Repair-It

kevm14 wrote:Front shot with a flat tire

Forgot to mention. I put a bunch of Fix-a-Flat in the flat tire. I drove around for a while on it (yeah it was torture) to mix it around and it has held air all day. I added what little was left to the left rear tire, though I don't remember why. I guess it was a little soft. The fronts are now at 15 psi so we'll see if they hold.

Did I also mention the steering has minimal slop (for a lawn tractor - and probably as good as a new one) and is very quick ratio? The steering wheel is even centered when going straight. Kind of crazy for a 30 year old machine.

Do I dare ask how the steering slop ranks relative to other vehicles in your fleet?

Haha. Somehow I knew you would comment on that. Probably similar to the Caprice in degrees but with a substantially faster ratio (and the wheel is smaller). It also feels very direct.

That might make an interesting video.

Belt and carb kit come Friday.

In the meantime, that tire is still holding air.

Recap on what I've bought so far:
- 1 can Fix-a-flat
- 2 Champion spark plugs
- air filter
- 80" transmission belt (haven't replaced yet)
- 120" deck belt (haven't received yet)
- carb rebuild kit
- 25" piece of replacement fuel line
- fuel filter
- oil for oil change

The belts are the only thing that cost any money here.

I think I found a good reference for the carb:
http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/bri ... n_carb.asp

Hope to get to this today. And I hope it fixes the issue.

Rebuilding the carb seems to have fixed the issue. I will know better when I can really put a load on it but it responds much better to opening the choke now. Before, you could close the choke and the engine would sputter (as it should). But when you opened it, it would continue to sputter and blow black smoke. After rebuilding, it seems to clean up almost immediately after opening the choke. This is a great sign.

What isn't a good sign is the fuel seems to have drained out and I think some went into the crankcase and some probably leaked out the fuel pump. Hopefully there isn't something else going on. I should change the oil once I determine that rebuilding the carb and fuel pump fixed that issue.

I didn't really see anything terribly amiss. I adjusted the float so it's level upside down (it wasn't that far off before). Aside from blowing out all the passages and rebuilding the fuel pump, the only other thing I can see that may have helped was the bowl gasket. It seems like the one I removed was the wrong one for this carb and it was blocking a passage. I used one that exposed all the passages (kit came with like four gaskets including the one that was on it when I took it apart).

I am going to pull the deck and replace both the transmission belt and the deck belt. Then I will at least be able to engage the blades.

Oh, the battery wasn't dead but it was very low. It tested at like 12.4V which isn't terrible but it only had enough for a few revolutions. I charged it again and it reached full way too quickly. So I think the battery is junk. I guess I have to spend the money on a new one. I can't believe there would be a draw, as the only thing this thing has is the fuel stop solenoid (which clicks when you turn the ignition on, indicating it is properly powered off and seated when the ignition is off), the starter and the ignition coil. I am sure the battery is just old and shitty.

The tires are still holding air.

Great success today. I changed out both belts. I also leveled the deck, though the front to rear is not quite correct. They want the front of the center blade 1/4" higher off the ground than the rear of the side blades. They are about level now.

There is a design flaw with the machine and that is the transport lift mechanism. With it lifted, if you forget and engage the blades, the belt will drag on some linkages. The lift is useful because the rollers at the back slam into stuff (my yard really sucks) and it helps to lift it when moving around the yard. So I'll try to remember. I did scorch my new belt but I think it is alright. I might tighten the adjustment.

As far as the carb issue goes, it still seems to be fixed. I mowed and even hooked up the big vacuum thing with the bagger. Not once did it sputter or blow black smoke. So that is a relief. I left the fuel level at a little under 1/2 so we'll see if it still drains out. If it does, there's probably a tank issue because the fuel pump and carb should be good now. If it doesn't leak, I may still change the oil again. Or not.

While I had the deck off, I removed and sharpened the blades on my grinding wheel. The blades look like high lift to me.

By the way, the blower thing is unbelievable. It moves so much air. I think it will be awesome for leaves in the fall. Wish it had a triple bagger. Also, I need to fashion some kind of handle to the bottom of the bags but they did work.

Overall this was a great day and it mowed flawlessly. The transmission and engine worked well. That was the goal.

Pics.

The machine sans deck. If you look close, you can see Ackermann steering geometry. The old deck belt was pretty destroyed. Deck with the new belt. Turbo collector including upside down part number for future reference.

Sounds like it should be good for a long time. Try to keep the mice out of it. I have some snap traps around mine, and moth balls under the hood. That seems to be working.

kevm14 wrote:I think I found a good reference for the carb:
http://outdoorpowerinfo.com/repairs/bri ... n_carb.asp

Another reference. I forgot I had it. Looks like it may have been useful.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/147323713/Se ... ad-engines

I had it as a PDF but I don't know where it went. Chapter 3 is what I had.

I did forget to mention: did not need to remove the intake manifold from the engine. I was able to pull the carb from the intake. The fuel pump was by far the most complex thing about the carb. The rest of it is very simple.

billgiacheri wrote:Sounds like it should be good for a long time.

I hope so. The engine doesn't smoke at all so that's something.