LT2180 won't start

[Todd Porter]

Good day. I have an apparent issue with my cub lt 2180. It cranks fine but will not start. It ran when parked (how many times have you heard that?) late last fall when I drained the gas out of it, as recommended by the owners manual (drain gas, start and run with the choke out to burn off the gas in the carb). I had to replace the battery this spring, an apparent victim of the polar vortex. I should mention that while the battery was un hooked, it was also left on the tractor in an unheated environment. At any rate, I charged the old battery and it cranked fine for a few tries, but would not hold it's charge so I replaced it. My observations so far: I thought maybe it was a fuel issue, so I unhooked the lines from the fuel pump and cranked it, puts out plenty of gas. I even went so far as to take the top off the carb and cranked it with the fuel pump hooked up, it shot a stream of gas out of the main jet about a foot in the air, so I really don't think it's a fuel feed issue. I did notice some cracking on one of the shorter hoses, but haven't replaced them yet. I pulled the plugs to check for spark, I have spark but it looked kind of weak so I replaced the plugs too. Still no luck. So, any ideas what to check, how to check it? I'm kind of worried that maybe a mouse or something found a winter home under the engine cover, maybe chewed something. Or something has failed due to extreme conditions. Any help is appreciated, getting time to mow and I need a solution pretty quickly. Thanks to all.

[Todd Porter]

After reading a few other posts on here about non starting cadets, I'm leaning towards the fuel solenoid (?) as an issue. Can someone lead me in the right direction regarding this? Can they be dis-assembled / cleaned? They are kind of pricey to replace. Thanks.

[Sam Mac]

Well now that I know what you have. I'll try to help. The carb on a Vanguard is serviceable form the top. The shut down solenoid had a red wire coming out of it. The solenoid is circled in red and the plunger is in green. With the top off you should see the plunger pull back into the solenoid when you turn the key on. It may just be stuck. The solenoid is screwed in the carb so you can remove it to clean it. If it wont work I'd remove the solenoid, cut the plunger off and put the solenoid back in. You'll never miss it, ask me how I know.

[Todd Porter]

Well, it wasn't the solenoid, just a bunch of gunk in the carb. Apparently I didn't drain it as well as I thought last fall, and it was unusually cold this winter here. I used one of those aerosol compressed air things you use to clean pc keyboards and blew everything out, without removing the carb from the tractor even. After that it started right up, used it for about 4 hrs. this weekend. I have a couple more questions now: Is it true that a higher octane gas has less ethanol in it? Ethanol is some nasty stuff, I bought a weedeater last year and was mixing my own gas, thought I'd try one of those true fuels, 5.99 a qt., but well worth it. Makes a world of difference in how it runs. I won't go back to regular gas again.
Second question: how does a sleeve hitch attach to the tractor and would one be compatible with a 2004 yr. tractor? Thanks for all the advice you guys gave.

[Sam Mac]

Todd

Try this to find ethanol free gas http://pure-gas.org/
Only ethanol free stuff in my area is 93 Shell. I'd prefer 87 if I could get it without ethanol.

As far as a hitch for your tractor I don't know what fits.