Drivetrain Related Battle

[rthacker7]

I was hoping for some serious replies and not a brunch joking around but don't look like going to be the case here. kinda sad.

Yes it is. On a happier note I have a machine in the shop now with a bad muffler bearing spacer causing the kanibly pin to rattle.

[Deere2me]

Now what would you follow techs would think the problem was?

Simple......Variable speed pulley sticking.

[bgsengine]

Not even close. Seen it several times, soon as KE4 explained the symptoms, I *KNEW* what it was.. and have seen some fellow techs with 30+ years under their belt be completely baffled by the issue.. and eventually they somehow fixed it (some of the time) but they had no idea how or why. - The fix is so brain-dead simple, it is the first thing I'll check on any machine where belt is throwing off upon shifting one direction to the other (Hint: this can happen on hydrostatic drives too, where belt is never clutched.) In a couple cases, the fix would have cost more than a new machine,while in others, it was a 10 minute job. (another hint..)

[Deere2me]

Now what would you follow techs would think the problem was?

Simple......Variable speed pulley sticking.

Or not!

I personally have never ran across that problem, (and I been workin' on this chit for a number of years now) and apparently nobody else has either. So here's a thought.....give up the solution/answer and move on to another perplexing problem, like, does Danica have even a REMOTE chance of winning this afternoon???

[rthacker7]

I'm thinking either input pulley loose or input bearings bad.

[KE4AVB]

It was so simple that I should had caught as I removed the transmission the first time. Let me explain it a term the might make sense to those that have hot rods. It was a torque related problem. The transmission or in a car the rear end was twisting under acceleration. In a hot rod you add torsion bars to limit this twisting. If you don't you can go for wild ride as the drive shaft comes out and takes out rear part out the car. One time was enough for me; after that I started making driveshaft retaining cages for my cars.

Here the problem was that the two bolts that prevented torque twist had gone missing. Since I had only removed two of these transmissions in five years I miss it the first time around. As the machine was engaged in reverse the forward part of transmission would drop just enough for the drive belt to climb out of the transmission pulley. I of course had to pull the unit a second to retap those two bolt holes as they were stripped.

Now of course there other causes too such broken mounts, broken frames, and of course broken transmission housings. Just shows why some our questions about the obvious things are necessary as things can be sometimes be so easily overlooked or rule out without even checking them.

I just got in a lulu of a problem with Kawasaki FC420V that the JD dealer couldn't fix and they had it for three months. The owner wanted tell what the JD said was wrong but ask him withhold that info until I check the engine without that info. I think finally narrowed it down, now just waiting for the parts I ordered. Starts when cold and sometimes not. Runs greats when it is. Can't engage the PTO at near idle without killing the engine; at normal mowing speed the PTO engages fine. Engine then may or may start afterwards after it is killed by the PTO. I have 100 psi and the minimum required for this engine 73 psi. so that not it and it not carb related as it won't even fire on a raw fuel dump.

[HondaG100]

How much did Deere charge for 3 months of nothing? First guess is failing coil which sounds to commonplace for your post. Second would be a compression release problem or similar valve train issue that causes compression loss when its warm.

[KE4AVB]

As far as i know Charles didn't charge him anything as it is his next door neighbor. Just don't want any ill feelings.

That what I am thinking as I have already replaced the ignitor and the problem is the same. What I thinking is that I having a flame out under compression load from a weak spark and a hot cylinder would have a higher compression. I also tried a know good plug so it basically leaves the coil, although, partially shear flywheel could cause the problem but I got to pickup another metric bolt for the puller as this one is a three point one.

As for the starting compression it remains basically unchanged cold or hot. as usually it is a little hard to check when a compression release is involved but Kawasaki service manual has minimum compression readings for the test and the engine is well above those minimums.

[Deere2me]

As far as i know Charles didn't charge him anything as it is his next door neighbor. Just don't want any ill feelings.

That what I am thinking as I have already replaced the ignitor and the problem is the same. What I thinking is that I having a flame out under compression load from a weak spark and a hot cylinder would have a higher compression. I also tried a know good plug so it basically leaves the coil, although, partially shear flywheel could cause the problem but I got to pickup another metric bolt for the puller as this one is a three point one.

As for the starting compression it remains basically unchanged cold or hot. as usually it is a little hard to check when a compression release is involved but Kawasaki service manual has minimum compression readings for the test and the engine is well above those minimums.

Whatever happened to the ol' "pry up on the flywheel and smack the crank with a BFH" trick? Works every time!

Sounds like a coil issue, have you been checking for spark with a spark checker such as this one? http://www.jackssmallengines.com/using_spark_tester.cfm

[KE4AVB]

Whatever happened to the ol' "pry up on the flywheel and smack the crank with a BFH" trick? Works every time!

If you want break thin aluminum crankcase air dams on this engine have at it. The only possible place to ply is at the starter mount and I don't have access there unless I pull the engine. I rather just do it the right way instead buying a new engine.

As for the spark voltage I have 100Kv high volt meter for use that I normally for checking CRTs anode voltage. But I tell just by the arc color that the voltage way down although I have seen these run even at this level. For a change the coil price is not bad so putting on a new one won't hurt.