How to adjust clutch/drive belt

[Dread07]

Hi guys so I have a Poulan PO17542LT
42 inch.
The drive belt needed to be replaced as well as the idler pulley. I replaced both however it's very hard to shift into other gears now. I don't know how to adjust the clutch/ rear brake assembly. I screwed with it and it made it worse. I don't understand what the deal is. Any help is appreciated it seems like there is too much slack in the belt now and it makes noise and if I tighten it up it's too tight.. I just don't understand! Should the drive belt always be moving? Or should it be like the deck belt wear when it's disengaged it has no movement.. Because right now it's always moving.
How do I adjust this thing?!
Thanks!
-Dave

 

[bertsmobile1]

:welcome:

The clutch is simply a mechanism of removing tension from the drive belt.
Once the belt is loose it should be able to slip either on the engine or gearbox pulleys.
There is no adjustment on this apart from changine the spring or moving it's anchor point.


The brake has two adjustments,
The nut on the rod changes the timing between the clutching and the braking and the brake lever should just start to move as soon as the tension is fully off the belt.
Too late and you will roll back before the brake stops the wheels moving and too soon and the brake is fighting against the gearbox which will make shifting very hard and break the shift keys on the gearbox.
The other sdjustment is the sensativity of the brake ( how hard it comes on ) and that is adjusted by the nut in the middle of the brake lever.
In = tight & agressive, out = sloppy.
People get lazy and change gears before the mower has fully stopped and this breaks the shift keys
jack up the rear end and try changing gears.
If you can not select all gers easily with no load on the wheels then the box needs to come out and be split.
You should have a Tecumseh/Peerless box
you can get a free service manual for it here
http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/

 

[Dread07]

:welcome:

The clutch is simply a mechanism of removing tension from the drive belt.
Once the belt is loose it should be able to slip either on the engine or gearbox pulleys.
There is no adjustment on this apart from changine the spring or moving it's anchor point.


The brake has two adjustments,
The nut on the rod changes the timing between the clutching and the braking and the brake lever should just start to move as soon as the tension is fully off the belt.
Too late and you will roll back before the brake stops the wheels moving and too soon and the brake is fighting against the gearbox which will make shifting very hard and break the shift keys on the gearbox.
The other sdjustment is the sensativity of the brake ( how hard it comes on ) and that is adjusted by the nut in the middle of the brake lever.
In = tight & agressive, out = sloppy.
People get lazy and change gears before the mower has fully stopped and this breaks the shift keys
jack up the rear end and try changing gears.
If you can not select all gers easily with no load on the wheels then the box needs to come out and be split.
You should have a Tecumseh/Peerless box
you can get a free service manual for it here
http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/

Awesome thanks for the help. I took a look under there and I only see one of the adjustments you're talking about, the nut in the middle of the rod. I took a picture down there can you help me out as to where the other adjustment is? Thank you so much!

 

[bertsmobile1]

yes that is what I like to call the timimg adjustment.
Moving it will change when the the brake is applied compared to when the clutch is applied.
You use it to make sure the belt is loose enough to slip before the brake activates.
Follow that lever that the rod works on ( Brake lever or cam ) down then you will see a single nut on the other end of it.
That is the brake adjustment nut.
Clockwise for more
counter clockwise for less.

Put a big piece of carpet. cardboard , catch pan etc under the brale and take the brake off.
That will be 2 nuts or bolts near the bottom of the brake lever .
there are a few small bits that tend to fall out.
Once apart you will see just how it works and that makes adjustments so much easier if you know how things works.

From what I can see the spring on the clutch rod is way way too tight.

There are very few people who post on you tube I would recommend watching,
but Taryl fixes all and Donny boy 87 both actually know what they are dooing and present it well.
So google both of them with brake adjustment in the search.
A video is worth 20 pages of text.

 

[Dread07]

yes that is what I like to call the timimg adjustment.
Moving it will change when the the brake is applied compared to when the clutch is applied.
You use it to make sure the belt is loose enough to slip before the brake activates.
Follow that lever that the rod works on ( Brake lever or cam ) down then you will see a single nut on the other end of it.
That is the brake adjustment nut.
Clockwise for more
counter clockwise for less.

Put a big piece of carpet. cardboard , catch pan etc under the brale and take the brake off.
That will be 2 nuts or bolts near the bottom of the brake lever .
there are a few small bits that tend to fall out.
Once apart you will see just how it works and that makes adjustments so much easier if you know how things works.

From what I can see the spring on the clutch rod is way way too tight.

There are very few people who post on you tube I would recommend watching,
but Taryl fixes all and Donny boy 87 both actually know what they are dooing and present it well.
So google both of them with brake adjustment in the search.
A video is worth 20 pages of text.

OK I found both adjustments.
My problems are the clutch/brake wobbles like it has too much slack in it. I have a hard time getting it to shift gears when the tractors running, when it's off it shifts fine.
It's like it rolls a bit after u push the brake/clutch in too..the pedal just feels weird.
I've messed with it and I think I'm just not getting the right adjustment of them both.
I read that spring should have 1.5" of tension when applied, and that you should set the Brake so that it stops with the parking brake applied but still rolls freely without it applied. What am I missing?

 

[bertsmobile1]

OK,
One step at a time.
1) When you push down & lock the brake pedal on, is the drive belt loose enough for it to slip on both the transmission pulley and the engine pulley ?
2) when you release the the brake pedal does the belt go tight enough to turn the engne over by moving the belt ?
I assume you have downloaded the parts book from Poulan.
If so make sure the clutch operating arm . part 48 is the correct way as if you took it out it an go on upside down