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Power washed 318 engine.... ran funny...... now won't start

4K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  kencombs 
#1 ·
Did the spring maintenance on my 318 (p218) about a month ago. Changed the oil. Cleaned the pre-filter. Engine was pretty dirty so I took the power washer to it. Made sure not to put a lot of water on it or get too close. Just knock the dirt off. Went to start it afterwards and it took a few minutes for it to finally fire up. It was running but it sounded different than usual. I thought maybe something got wet and needed to dry. I let it warm up and proceeded to mow. I could be imagining things but it seemed to have a little less power in the thick stuff.

Its been like this for a few weeks. Last night I went to mow again. Started it up and began to back out of the garage. Engine died. I tried cranking it for a few minutes and it sounded like it wanted to fire up but never did.

So I'm figuring whatever I did a few weeks ago has caused my issues. The thing is I don't know where to start looking. Can you guys give me some things to look for or check on? I can handle doing it myself I just don't have the knowledge of where to look. I'm assuming its the water that has caused my issues because the other stuff I did I do every spring.

Thanks in advance.

Jim
 
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#2 ·
#4 ·
Rope,

Not sure if its getting spark. When I did get it running it was idling with the throttle all the way down. I was backing it out when it died and couldn't get it running again. I haven't gotten into it yet. I couldn't get it running last night and had to get the grass cut because rain was coming today. I plan on looking into it tonight or in the next couple of days.
 
#3 ·
Jim,

The P218 has electronic ignition. Here are some questions that come immediately to mind: When was the last time you changed the condenser? When was the last time you inspected and changed the spark plug wires? Are the plugs wet (indicating unburned fuel) on one or both sides? Are the valve clearances per spec? What is the compression on each cylinder? Have you ever taken the engine tins off and cleaned the cooling fins? Overheating from inadequate air flow and caked on debris/grass clippings is a common cause of engine failure for these little air cooled engines... In a similar vein, when did you clean/inspect the belly screen on your tractor?

Since you do maintenance each spring you may have already done some/all of the above, so just let us know and we can troubleshoot from there... The electronic ignition usually does not fail to partial power (often it quits at elevated temperatures and works again after cooling down.) One potential issue with the P-series can be loose valve seats -- hope that is not the case for you as it means some shop time to get them reworked.

In case you do not have the owner's manual on this tractor, here is some information on regular servicing.

View attachment service section from 316_318_420_OM-M79598.pdf

Chuck
 
#5 ·
Jim,

The P218 has electronic ignition. Here are some questions that come immediately to mind: When was the last time you changed the condenser? When was the last time you inspected and changed the spark plug wires? Are the plugs wet (indicating unburned fuel) on one or both sides? Are the valve clearances per spec? What is the compression on each cylinder? Have you ever taken the engine tins off and cleaned the cooling fins? Overheating from inadequate air flow and caked on debris/grass clippings is a common cause of engine failure for these little air cooled engines... In a similar vein, when did you clean/inspect the belly screen on your tractor?

Since you do maintenance each spring you may have already done some/all of the above, so just let us know and we can troubleshoot from there... The electronic ignition usually does not fail to partial power (often it quits at elevated temperatures and works again after cooling down.) One potential issue with the P-series can be loose valve seats -- hope that is not the case for you as it means some shop time to get them reworked.

In case you do not have the owner's manual on this tractor, here is some information on regular servicing.

View attachment 5406

Chuck
Chuck,

When was the last time you changed the condenser? Never
When was the last time you inspected and changed the spark plug wires? Never
Are the plugs wet (indicating unburned fuel) on one or both sides? I haven't began troubleshooting yet.
Are the valve clearances per spec? No clue. I would assume so.
What is the compression on each cylinder? I don't have the tools to tell you.
Have you ever taken the engine tins off and cleaned the cooling fins? Yes. Just did that a month ago.
When did you clean/inspect the belly screen on your tractor? A month ago. It was barely dirty but a cleaned it anyways.

Its always ran fine. I believe something happened after I washed the engine a month ago. Thats when it was hard to start and seemed to be underpowered. The only thing I was going to look at was the spark plugs. I have new ones on the shelf I just haven't put them in yet.

I guess I assumed that if my issues were because something got wet then once it dried the issues would go away. This doesn't seem to be the case. Either something is still wet or I have caused another issue.

Something to add. When I am cranking the engine puffs of dark smoke come for the exhaust and it sounds like it is close to firing up but never does.

Thanks.

Jim
 
#6 · (Edited)
Jim,

Once a spark-over happens on a spark plug wire or coil tower due to water being present, it may leave a carbon trail and cause ongoing issues. Since your tractor does not start at all, beginning with testing the spark is a reasonable place to commence. The manual recommends taking both plugs out when checking compression to allow the engine to crank easily -- this may also be a good idea when testing for strong spark. Be aware that the Onan plugs are in series, and you will need to short the unobserved plug wire to engine ground when testing the remaining one, as instructed here:



Chuck
 

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#9 ·
Hello Jim
I gently wash under my hood to keep the engine compartment clean. I try to avoid getting any wiring Harness Connectors and such very wet. I have a 1983 John Deere 318 that I replaced the engine with a P=218 when I restored it. I stayed with the Older style Point's Ignition and Placed a Kirk engine's Point's saver Modual. The Ignition system perform's flawlessly but I keep as much water away from it as as I can and I leave the hood open until it is dry after washing it and before Trying to start it up again....Kurt
 
#10 ·
Hey guys. Still working on the 318. Over the last few months (been busy with baseball with my son and other family things) I’ve found that one of the cylinders is not firing. I found this out by installing new spark plugs, running the engine then removing them and seeing that one was charred and the other was just wet. I don’t have tools like a spark tester or compression tester so I removed each spark plug, one at a time, and turned the engine over. I put my finger over the plug hole and could feel the air on each side so I’m assuming compression is not an issue. I swapped the left and right spark plugs. Engine fired again on 1 cylinder. I tried swapping the plug wire that was firing with the one that was not firing, leaving the one that fires unconnected. No fire. Coil issue?

I looked up the way to test the coil. From the leads I got the correct resistance range (3.9). I removed the plugs from the coil and tested resistance there and got within the range as well (16800). I also was under the impression if the coil was bad it wouldn’t spark at all, let alone one side only.

So, as far as I can tell the coil tested fine but swapping the plug wires made no difference either. So next I tried swapping the plugs at the coil. It fired up again, however the same cylinder still did not fire. So now I’m thinking the problem is inside the cylinder, like maybe the plug is firing but not igniting? I’m getting out of my league now.

So that’s where I am currently. Thankfully I’ve got a great neighbor and he gave me a key to his mower and told me to come get it whenever I need it. However I miss my 318.

Any ideas out there?

Jim
 
#11 ·
You really need to do a proper compression test and/or leakdown test. Really low compression will still create a rush of air when feeling for copression with your finger on the plug hole.

This may well be a valve seat or sticky valve issue. The only way to tell is either of the test above or pull the head and take a look.

You really don't need a leakdown tester as the same results can be had using an adapter that will connect to the airline and screw into the spark plug hole. Just set your regulator to 50psi or so and attach. listen for air at the carb, dipstick tube and muffler. leaks can then indicate exh or intake valve or rings.
 
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