lawn mower front wheel drive not working

[jl102284]

I have a craftsman model #917.377150 with a briggs and stratton engine model# 12H802-2682-B1

It has front wheel drive which doesn't work.
The belt is in place and does it's job rotating the pulley on the front transaxle.
If I spin one wheel the opposite wheel spins with it equally. I also removed the wheels and verified the teeth on the wheels aren't stripped out.
Therefore, I think the problem is inside the transaxle.
I want to remove the transaxle, take it apart and see.

I think the first step is to remove the belt.
How do I loosen the tension on the belt to remove it?
Looking underneath the mower it has a plastic cover protecting the belt and pulley. I am guessing there might be some type of tensioner behind this cover. It seems I need to remove the part on the end of the shaft which the blade bolts up against to be able to remove the plastic cover. How does this come off? Thinking it was threaded I tried to unscrew it with a pair of channel locks, I was just rotating the engine. I am not sure if I should do something to try to stop the engine from rotating and put force into it or maybe its not threaded. I don't know what to do to remove it?

After that im not sure how to remove the axle either. Does anyone have any suggestions/knowledge of this topic?

 

[mechanic mark]

CRAFTSMAN Gas Walk Behind Lawnmower Parts | Model 917377150 | Sears PartsDirect For Safety, remove spark plug boot, study diagram for disassembly, just be sure to keep right side parts together & do the same with left side, keep parts in order. Sears does not have a shop manual so you'll just need to be patient & take your time. Use a large screw driver against pulley & belt & rotate pulley by hand & roll belt off pulley.

Lawn Mower Transmission Assembly | Part Number 532187211 | GUARANTEED FIT from Sears PartsDirect

 

[shiftsuper175607]

I have a craftsman model #917.377150 with a briggs and stratton engine model# 12H802-2682-B1

It has front wheel drive which doesn't work.
The belt is in place and does it's job rotating the pulley on the front transaxle.
If I spin one wheel the opposite wheel spins with it equally. I also removed the wheels and verified the teeth on the wheels aren't stripped out.
Therefore, I think the problem is inside the transaxle.
I want to remove the transaxle, take it apart and see.

I think the first step is to remove the belt.
How do I loosen the tension on the belt to remove it?
Looking underneath the mower it has a plastic cover protecting the belt and pulley. I am guessing there might be some type of tensioner behind this cover. It seems I need to remove the part on the end of the shaft which the blade bolts up against to be able to remove the plastic cover. How does this come off? Thinking it was threaded I tried to unscrew it with a pair of channel locks, I was just rotating the engine. I am not sure if I should do something to try to stop the engine from rotating and put force into it or maybe its not threaded. I don't know what to do to remove it?

After that im not sure how to remove the axle either. Does anyone have any suggestions/knowledge of this topic?

Before you do that you could use a drill with a socket the size of the front pulley nut and drive the transaxle with that. See what power you have and transaxle action.
I repaired a similar last Saturday.
I say it is a belt slipping/not biting into the pulley so as it does not pull the mower. At least. I hope so.

 

[jl102284]

Shiftsuper thanks for the tip. I didn't use a drill but I did rotate the pulley with a ratchet first. The belt moved good.
Mark thanks for the link, that is exactly what I needed. I removed the axle, opened up the gear box and determined the gear (14 on diagram) and shaft gear (8 on diagram) are worn down and aren't making good contact with each other. About $55 for those two parts. For that price I think I am going to try to find a new gearbox somewhere.