1210 shut off on me
 

Ok, I got my 1210 running pretty well. It hadn't been used in 15 years. It is serviced and mowing now. I used it tonight for the first "real mowing" test.
It has a 38 inch deck. I mowed for about 30 minutes. It smoked a little, but I figured it was from setting so long. It seemed to clear up after about 3 minutes. It ran great for quite a while. I was mowing some thick grass and it was damp.. I would't say wet, it was damp. The think just up and shut off. I lifted the hood and you could see mild smoke rising up through the hood. i traced it down to being just some residual oil that was on the block for years. ( As a matter of fact it dripped off a little. I had previously sprayed it with carb cleaner and the oil ran down to the frame) I left the tractor sit for about 5 or 6 minutes. It seemed to cool off a little and it fired it back up. I drove it into my driveway and quickly opened the hood and took off the side panels so it could cool off nicely. The thing was still hot to the touch 20 minutes after I took everything back off. I waited about an hour and thiongs ere warm, but almost air temp. I sprayed the motor with some more de-greaser and pressure washed the old oil off. I also checked the oil to make sure it was ok. ( I knew it had just been changed.) The only thing I could fing was it was a little over full of oil. ( I am talking about 1/4 inch over the full mark on the dipstick.)

Would the extra oil cause it to over heat? Or did I just overwork the tractor and is got hot and shut off? I mowed great up until it shut down. I thought the old oil that was on the block my have made the heating problem worse, so I washed it off.) When I dried the tractor of,f( Yes, I clean themand chamois the eash time I use them), It started right up and ran great. Any thoughts?

Ignition timing or lean mixture will make it run hot. Also, make sure cooling fins in head are clear, and shroud, flywheel fan. Mice love building nests in there!

I doubt the oil was the cause unless its foamy on the stick.

No foam on the stick. I looked at the vents and they apear to be clean now. ( That doesn't mean they were before I presure washed it though. I will have to mow with it again and let everyone know what happens. Thanks, Jason

Well, the fins were clean. However... I tried to mow again today. It was running great. No smoke, oil drips or anything. It started to heat up a little after 2o minutes of mowing. ANd I started to notice that every time I would change direction form forward to reverse or vise versa, the motor would bobble a little and want to shut down. If I did it very slowly, it would seem to rev back up to where it should and keep on going. I was thinking about all of the things you all have said on here while I was mowing and got to wondering..... Could the fuel pump be going bad? It would explain the motor "bobble" and would probably make the engine run lean as well if it was starved for fuel. It doesn't backfire or smoke like it would i it was getting too much fuel. The carb was just rebuilt. It a lean fuel situation make it heat up this could be causing it. Do you think the same as me or do you guys think it is something else?