i have a poulan riding mower - got it about 3 months ago and i didn't notice a problem with the front tires until i had a flat on the left front. now the steering wheel is no longer "centered" it is turned slightly to the right when i am driving straight. and the front tires are slightly toed inward. i have not run into anything with this mower, so i'm wondering if while driving it with the left front flat and not noticing it may have thrown something out of whack on the steering. any suggestions on (1) how to reset the steering wheel so it is "centered" again and (2) how to get the front tires to where they are not toed in? i am not sure if the toe in and the steering wheel being off center is related or a totally separate issue.
#2
Boudreaux In Eunice La.
Bushings need to be replaced in the rims...........
Someone in the past maybe changed the gear and sector plate and did not line up the steering wheel when they did that.
That is the most common thing with the steering wheel not being aligned...........
fix for the above was to straighten out the rods connected to the steering of the tires. i guess having a flat tire for a while caused enough rolling resistance to bend those rods.
and another problem. mower has 56.4 hours on it and i was mowing earlier today. i parked it outside (engine part is in the shade, seat is in the sun) and when i tried to start it to continue mowing,
all i get is a loud "click" and the motor does not turn over. i suspect the solenoid is the issue. i have checked the wire on it and it is snug. any ideas?
Take a cheap screwdriver and touch it to both of the big posts on the solenoid momentarily, and see if the engine turns over. Don't do this a lot, but that will tell us if the battery/starter is the problem or not.
replaced solenoid and it fires up. not the first time i have had this issue with the mower (note i bought this brand new, so i know all of the service history on it) but in this is the first time it would not
start after a few hours of just sitting.
and back with a new issue - mower will move forward and mow - but will not reverse at all. mower has a safety feature to prevent backing up when the blades are turning (unless the key is in a specific position) but in either position with or without the blades turning the mower still will not back up. mower is a hydrostatic transmission and the reverse pedal seems like it is stuck, it will not depress. i have checked for obstructions and not found any.
anyone got any suggestions?
If parts break down is correct it is a General gear Trans and not a hydro. Check for grass on the trans. Not a big fan of this trans. But I guess they are less expensive than a hydro.
If parts break down is correct it is a General gear Trans and not a hydro. Check for grass on the trans. Not a big fan of this trans. But I guess they are less expensive than a hydro.
Not really. This is a case where Google is misleading on their search. I almost got suck in too. I only paid closer attention as I done got burned a couple times this year already as had ordered the wrong parts because these misleads. Even my bearing suppliers had linked me to the wrong bearings for a Gravely I was working on using the bearing number. I just happen to have two of the same model in the shop at the same time. The second one had a different manufactured bearings and those part numbers came up with the correct insert bearings. I only accidentally found this as the two mower had a 2mm slop in the spindles that I was correcting. That reminds me that I got to find out why I haven't received credit for the 12 wrong bearings that I returned by their pickup order.
I had to pay extra close attention to model number given as the search included both of them. Most of IPL searches were linking to the other model number. I had to go Poulan website to find the correct IPL. Plus I had switch over to the true model number (96042018500).
Actually once I used the 96042018500 model I got very little on Google but DuckDuck did a lot better. And Jacks which normally does a good job could not come up with the model but DuckDuck came up with a link to the machine that a direct search at Jacks said "Not Found".
ok, problem finally found and solved. i took the deck off and lifted the front end, traced the connecting rod from the foot pedal to the transmission. i did not see anything wrong.
as i was using a neighbor's lift, i asked him to take a look and he found it - a stick about half an inch thick and about 2 inches long lodged vertically behind the assembly of the
control rod at the transmission. it allowed the lever at the transmission to move forward but blocked it from moving back. it took about 10 minutes to get the stick out of there as
it was in just perfectly - i don't think i could recreate this episode in a million years!
mower works fine now. thanks to all who replied.
