.

The gas in the crankcse can thin the oil and then be blown through the crankcase breather hose back into the air cleaner, inside the filter, where you found your gas.

DMartin9N-2N · May 10, 2016

Thanks for the excellent and thoughtful answer, TRK! After I cleaned out the air cleaner, I started and ran the tractor to cut the lawn for about an hour. So far, all seems well. BTW, I was already aware of the flywheel-induced airflow into the air cleaner through the rubber tube. Might almost be considered supercharging.... well, not really! Again, thanks for answering.

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.

Deere 212 with Kohler flooded (!?)

DMartin9N-2N

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Lance Skene

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T.R.K.

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DMartin9N-2N

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