I picked up a non running LX255 and now have it running great. I mowed with it briefly and the deck was in good condition just very dirty and the blades and deck belt were worn. I installed new blades, the "cups" / spindle guards and a new deck drive belt (Stens Part # 265-242) and inspected the deck spindle belt and put it back on. I removed the spindles and cleaned them and inspected them and put them back on. I removed the deck belt pulley and cleaned it and inspected the two bearings and put it back on. The deck went back on smoothly. I started the mower and when I engaged the PTO the engine bogged down and died. I restarted it and was able to turn the PTO on/off/on/off and then on to start the blades turning before fully engaging it. The PTO then engaged and stayed running. After a few minutes I disengaged the PTO and then it did engage with one pull of the switch but I could tell it was struggling. When the PTO is engaged it significantly reduces the overall engine power. Did I do something wrong? I first thought is that the new deck drive belt is too tight, if so, what deck adjustment would I make to relieve the tension? What else could cause this?
Help troubleshooting deck issue
- Thread starter arch252
- Start date
Carscw
Lawn Pro
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2011
- Threads
- 66
- Messages
- 6,375
Belt could be to small. If you can pull on the belt with little effort. A few inches then it is not to tight. The idler spring should not be stretched more then about a inch.
Take the belt off and make sure all the pulleys still spin easy.
Is the belt rubbing on anything?
bertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
- Threads
- 65
- Messages
- 24,775
OK,
Do you have a manual or electric PTO ?
Fitting new blades, particularly if the flutes were worn off the old ones will put a higher load on the engine so you should get a momentary slow down.
However if it has an electric clutch then you get a high power draw, 3 - 5 A which is a significant load from the engine.
If the electric PTO has a short then this power draw can be huge and more than enough to stall the engine.
Do you have a manual or electric PTO ?
Fitting new blades, particularly if the flutes were worn off the old ones will put a higher load on the engine so you should get a momentary slow down.
However if it has an electric clutch then you get a high power draw, 3 - 5 A which is a significant load from the engine.
If the electric PTO has a short then this power draw can be huge and more than enough to stall the engine.
It is electric. I had it back out today. The PTO engaged without bogging down the engine but it still is drawing heavy on the engine and reducing the speed. The engine speed still slows down noticeably but not quite as bad. Perhaps the new belt was just very tight and needed to break in a little. I still don't think the PTO should be reducing the engine power as much as it is and that worries me that something might not be right and I might be wearing something down excessively. I can engage the PTO on my other LX255 while running a full speed and it hardly slows it down at all to engage and then is right back up to speed. This mower will stall significantly when I engage the PTO on the go.
bertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
- Threads
- 65
- Messages
- 24,775
It all comes down to the power draw of the clutch and the size of the alternator.
Same as if you are sitting in your car with the engine at idle & turn on the headlamps, the engine slows down.
It takes energy to make energy ( convert energy to be accurate ).
Check the clutch for shorts and the wiring for shorts , disconnect the clutch at the plug then turn the PTO on.
All those prongs on the back of the PTO switch bar 2 are earths so you can get shorts in the switch itself.
Other than that check the govenor is allowing the throttle to fully open when the PTO is engaged, you will need a few extra hands for that one.
With the engine running mover the govenor arm back & forth and make sure it moves freely.
Thank you for the responses. Is it possible the new belt was just so tight that the tension was causing the engine to bog down? The more I run it the easier the deck engages, however when I engage the PTO while moving at full speed it will cause such an abrupt decrease in power that you literally lunge forward. It is now picking back up to near full speed rather quickly though. I only notice a slight increase in speed now when I disengage the PTO. Initially it was so bad that when I disengaged the PTO it would throw your head back the speed increase was so significant.
IF this is just the result of a new belt then I would just keep running it until it gets a little bit of stretch in it and breaks in. I don't want to risk causing some other damage to my deck or PTO if this is not due to a new belt and possibly something else wrong.
Just the fact that it seems to be slowly adjusting itself makes me want to just leave it alone. What would you do?
IF this is just the result of a new belt then I would just keep running it until it gets a little bit of stretch in it and breaks in. I don't want to risk causing some other damage to my deck or PTO if this is not due to a new belt and possibly something else wrong.
Just the fact that it seems to be slowly adjusting itself makes me want to just leave it alone. What would you do?