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JD318-speed surging and starting problems plus synthetic oil use.
| Bob Thiessen | I just bought a 1987 John Deere D318 with a B43G engine and except for these 2-minor problems and a simple question, I've been happy with the decision so far. Problem-1: Nothing happens when I try to start the unit now. I cannot even hear any starter solenoid clicks. I've charged the battery and cleaned the terminals without success. Then I swapped the battery with a known good one still without success. Where else should I look? Problem-2. Before problem-1, the tractor speed would surge when mowing my lawn, regardless of whether I'm on a grade or on level ground. I would compensate by pushing or pulling the hydro speed lever but it got tiresome after awhile. Is this a simple fix? As for the question, once I got the engine and the speed surge problems addressed and the tractor running again, could I use full synthetic oil with the correct grade on my next oil change instead of the regular oil and not have to worry about damaging or worse, ruining the engine? Thanks in advance to all for the help on my 2-problems and the insights on the synthetic oil use question. Bob |
| Dave | Bob - A 1987 318 should have an Onan P218G engine, not a B43G engine, unless someone swapped it out. The P218G has electronic igntion, while the B43G has breaker points. The starting problem could be a safety switch not making contact. Could be a bad ignition switch, or it could be the TDC module. Hope and pray it's not the TDC module. There may be a blown fuse, a bad starter, a bad ground; the list goes on. The main ground is located under the battery tray on the pedestal. Make sure there's no corrosion or paint build up at the connection. That may help, but there may be another issue. Is the surging from the engine or the transmission? If it's the engine that's surging, most likely cause is a dirty carb or a weak or misadjusted governor spring. If the transmission is the source of the surging, it is most likely a bad or failing charge pump, or worn linkage. Synthetic oil is OK, but I have found that in these Onans, straight 30 weight or 10W40 dino oil, changed at 25 hour inervals (Spring and Fall for me), provides excellent protection. Synthetic oil should not be used at extended change intervals, but is fine at normal change intervals. - Dave |
| Dave | Bob, Dave, who responded to you on 11/8 seems to know much more about these machines than I do. For what it's worth, I had a JD 345 that would periodically not turn over. It had a Kawasaki twin cylinder liquid cooled engine. I found there was a plug under the dash that collected dirt and dust from mowing. If I took the plug apart and blew it out, everything worked fine thereafter. From what I've picked up from other threads, the surging sounds like a little carburetor work is in order. As far as the oil is concerned, I used Turf Gard in the machine for 14 years, changing every 20-25 hours with filter. Dave#2 |
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