I have owned and maintained my T1400 since purchased in 1990 and never had any issues until now. It appears to have lost power, and when mowing the blades get bogged down in relatively short grass. The service technician put on a new belt for the blades and said everything looked fine. It doesn't sound like it is revving at full power. Granted, it could be the fact that this mower is 26 years old. It might be time to break down and purchase a new machine, but this one has lasted so long and performed so well that I don't want to give up on it just yet. Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions....!
T1400 loss of power
- Thread starter Kssummers
- Start date
It could be a simple as needing new fuel filters or as complex as needing to be rebuilt. How many hours are on the machine? Does it smoke and if so, what color smoke?
No real idea on the number of hours on this machine, but probably not as many as you'd think for being 26 years old. I only use it during the growing season, and probably have averaged only 2 hours per week. There has never been a smoke issue either. It starts easily and runs well, but it just seems not to run or rev as hard at full throttle as it did in the past. I've also noticed that when using the bagger, it is having a harder time pushing the debris through the tube and into the bags, I'm getting more debris clogged up in the tube since the power just isn't there. My gut tells me that the machine is just getting old. But it is so over built and in such good shape otherwise I kind of hate to move on to another one, but really don't want to keep putting money into it either. These Kubotas are like German automobiles, they're not cheap to repair!
Almost sounds like the throttle linkage isn't reaching "full throttle". Might look into adjusting the throttle cable. If that's working ok, you really need a tachometer to check the governed no-load engine speed, which should be 3500 +/- 50. I like them on the higher side, closer to 3600. Especially when mulching or bagging. It don't hurt a thing to run a little fast (within reason of course).
Also valve adjustment can have a big effect on engine power, so that's worth considering as well. I didn't know about having to adjust the valves and several years ago I had a 1400 and someone mentioned valve clearance. So I checked and adjusted it and it was like having a brand new mower again.
Also valve adjustment can have a big effect on engine power, so that's worth considering as well. I didn't know about having to adjust the valves and several years ago I had a 1400 and someone mentioned valve clearance. So I checked and adjusted it and it was like having a brand new mower again.
Great, thanks, that's the first I've heard about valve clearance, so I will check that out. Along with the throttle cable adjustment.....question, how difficult is it to adjust the valves? Besides routine maintenance and carb cleaning, I'm not too mechanically inclined. I'm looking online for some guidance, but I'm guessing I may need to let a service technician handle this?
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So if you return to dealer with old machine,tech decides theres nothing wrong due to machines age and lack of knowledge again,then you are back at square one.
If you can access a workshop manual and have the necessary tools its not an impossible task. I pull wrenches 7 days a week so for me its a little different.
If oil changes and spark plugs are not out of the question then this would be taking it to the next level.
If you can access a workshop manual and have the necessary tools its not an impossible task. I pull wrenches 7 days a week so for me its a little different.
If oil changes and spark plugs are not out of the question then this would be taking it to the next level.
Thanks, Frank. I found several You Tube videos, so at least now I understand what I'm looking at trying to do. Plus I have several months before spring, so I will see what I can do. Thanks for the advice!
I agree with Lugbolt and Tooljunkie. Throttle cables seem to stretch or move over time. A simple tune up may be in order. Valve adjustment and a new spark plug is a good place to start. The only reason for that to be over $10.00 is if you have to buy a feeler gauge. You might also check quality of your fuel. It may have a little crap in it built up over time. If it isn't using oil or smoking, you likely have years left in it. One other less likely thing is you may have some varnish build up in your carb. jet. If you can get to it, run the wire from a bread tie through it several times and spray it out with carb cleaner.
No, that's square two. Square one is teaching the "tech" that looking at things objectively is the only way to be a "tech". You know, I'm guilty of doing just that from time to time, just getting in a hurry, and though I may not like it, I do appreciate when the customer tells me I'm full of crap. Sometimes we all need a pep talk.
Does the T1400 have a separate choke cable and throttle cable? I don't think they do-I think the throttle and choke control are on the dash, right? Usually (but not always) when the throttle cable is out of adjustment, I get the "hard to start" complaint because the choke isn't choking all the way.
There is an adjustment on the governor plate that you can use to increase the engine's RPM and power. But let's not get into that quite yet. Valve adjustment first. If you can't find it with the Kubota in your search, search for John Deere 14hp or FC420V valve adjustment. That will get you in the right direction.
Well, I checked out the valves, and to my untrained eye they looked good.....the best I could do was compare to what I saw on multiple you tube videos, and my valves looked very clean and not loose. You are correct about the throttle and choke being one unit. My guess is that I will ask the service tech to check out the governor, that is probably above my small skill level. Thanks for all the advice, hopefully I can get a few more years out of this machine!