Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - JD 265 quits after about 2 hours

Its a JD 265 with a 17 hp kawasaki and it runs and starts great. But after about 2 hours of use it will just quit. It wont spit and sputter it just dies. And when it quits it wont start again for maybe 5 min and then it will run for a little while and quit again. Does anyone have any idea what would cause this, its get very annoying.

Have you checked anything? Does it have spark when it dies?

Next time it annoys you, loosen the fuel cap and try it. If that does no good then check for spark.

When it does start back up there is some black smoke like its getting way to much fuel. but when it dies it runs great, no smoke or anything, its like you shut it off. But it does it at the same time every time, about 2 hours of mowing. And it keeps doing it until you leave it for a long time to cool off. I think whatever causes it is because something is getting hot. Some times if you pull the fuel line of the pump to the carb it will fire up righ away and run with no fuel being pumped to it. It also has a clear fuel filter between the pump and the tank and even when it quits the filter is full of gas.

sounds like you might have a spark issue. have you checked for spark when it will not start?

This is the 3rd year Ive ran this tractor and its always done this but last year it quit doing for a while. I thought I did checki for spark once and it had it but maybe not, I cant remember. The next time I run it I will check for spark if it does it again.

You'll want to check for spark immediately. I suggest carrying a new spark plug in your pocket while mowing. The moment the engine dies, set trans to N(eutral), shut down the mower deck, lock the parking brake, place the new spark plug in the plug wire, ground to engine, crank engine over. This eliminates the need to remove the spark plug from the engine and cuts down on cooling down time.

I had a spark plug in my pocket last time so I'll keep it with me. My luck it will run fine this next time then the time after that it will quit about 1/2hour before it rains. Thats whats so annoying it it takes about 2 1/2 hours to mow and it quits right around 2hours when Im almost done so it ends up taking at least 3 hours, last time it was almost 4.

It can be nearly impossible to absolutely identify this problem before changing out parts. I just did a Cub with a kohler that had almost the same symptoms. Once it died however, it would restart within a few to several minutes, but only for a short time unless it was left to completely cool down. It took me several hours to actually test it and find no spark.
Puey's suggestion is the way I would go also. When it does die, dont doddle, be safe but quick. If you test for spark and find that you have it, immediately try to restart and run it if it starts. If you find no spark, be certain of your connections then let it hang like that. Come back every few minutes and check for spark in the same manner. If after it cools you again see spark, then you know your test was valid and at one point you had no spark.
If you can post the model of your engine or the serial # of the mower...I am not sure if you have one of the older kawasaki engines with the ignitor or a newer one with different ignition.

Well today I mowed with it and it died after about 10min. It fired up again and I mowed for about 15 then it quit and I checked it and it had no spark. I let it sit for a long time and still no spark. I ran over to a small engin shop and told them the problem and he gave me a ignitor and I took it back and it fired righ up with the new ignitor on it and ran great for the rest of the day. the only problem was is that little thing was $54.