John Deere 950 sputtered and died now won't turn over

kjlonghill · Oct 31, 2022

My 1983 John Deere 950 was running fine the other day and suddenly behaved like it was out of diesel, engine slowed and then shut off. I cursed myself and then checked the level and it wasn't empty but it was low. Topped it up, tried restarting, and it wouldn't turn over. Tried trickle charging it for 2 days. Nothing, not even a click. It has always started right up in the past, blown out some black smoke, then settled in and been a good tractor for an old girl. I recently topped up the tranny with HT fluid, and had been noticing the high-low shifter was a bit sticky. My neighbor came over last night with his big truck and jumped it, blew lots of black smoke, but it wouldn't stay running. I read the long thread here about "black smoke followed by sudden death" and wondered if I was going to go through all those hoops to just end up throwing away my tractor. I broke down and got new rubber this summer so that hurts. Any thoughts?

stevem5215 · Oct 31, 2022

Get a local repair shop to give it a look over before tossing it in the can.

dodge man · Oct 31, 2022

First off, load test your battery, sounds like you might need a new one.

Second, are you getting good fuel flow. The best way is to take a fuel line loose as close to the engine as you can. The fuel should run out steady. It seems like a clogged filter, junk in the tank, bad fuel lines etc are responsible for symptoms you describe. Something like a crack in a fuel line can allow air in, a wasp, a leaf or something falling in the fuel tank, it doesn’t take much.

loggin · Oct 31, 2022

kjlonghill said:
My 1983 John Deere 950 was running fine the other day and suddenly behaved like it was out of diesel, engine slowed and then shut off. I cursed myself and then checked the level and it wasn't empty but it was low. Topped it up, tried restarting, and it wouldn't turn over. Tried trickle charging it for 2 days. Nothing, not even a click. It has always started right up in the past, blown out some black smoke, then settled in and been a good tractor for an old girl. I recently topped up the tranny with HT fluid, and had been noticing the high-low shifter was a bit sticky. My neighbor came over last night with his big truck and jumped it, blew lots of black smoke, but it wouldn't stay running. I read the long thread here about "black smoke followed by sudden death" and wondered if I was going to go through all those hoops to just end up throwing away my tractor. I broke down and got new rubber this summer so that hurts. Any thoughts?

First off your John Deere is not an Iseki, it is typically relatively easy to work on and find parts for. Even if you had to rebuild the motor, which I'm not saying is the case, you would still have to spend money on a different tractor and who knows what it might need. Not to mention the cost and headache of a new tractor with electronics and emissions. If the rest of the tractor is in good shape then I would try fixing what is wrong.

Check the battery and fuel solenoid and other electrical connections if you are not hearing the solenoid click. make sure you are getting adequate fuel to the injectors by checking the tank and testing lines, lift pump and injector pump. Do a compression test if the fuel is good and go from there.

It is a matter of elimination and often the process can be quite frustrating. Hang in there!!

I hope this helps and please keep us posted..