It could be that there is poor flow of fuel to the carb itself. It runs itself out of fuel in the bowl and dies. I would check that the fuel shut off is open and good flow first. Fuel pump on these? Try it w/ the fuel cap loose to ensure it is venting. A can of carb spray would be useful. If you go this far and still not running, a squirt down the throat of the carb as it is dying would tell you if you still have spark anyways and would indicate you need to go further w/ the fuel system. There could be other issues pertaining to ignition as well. Let us know what you learn.

This is my first time on here, so I don't exactly know how to post so here goes. My JD-425 has a flooding problem. Sometimes it runs ok, and sometimes not. When I turn on the ignition, the fuel pump starts (as normal) and I can usually start it. Then, after running for a while, it begins flooding. This is between 15 minutes and half an hour most of the time. I can keep it running if I go full throttle and have the tractor under load, like mowing grass, but there is so much gas entering the carb that there is a bit of black smoke as well. If I stop it and remove the air cleaner, and look into the carb, there is gas everywhere. Here is what I did so far... The carb was new 3 years ago. But I removed it, and took it apart (did this 3 times). Each time I took it apart and put it back together, I know I did it right because the machine started and ran as noted above. I thought it just might be plugged or something. The first time I took it apart I also replaced the electric solenoid valve, just to be sure. And I know it works, because I saw it operating with the carb disassembled. Then, I thought it might be that the float valve was leaking or perhaps the floats had a hole and was full of gas. All was good. When the carb was back together, I blew into the fuel hose when the carb was full of gas and proved that the float valve was working. Hmmm. There is a manual in-line fuel shutoff valve, so what I did was throttle it back so that it would take 30 seconds to to let about an ounce of fuel out. Full blast, the pump actually pumps a lot of fuel. This time, I was able to keep the machine from flooding too bad. And was able to mow the 1 acre of grass I have. Today, however was different. It ran for about 5 minutes, then began to act up. I turned it off, removed the air cleaner and looked into the carb. When I turn the ignition switch on, (not engaging the starter) I can see tons of gas coming out of every carb orifice, flooding into the engine gas everywhere. This is without the engine running. The only thing I can come up with is that the fuel pump for some unknown reason has too much pressure behind it. Another wierd thing is that when I turn a sharp corner, under the flooding condition, the flooding gets noticably worse. Any ideas anyone? Is there a pressure regulator somewhere in the fuel pump line? Thanks.

Have you removed the deck drive belt from the PTO? If yes, does the motor still die when it's hot with the deck drive belt off? If no, then remove the belt and see if the motor dies. Try new plugs correctly gapped. I've seen coils lose spark when hot. EZ to check... use insulated pliers to remove one plug wire when it's running funny. If it dies then that side is working. Try the other plug wire. If it stays running then you found the side the problem is on. either coil, wire, or plug.

From telephone calls, email, and internet research this is some of what I found: the dealer where I bought the mower quoted $1100.00 to just replace the mower shell. John Deere gave me a quote of $1500 to 2000. to replace the complete mower. Three dealers told me that only the shell was available at a cost of $636. to $713. A dealer in MI said he had to go to another place to look it up and came back with a complete mulching mower for $701. but could not find the 42X. I finally found a person in IL that was both knowledgeable and helpful. He would get me a complete mower for $600.00 plus $150.00 trucking. He said the mulch kit would be $125. installed. He gave me a part number for the mower and told me to give this number to my dealer as then I wouldnâÂÂt have to pay for the trucking. He told me that the mowers have to be ordered through a different system and that he sells 2 to 3 every week. I found the mulch kit online for $100. shipped. A dealer in PA told me essentially the same thing as the one in IL. Another dealer said he could not find that part number I had given him (from the IL dealer) but could get a 38 inch mower for $600. and the mulch mower for $700. During this time I called my dealer. At first they told me the number I gave them was not a John Deere number. Then, with some hand holding, I got them to check further and, yes, they did finally find the mower. A week and a half and seven telephone calls later they quoted a price for the complete mower around $860. and with tax and installation, a final cost of $1000. The mulch kit would be $300. installed. (Seems like a wee bit of profit there.) If I do replace the mower, the cheapest is to pick up the mower myself, buy the mulch kit separately, and find a volunteer to install it which would be about $742.00. If I have it shipped with the mulch kit installed and hire someone to install the mower it would be about $925.00. If I go back to my ever helpful dealer it would cost $1300.00. It seems like John Deere is a bit confused. This old saying comes to mind: they donâÂÂt know if they are afoot or horseback. In looking at other reviews I found that quite a few have mower problems. And people generally seem to be satisfied with the tractor but not the mower and I would agree with that. I feel there may be a design problem with the mower but my main complaint is the lousy customer service on the part of John Deere. Not only have I never had a company that refused to do warranty work, I have had companies pay for work after the warranty expired (for instance Ford and Toyota paid for fairly major repairs) and other companies have done repair work when there was no warranty. I will never buy from this company again.