Fuel pump problem on a Kohler engine

John R in Wisconsin · Nov 5, 2021

I have a 38 year old John Deere 210 garden tractor with a Kohler 10 HP engine. This old gal has gotten a lot of use, and has been very reliable but I now have a fuel pump problem. The pump on the front of the engine started leaking quite a bit of gas, and I suspect the the pump housing cracked. So I ordered a new one from my John Deere dealer. I installed the new unit, but it will not pump gas. In comparing the old and new pumps, they do not appear to be interchangeable. See photo attached, that shows the old pump on the left and the new one on the right. The new pump bolts up to the engine fine, but does not pump gas. Note that the pumping lever that is to ride on a cam inside the engine (I think) is shaped differently on the new pump.

Any thoughts on this problem? Were there different designs that are not interchangeable?

TomIn · Nov 6, 2021

(reply to post at 19:07:17 11/05/21)

I don't see a photo in your post, so it's hard to say what your problem is.

I'm assuming that your Deere has the Kohler k241 engine. I would also guess that the original fuel pump was metal while the replacement is plastic.

A lot of folks seem to have had issues with using newer fuel pumps. Common solutions seem to involve using the diaphragm from the new pump in the old pump, or just replacing the original mechanical pump with a cheap electric fuel pump.

olddog · Nov 6, 2021

Ran into this problem on a Kohler.
Turns out the square innards (diaphragm, check valves) are symmetrical
and could be assembled backwards re: intake v output. Check your lines in & out.

T.R.K. · Nov 6, 2021

The last two I installed wouldn't work for different reasons.

What has worked is to make a block-off plate that fits the fuel pump hole in the block, install a 1/4 inch hose barb in it, and run a hose to a nearby modern pulse pump.

gab · Nov 7, 2021

A couple years ago I decided to treat my old JD ten hsp. Kohler to a new carb. and fuel pump. It ran perfect but the pump leaked oil out of the pin through the rocker arm and the carb. needed a throttle shaft and overhaul.

I bought the pump and carb. off Ebay, the engine wouldn't run with with the new carb. and the fuel pump lasted a little over a half hour run time, broken rocker arm, seller sent another pump with same result.

I tried the new carb. on my 14 horse kohler and it wouldn't run on that either. I ended up overhauling the old carb. and I had two old junk fuel pumps on the shelf that I used the diagram out of one and the valves out of the other, now it runs good and nothing leaks. No more cheap Chinese experiments for me, thanks.

Texasmark · Nov 9, 2021

You can get an electric off the internet for about 20 bucks with free shipping on ebay. I wouldn't fool with an old one....just bypass it and close it off.

John R in Wisconsin · Nov 10, 2021

I am the person who posted the original message in this thread. Thanks for all the replies. The good news is that due to confusion between my John Deere parts man and myself, I bought the incorrect replacement pump. Once I figured that out, they took the incorrect pump back and sold me a new one that was correct for my engine. My mistake was not taking the Kohler engine spec number to the dealer when I first ordered the pump. It turns out that the engine spec number is critical to obtaining the correct pump.

Thanks again for all the replies!

Fuel pump problem on a Kohler engine

John R in Wisconsin

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TomIn

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olddog

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T.R.K.

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gab

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Texasmark

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John R in Wisconsin

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