John Deere 445 Engine Coil Troubleshooting

[@bobbyfox188]

My 97 445 was acting the same way. Thanks to your video I was able to narrow it down to a bad coil on the left side. After a trip to the John Deere dealer, it was purring like new in about 5 minutes. Thanks and keep up the good work.☺

[@TNYankee2020]

Appreciate the feedback. Glad it helped. Long live the 445. 😀

[@parkland4530]

Problems today. Spent an hour blowing snow and the old girl ran very well. Then it started stumbling. Nothing visibly wrong. Checked the new plugs to find the drivers left was black while the other was clean. Couldn't really hear much of a difference when pulling the plugs alternately but the problem seemed more pronounced when under load. Could be a valve guide maybe but I had the same problem with my LT66 and a new coil fixed it up. Hoping its a coil, though it is over $100CA at the dealer. But someone mentioned below issues with the plug wire connections. Interesting.. Great video thanks..

[@TNYankee2020]

Sorry about that....still sounds like the Coil. Good Luck!

[@cpwatching5647]

Great video! Glad to see the 445 running at its best again and she sounds good. I just again had to snow blow with mine due to a winter storm. Coils in my experience are fickle. Nice job meticulously trouble shooting. Temperature, humidity and moisture and vibration can all cause them to drop out if they are compromised by a internal weakness or case hair line crack. Replacing both with new OEM coils is a good call. Take care.

[@TNYankee2020]

Thank you Sir.

[@brian-vermont8464]

Hey man… tks! Just helped a ton. Same side even. Skipped the amp meter. Just swapped the coils and sure the sun shines the right side fired right up! Gracias!!

[@TNYankee2020]

Glad to hear it helped.

[@brentwalls2730]

Did you ever check the resistance range on the new coils? If you still have the old coils take a look inside the plug boot and some have a metal fitting that clips onto the spark plug tip. That fitting sometimes has a standard screwdriver slot to allow it to be tightened down. If the fitting vibrates loose ot can creat an intermittent miss or memic a bad coil. I would check to see if its just a poor connection at that fitting. You may have a good extra set of coils

[@TNYankee2020]

No, sir those old coils just went to the trash.

[@jackhuddleston6830]

Just wondered why you replaced both coils? We’re they both bad? I’m having the same issues with a 425. Right side has good spark but nothing on the left. I replaced the coil on the left and still no spark. I just didn’t want to spend another $74 for another coil if I didn’t need it. Thanks for the video.

[@TNYankee2020]

No, one was working, but I just figured might as well put two new ones on and be done with it. Thanks for watching.

[@spudpail]

I got my coils from Ebay as well and I also had the cap that wouldn't fit without removing the plug's terminal nut. To solve the problem I just reinstalled the old cap onto the new coil wire. Problem over! The reason they do that is because some motorcycles can use a plug without the terminal nut to accommodate a resistor cap and these coils are universal. It's not a defect! This also explains why the wire is so long. If you want you can just cut the excess length if you think it's a problem. I like OEM parts too, but sometimes I think the prices are way over inflated by 3 or 400% so someone can make a buck, and how do I know if the part came from China even though the box says Japan. I would have liked to see you cross the leads on your meter to see if it was zeroed before you measured the resistance of the coils. Good video anyway. Thanks.

[@TNYankee2020]

Great feedback thanks for watching

[@waynecolby2559]

U should mark how far in to go on cable, if u wet the cable or boot it will slide in more easily.

[@TNYankee2020]

Thanks for watching and good tip. Hopefully that will help someone.

[@jameswinnett4012]

Just acquired a 445 and have the same problem, opposite side, but wondered where you got your literature? It's a project machine, so needs a few items and some TLC. Thanks for putting the video together! James

[@TNYankee2020]

I got the manual off from a tractor forum somewhere. Hopefully that new coil works for you. Mine works flawlessly now has all the power back. I'll do a follow-up video sometime soon. Thanks for watching

[@jameswinnett4012]

@@TNYankee2020 I put my new coil on last week and it ran much better! However, now I am still seeing a hard/delayed start and a little delay in acceleration as I move the throttle quickly. I am wondering if I may have a plugged filter. I have one ordered, so will respond if it works in restoring the quicker start and acceleration.

[@TNYankee2020]

@@jameswinnett4012 good luck. I'd still try the plugs too.

[@jameswinnett4012]

Yes, good point with plugs! I haven’t changed them yet either. The low hanging fruit will be first, then plan the general and advanced maintenance after that’s done.

[@jameswinnett4012]

@@TNYankee2020 New plugs and new fuel filter added. The difficult starting and surging is still there, however, I sprayed the air sensor that is in the intake off to see if it was starving for air and bang! Ran like a champ, last night. Had to try it again this morning, just to hear it purr and it's back to the same hard start and surging. So, I sprayed a little cleaner on the inside of the filter housing and it ran like a top, until it dried up. I think this tells me I am starving for fuel. I'm going the route of checking the fuel pump pick up hose that I hear can crack. This would allow air to be sucked in. I guess I could fill the gas tank and see if that stopped it??? It wouldn't be able to suck air then, it would suck gas in the crack, hmmm... Your thoughts? Anyone else? Also checked the valve rod clearance and it's good at .25mm! The other new coil is on its way too. May as well have 2 new.

[@victorgamoff4126]

The Chinese coils are better quality than OEM, you just need to remove screwed tips from spark plugs and put the rubber boot on the spark first. After doing so you be able to connect boot to spark plug by pushing boot in a rubber tip already on a spark plug. Than you flip coils upside down and tighten them slightly to a block

[@dorothymiller9165]

my 445 starts and will run perfectly until it gets warm then it misses badly and will even stop. Please help?

[@TNYankee2020]

Hi Dorothy, I would start with the replacing the plugs. The coils per my video would be my next place to look.

[@parkland4530]

Problems today. Spent an hour blowing snow and the old girl ran very well. Then it started stumbling. Nothing visibly wrong. Checked the new plugs to find the drivers left was black while the other was clean. Couldn't really hear much of a difference when pulling the plugs alternately but the problem seemed more pronounced when under load. Could be a valve guide maybe but I had the same problem with my LT66 and a new coil fixed it up. Hoping its a coil, though it is over $100CA at the dealer. But someone mentioned below issues with the plug wire connections. Interesting.. Great video thanks..

[@TNYankee2020]

Definitely sounds like the coil but now you know how to do the test :-) thanks for watching