slanej
Forum Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2016
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Hey all. New member, here.
I have a Craftsman 22" self-propelled model# 917.373680 with a Tecumseh (Sears-branded) engine model# 143.434332 (yeah, I know. But this thing has been a beast since I bought it. It's an old reliable friend.)
Anyway, two questions:
1. The front drive wheels won't disengage. This isn't a problem from a usage standpoint but moving it around the property to where I need it is a bit of a bitch. I've checked pretty much everything and tightened here and cleaned there, but I can't release those front wheels. It seems to be a problem within the gearbox itself, but I cracked that open to examine the "innards" and everything seems to be good in there, as well. Little or no obvious wear, which is what I'd expect from a sealed assembly.
So, am I missing something stupid? My first inclination is to reboot, but there's nothing in the troubleshooting section about that.<grin>
2. Engine is sluggish on start (I ran it dry last fall before storing and I have new gas in it now) and muffler is smoking when I turn off mower. For the better part of it's life, this engine was truly "one-pull start." Last year I replaced the carb because of scale and the fact I stripped the carb bowl nut. Today I put in a new plug, checked the air gap on the magneto (armature/coil/whatever), checked the wire. Once the engine fired, there was the usual "spring smoke dump" from the muffler and everything seemed OK, so I shut it down. Now it looks like residual oil burning inside the muffler and I noticed oil below the muffler on the drive cover.
That's never happened before, and I'm wondering if its just my mower coming out of it's seasonal coma or if I should be concerned.
Sorry for the long post, but I'd figure I'd make it top-heavy with info, instead of everyone posting back and forth over several weeks.
Thanks in advance for your expertise. Regards,
slanej
I have a Craftsman 22" self-propelled model# 917.373680 with a Tecumseh (Sears-branded) engine model# 143.434332 (yeah, I know. But this thing has been a beast since I bought it. It's an old reliable friend.)
Anyway, two questions:
1. The front drive wheels won't disengage. This isn't a problem from a usage standpoint but moving it around the property to where I need it is a bit of a bitch. I've checked pretty much everything and tightened here and cleaned there, but I can't release those front wheels. It seems to be a problem within the gearbox itself, but I cracked that open to examine the "innards" and everything seems to be good in there, as well. Little or no obvious wear, which is what I'd expect from a sealed assembly.
So, am I missing something stupid? My first inclination is to reboot, but there's nothing in the troubleshooting section about that.<grin>
2. Engine is sluggish on start (I ran it dry last fall before storing and I have new gas in it now) and muffler is smoking when I turn off mower. For the better part of it's life, this engine was truly "one-pull start." Last year I replaced the carb because of scale and the fact I stripped the carb bowl nut. Today I put in a new plug, checked the air gap on the magneto (armature/coil/whatever), checked the wire. Once the engine fired, there was the usual "spring smoke dump" from the muffler and everything seemed OK, so I shut it down. Now it looks like residual oil burning inside the muffler and I noticed oil below the muffler on the drive cover.
That's never happened before, and I'm wondering if its just my mower coming out of it's seasonal coma or if I should be concerned.
Sorry for the long post, but I'd figure I'd make it top-heavy with info, instead of everyone posting back and forth over several weeks.
Thanks in advance for your expertise. Regards,
slanej