About a hundred and ten stupid questions

[fairmountvewe]

Well happy Friday night all. I have just returned from my nightly masochistic ritual of trying to get this Trailfire running again. Tonight's adventures included mucking around with a recalcitrant recoil starter (bottom bolt broke in the housing....man, was I happy), fixing some of the wiring and getting the tach to work (Ya...except I just ordered a new one last week...), removing the broken speedo cable (and not finding the angle drive unit), and running about a half a tank of fuel through the motor in about a combined total of 7 minutes of running. Something seriously ain't right here Gwendolyn! It will start if I pour fuel directly into the carb. It may even idle down and act somewhat civilized for about a second, then it just dies out, and will not restart without the fuel trick. But by the end of my patience tonight, there was wet, raw fuel all over the back side of the engine, at the exhaust to muffler flange, and in the belly of the machine, and I did not pour it there, so it is running way rich. I guess I will have to pull the carb....again. Man, I am starting to wonder what I have gotten myself into. BTW, does anyone have a picture, or at least a really good description of where the speedo drive is on a 1980 TF? There was nothing speedo looking at the business end of the cable, but with the way this sled is going, that doesn't mean anything. I looked in all the JD manuals, and there is no mention of actual drive location. Thanks.

Peter

[Cabindweller]

Check your seals and or your needle and seat in the carb.

[sledhead16]

It definately sounds like a carb issue buddy. I just got my second TF 340 running yesterday after it probably hasn't been run for 17 years. I used my good running carb for the start up process. It purred like a kitten just like TF 340 #1.....So, I would recommend watching that carb to see if you have fuel leaking out anywhere from it while its running. Have you done a good cleaning and a carb kit?

[Matt]

The angle drive is hiding under the secondary clutch. Remove the clutch and it's right there.

[fairmountvewe]

Great. Thanks for all the replies, and information. Chores are done, snow is still blowing sideways, so that can only mean one thing.....out to the drive shed to work on the sled. Talk to you all later, and for those at Waconia, happy sledding, wish I was there.

Peter

[78440liquid]

What part of Ontario are you from? I'm at work here in Exeter with closed roads all around me this morning? Joel.

[ljm]

Hey Joe

Where in Exeter do you work?

I'm outside of Port Elgin. Every road in Bruce county is closed.

Lloyd

[78440liquid]

I work at Huron Tractor (JD Dealer).

[ljm]

Hey Joel

I've been there many times

[JDT]

Could be crankseals.....

[fairmountvewe]

I bought a 215 head for my 3300 combine (ya I have a thing for old equipment) from Huron Tractor. Good place. I am starting to think that the carburetor gods are having a field day with me. Yesterday I pulled the carb off, opened it up, checked all the jets to ensure they were in fact the right number, reassembled the carb replaced it on the machine, replaced the fuel pump while I was at it, and then started pulling. At one point I actually had it running, but it wouldn't idle at anything less than 3000 rpm, and it wouldn't go any faster than 3500 rpm. So today I am going to pull the carb one more time, put the old jets back in it and see what that does for me. At least it ran with those components in there. Who knows.

[mn.deereguy]

Most definetly you have needle and seat issue pull carb and make sure float is adjusted right and also make sure float moves freely on pin if not it can stick and allow fuel to pour past and fill crank case full of gas a gentle tap sometimes on the side of the carb will free stuck float but is just a quick fix not the solution good luck hope you get it running

[TOYMECH]

I work at Huron Tractor (JD Dealer).

Hey Joel...fellow Deere dealer employee here...Crossroads Equipment in Jerseyville... Hope to meet you at a show if you come out to any of them..

Greg

[fairmountvewe]

IT LIVES!!!!!!!........BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!......

MY nightmare has apparently ended. After a couple of weeks of dicking around replacing everything under the hood, I finally decided to replace the carb. Peterborough Cycle Salvage (no relationship, just a good old fashioned plug for a cool place) had a Mikuni VM34 so I bought it, set it as per the service manual, installed it and first pull....Bam! Runs good, feels good, looks great. I have replaced the coil, the CDI, the plugs, wires and caps, the jets, the pump, the lines, and I was convinced that the whole thing was either getting a 12 gauge slug into it, or it was going to a mechanic, but my neighbour talked me into replacing the carb. Now, nothing runs like a Deere!

Thanks for everyones help, and time. I know you all have lives and interests outside of the forum, but I really appreciate your taking time out of your lives to help absolute newbies like me. Happy trails all!

Peter

[sledhead16]

hey, thats what everybody does here, helps eachother out to keep the enthusiasm alive!