Start of a new season and time to service the lawn mower.
https://www.deere.com/en/parts-and-service/zero-turn-mowers/residential-eztrak/z355r/
The annual service kit comes with Oil, Oil Filter, Fuel Filter and Spark Plugs.
Replacing the oil and stale fuel and the engine should run smoothly.
This year, no such luck. The mower will start and will run on idle, but at full throttle the engine dies. A lot like this:
Google searches show lots of owners stripping down the carb and cleaning out the jets.
The mower has 88 hours on it so a quick inspection shows that the fuel pump vacuum hose has some cracking. These are $7 items, so before stripping the carb down lets try replacing the hose:
Even though the tube had cracks, they were external only and did not affect the vaccum.
Fuel was exiting the fuel pump, but not sure it was as powerful as it should be.
Engine: M44 Intek
After removing casing and checking the fuel pump taking fuel from a jar instead of the gas tank, the same fuel flow was observed.
Blew threw the fuel line from the gas tank to ensure no obstructions, removed engine cover to expose carb for removal and cleaning.
A dead battery delayed more testing.
After charging the battery, ran the engine, and was not able to recreate the initial problem.
Whether this is luck, the long term effect of the carb cleaner or there was a blockage in the fuel line, time will hopefully tell.
Time to add some Sea Foam just in case:
