QuestionHello Eric,
I see you've been busy lately. I took apart the lawn tractor to repair other parts I found to be worn. It took awhile to get all the parts. I got the tractor working last week and was able to mow the lawn. However I still do not have any torque or speed. It was improved with the drive belt change but no where near to normal.
I seem to loose speed/torque when turning and the tractor come to a stop if I try to engage the highest gear.
If the drive belt is the main contributor to the speed and torque; the new belt still seems to be loose. It is tighter than the old belt. It's almost as though the belt should be 1" shorter.
The drive belt travels over fixed pulleys and one moveable pulley. The moveable pulley connects to the foot pedal/clutch.
1. Is there any adjustment that can be made to this moveable pulley to tighten up the drive belt?
2. Is there some way to tighten up the belt temporarily to prove the belt length is the only issue? I wish I had a bigger diameter pulley to try out or a shorter belt.
3. Can you suggest any other areas I could address?
Thanks again Eric, Regards, Anthony
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Followup To
Question -
Craftsman 15hp Lawn Tractor #917.256543
With a Kohler Command Motor (Koh 14.0Cmd-L CV14S Type No. PS41526)
With a Dana Transaxle No. 4360-97
Hello Eric,
I originally had 6 forward speeds + reverse. I've suddenly lost all the forwards speeds except one. I still have reverse. The motor starts and runs satisfactorily. No matter what forward speed I select; it moves at the slowest. If I try to navigate any incline the motor stalls.
The problem first occurred about 10 minutes after the tractor was force stopped while trying to cut too high a section of grass. The engine started up okay and I tried to re-cut the clumped grass. The motor stalled again. It was sometime after that the speed got affected.
I cleaned the spark plug, replace the oil and filter, changed the air filter and fuel filter. I recharged the battery. I cleaned all the built up grass from the motor gears,pulleys, belts, motor and transaxle. I can see the shift lever move a bracket from the transaxle. The clutch also moves freely and engages the forward and reverse speeds. The belts are not broken but appear a little loose that is not a tight as I expected. That may be norma but I don't know enough about lawn tractors. Nothing I've done seems to make a difference. The preventive maintainance I'm sure helped but did not address the root cause.
I'm not sure where to go from here.
1. Could the transaxle been damaged when the motor stopped?
2. Should the drive belt be tight like a car belt or loose?
3. Could the loss of power, due to the sudden stop, cause the timing or valves to be out of adjustment?
4. Do the transaxles on lawn tractor need to be filled with grease or fluid? I don't see any openings to add any lubricant.
Where do I go from here to help root cause the problem before I have to pay the price to have a mechanic look at it. Thank you for any help you can offer.
Regards, Anthony
Answer -
# 1 --- Not likely --
# 2 --- The loose belt is most likely you problem
# 3 --- If the unit runs then the valves are ok
# 4 --- Grease -- if you don't see leak the it is ok
With the unit not running -- put it into gear and check the drive belt if it has more than 1" of deflection replace it --- a loose belt seems to be your problem
Answer#1 Check the pulley for excessive wear --- the belt should not go deep into the pulley -- the flat edge of the belt should be slightly higher than flush with the edge of the pulley
#2 No way that I can suggest to do that safely
#3 Check all the pulleys for excessive groove wear --- a little wear on all pulleys could get about 1" of deflection in a belt.
