Re-ring JD 4400 CUT

[Olsen]

Please don't overlook the obvious.
Does it smoke while cranking?
Is it always hard starting?
Does it make a difference if hot or cold?
If not, don't look past the thermistor.
Q have 2500 hours on my 4400 with no engine or fuel issues at all.
But that **** thermistor I chased for a long time.
Keep us posted.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Yes the compression is a bit low but it's so even on all three cylinders. Rings would be a last resort for me.
Does it start better when hot or does it start hard both hot and cold?
If it only starts hard cold it might be a fuel issue.
I know they are designed to be self priming if you run out of fuel but could it be a fuel leakage issue on the suction side?
Just throwing out ideas.....

 

[BCinVA]

Thanks Olsen and PMS mechanic for your input. The fuel solenoid and thermister were some of the first things I thought about. I had read on here previously about how many people had chased starting problems only to find out about the thermister or oil saturated fuel shut off solenoids. As far as temperature effect, it starts hard hot or cold, although the chances of it firing up without a little sniff of ether is less when it is real cold. As I said, when I get time I am going to do some more troubleshooting. I am definitely not going to go into the engine until I am really sure I need to. When I get it figured out I will definitely come back here and tell the story. No matter how good you are at working on some of this stuff, you always run into something that is a bit of a mystery. It is good we can share that on here, so we can maybe save someone else a lot of troubleshooting time.