John Deere 318 Transmission Problems

Park and turn off your John Deere 318 mower. Allow the engine several minutes to cool, then open the front hood to expose the engine block and gain access.

Notice the spark plug along the right side of the motor. A single black wire connects to the rear of the plug. This is the ignition wire. Inspect the spark plug for visible white or brown corrosion. If this exists, pull the ignition wire out of the existing spark plug and insert the wire into the rear of a replacement spark plug. This spark plug is critical to engine ignition and the operation of your transmission, so this may immediately solve your problem.

Locate the 318's flywheel. This easily identifiable piece is a large wheel-shaped iron component positioned on the top of the engine block. Remove the bolts holding the iron cover onto the flywheel using a socket wrench, then remove the cover.

Look along the fins located on the perimeter of the flywheel. File away any burrs that exist on these fins, then replace the flywheel's cover using the socket wrench and removed bolts. Test your John Deere mower.

Remove the flywheel's cover once again if the 318 mower's transmission is still not working. Access the clutch shaft by first removing the flywheel. Position your flywheel pulley on top of the exposed flywheel and lower the pulley's arms onto the outside of the flywheel.

Tighten the flywheel's center bolt using your socket wrench until the pressure forces the flywheel to come free from the engine block. Set the flywheel and pulley aside. The flywheel's removal grants access to the top of the clutch shaft.

Remove the mower's oil pan. The 318's oil pan is a rectangular piece on the bottom of the engine block, below where the flywheel was positioned. Use your socket wrench to remove the bolts from this part as well, then set the oil pan aside. Its removal exposes the bottom of the clutch shaft.

Remove the bolts along the clutch shaft using your socket wrench. This shaft directly controls power conversion to the mower's blades, and it will need to be replaced if troubleshooting the spark plug and flywheel didn't yield results.

Hit the top of the clutch shaft using a rubber mallet in order to pop it free from the engine block once its bolts have been removed. Slide a replacement shaft into its place and reinsert the bolts.

Follow the disassembly steps in reverse to reattach the flywheel and flywheel cover to the John Deere 318 mower.