Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): 265 deere garden tractor, john deere 265, key way

Question
john Deere 265 with a Kawasaki fc540v .just decided to die on me.found that the shut off failed,so I changed it out,so now I have fuel.It has kicked back on me a couple of times before,but after it died I'm suspecting its out of time also.need to choke it every time to start when it was running.And it sounds like its popping back through the carb.It did back fire on me a while back.to make a long story short.It wont start.I do have spark.I was just going to go on line to find a manual for this engine to find timing info.but i come across this site.

Answer

kaw perry

yes it is out of timing you may have sheared the flywheel key. This means you will have to pull the flywheel and install a new key way.I have enclosed a picture for you to look at. You did not give enough information on this engine so here is a guess. There are  at least 4o engines that start with that number.