if the fuel pump was bad, it would never run.

bad gas?
crud in the tank/lines/filter?
dirty carb? could be trash inthe bowl.
blocked vent on the gas cap? loosen the cap and see if it stays running.

"There is a black module that the fuel line feeds through with a line running into the engine which must be a PCV valve equivalent. Any suggestions?"

That's the fuel pump. Make sure the pulse line from the crankcase isn't leaking.

If it runs for a while, you may have a clogged fuel tank vent. Loosen the gas cap for a few seconds when the engine starts to stall to see if that "fixes" the problem.

Mine is starting to do this also. It starts sputtering after about 45 minutes. Up until that time, it ran just fine. I noticed that the fuel filter was almost dry--there was no fuel on the bottom contiguous with the filter material.

I put my mityvac on the fuel pump and it is indeed pumping fuel with pulsed vacuum. The tube that it connects to the crankcase is in good condition.

Is the fuel tank even vented? I do not see any vent holes in the cap. When it stalled out today. I put loosened and the retightened the cap. It started right up again with some choke and I finished the rest of my mowing, about another 1/2 hour. Although a little early yet (mower has about 80 hours), I changed the plugs, air filter, and fuel filter. No change.

My 2005 L111 has quit running twice while mowing. Both times, it was the vent hole on the fuel cap that was plugged.

I'm sure that is my problem. When it cut out on me, the fuel level looked high. When I opened the fuel cap and re-tightened, it looked like an inch lower. I'll try to clean it up or might just buy a new one. Thanks for sharing.

Same symptons and after reading the posts, I unscrewed my gas cap and the suction released and fuel level dropped dramatically. Cleaned the cap and saw 3 clean pinholes on the underside, but 1 lone clogged pinhole on the top. Had to poke out the debris with a paperclip but the problem is solved. Thanks guys, was going crazy trying to figure this one out.

Thanks for posting your fix.

I've experienced the symptoms with the engine cutting out seeming to be starved for fuel. I replaced the fuel filter and had luck for about 45 minutes of run time but then it stalled out again.

I then googled "fuel problems" "john deere" and found this thread. I loosened the gas cap saw a drop in fuel level, screwed the cap back just on a little looser and it started up just fine after that.

I'm gonna try cleaning the cap or just replace it. I wish I knew this last year before I had the darn thing serviced for the same problem.

Thank you all for the posts. I was having the same problem with my L111 and was annoyed there was a problem since I have only 70 hours on the machine. I was about to try and start diagnosing the fuel pump and magneto when I decided to do a search and found this thread. I cleaned the vent hole on the top of the cap and the machine is working fine now. Thanks.

I just purchased an L111 used.I am having similar problem.I ran out of gas,refilled,now it will not start. It does seem to be starving for gas. What can be the problem?

Glad I found this thread. I was having the same problems with my Deere L111 - it would run fine for a while then quit, acting like it had run out of gas when in fact the tank wasn't empty. After reading this post about the vent hole in the gas cap I recalled that when I went to fill the gas tank last time, the gas cap was difficult to turn, and the sound of rushing air occurred when I opened it, indicative of a vacuum. Once I cleaned the dirt out of that little pinhole on the top of the gas cap, the tractor ran fine. Probably saved me a few hunge in repair costs! Thanks!

After replacing fuel pump, vacuum line and fuel filter still had a fuel flow problem. Purchased a new fuel cap and that solved the problem.