mr5by5
New member
A couple days ago I was mowing some high grass with my '98 LX-178 when there was a funny grinding sound and the engine stalled and would not restart! I bought the tractor used from local J.D. dealer about 2 years ago to replace my '78 212 - the mower deck on the 212 is completely shot (though the snow blower still works well!).
As a used tractor the LX-178 came with many "unknowns" but the price was right! When it quit I was concerned that the engine was seized because the starter would not crank it fast enough to start but after it cooled-off and my wife helped me tow it to the house with the old 212 it did start-up. There was a terrible lot of grinding and scrapping racket coming from the vicinity of the electromagnetic "PTO" clutch for the mower so I suspected it was the problem. A check of this forum indicated several folks have replaced this part so I went ahead and started disassembling it:
- The 38-inch mower on this tractor is very easy to take-off and put back on! Basically, you just un-tension the mower drive belt by disengaging the tension lever and moving all the way back (belt pretty much falls off when the tension is removed), disengage the hooks on the front of the mower deck that attach it to front of mower frame, and pull the U-pins that attach mower to the tractor at the rear on each side. You may need to turn the wheels to the right or left to slide the mower out from under the tractor.
- The PTO/clutch is attached to the engine crankshaft with one bolt that takes a 5/8-inch socket. In order to remove the bolt with turning-over the engine I used my 3/8-inch Craftsman air impact wrench - it came right out without any problem. I then disconnected the electrical connector for the clutch and dropped the clutch assembly off the crankshaft.
- When I turned the clutch ***'y over to inspect it I saw immediately that it was the source of the problem! The metal seal on the clutch bearing fell off and I could see that the ball bearing was completely dry of any lubrication and that the steel bearing "cage" was broken and twisted with 3 or 4 balls missing and most of the rest burned blue from overheating! How it managed to work at all in this condition I do not know, yet I have mowed 2 acres of lawn with it for a couple summers. It seemed a little noisy but I was amazed at the poor condition of this bearing!
- Next I posted a comment on another discussion about a "noisy mower" here and sent a PM to a senior contributor ("been there") who had suggested the mower PTO/clutch might be that guy's problem! I asked him if he thought it was my problem and if he knew of a cheaper source for the part than J.D. Dealer. He replied that it was likely my problem but that he didn't know of a cheaper source for the part than J.D.!
- I spent a couple hours looking on-line for a source for a replacement Warner clutch but with only a J.D. P/N and some measurements it was hard to tell which of many clutches available was the right one. (The websites have pictures but, like it says at the baggage pick-up in the airport, "Many Clutches Look Alike!") The on-line prices were not that low either - my wife decided for me to get the darned part from J.D. dealer where I bought the tractor , the grass is growing so fast I can hear it!
- My dealer's price for the clutch ***'y (P/N AM122969) was $130 - OUCH! I noted that Date of Mfg on the old clutch was 2005, not that old - the "new" one had 2012 D.O.M., I hope they have improved lubrication and seals... The transmission drive belt (P/N M110978) was looking really worn as was the "secondary" mower belt (P/N M82462) so I popped for two new belts as well - the total damage was $194. (The long transmission drive belt was $30.13.)
- I installed the new PTO/Clutch ***'y without any problems - just had to tap on the drive pulley above with a block of wood to slip it up far enough to align the key-way in crankshaft with the PTO/Clutch and start the bolt.
- With the tractor "Parking Brake" engaged (it is basically a device that removes tension from the transmission drive belt!) I then photographed routing of the transmission drive belt with my digital camera for reference, removed the two Idler Pulleys with sheet metal "Belt Guards" and one end of the steel-rod "Belt Guard" on the transmission, and slipped the back-end of the belt up-and-over the flexible blades of transmission cooling fan to get the belt off. At the front this belt goes ABOVE the steering Idler Arm on the left side so that had to come off to get the belt completely off the mower. I then reversed the procedure to re-install the new belt. I was glad I had a photo of belt routing for reference but still am not sure how to correctly adjust the Center Idler that is mounted to tractor frame through a long slot with a long carriage bolt - basically I tried to put it about where it was and the tension with Parking Brake OFF looks about right. It drives OK anyways...
- I cleaned the mower deck and sharpened the blades, photographed THAT belt for routing reference, and used a pair of vice grips to pull the tension spring off the main Idler Pulley. (The Belt Guard comes off with 3 metric (10mm head) self threading bolts.) After routing and re-tensioning the new mower belt. I re-installed the mower and tested it out!
- The tractor is now running MUCH QUIETER and the engine is not "hunting and surging" on the Governor as badly as it did before when not under load. (It has run OK under load all along - I guess maybe there was TOO MUCH LOAD with the Mower disengaged before due to the "hammered" PTO/Clutch!)
Hope this helps somebody else - thanks to "been there" for encouraging me to post this description of the problem and the "fix"!
As a used tractor the LX-178 came with many "unknowns" but the price was right! When it quit I was concerned that the engine was seized because the starter would not crank it fast enough to start but after it cooled-off and my wife helped me tow it to the house with the old 212 it did start-up. There was a terrible lot of grinding and scrapping racket coming from the vicinity of the electromagnetic "PTO" clutch for the mower so I suspected it was the problem. A check of this forum indicated several folks have replaced this part so I went ahead and started disassembling it:
- The 38-inch mower on this tractor is very easy to take-off and put back on! Basically, you just un-tension the mower drive belt by disengaging the tension lever and moving all the way back (belt pretty much falls off when the tension is removed), disengage the hooks on the front of the mower deck that attach it to front of mower frame, and pull the U-pins that attach mower to the tractor at the rear on each side. You may need to turn the wheels to the right or left to slide the mower out from under the tractor.
- The PTO/clutch is attached to the engine crankshaft with one bolt that takes a 5/8-inch socket. In order to remove the bolt with turning-over the engine I used my 3/8-inch Craftsman air impact wrench - it came right out without any problem. I then disconnected the electrical connector for the clutch and dropped the clutch assembly off the crankshaft.
- When I turned the clutch ***'y over to inspect it I saw immediately that it was the source of the problem! The metal seal on the clutch bearing fell off and I could see that the ball bearing was completely dry of any lubrication and that the steel bearing "cage" was broken and twisted with 3 or 4 balls missing and most of the rest burned blue from overheating! How it managed to work at all in this condition I do not know, yet I have mowed 2 acres of lawn with it for a couple summers. It seemed a little noisy but I was amazed at the poor condition of this bearing!
- Next I posted a comment on another discussion about a "noisy mower" here and sent a PM to a senior contributor ("been there") who had suggested the mower PTO/clutch might be that guy's problem! I asked him if he thought it was my problem and if he knew of a cheaper source for the part than J.D. Dealer. He replied that it was likely my problem but that he didn't know of a cheaper source for the part than J.D.!
- I spent a couple hours looking on-line for a source for a replacement Warner clutch but with only a J.D. P/N and some measurements it was hard to tell which of many clutches available was the right one. (The websites have pictures but, like it says at the baggage pick-up in the airport, "Many Clutches Look Alike!") The on-line prices were not that low either - my wife decided for me to get the darned part from J.D. dealer where I bought the tractor , the grass is growing so fast I can hear it!
- My dealer's price for the clutch ***'y (P/N AM122969) was $130 - OUCH! I noted that Date of Mfg on the old clutch was 2005, not that old - the "new" one had 2012 D.O.M., I hope they have improved lubrication and seals... The transmission drive belt (P/N M110978) was looking really worn as was the "secondary" mower belt (P/N M82462) so I popped for two new belts as well - the total damage was $194. (The long transmission drive belt was $30.13.)
- I installed the new PTO/Clutch ***'y without any problems - just had to tap on the drive pulley above with a block of wood to slip it up far enough to align the key-way in crankshaft with the PTO/Clutch and start the bolt.
- With the tractor "Parking Brake" engaged (it is basically a device that removes tension from the transmission drive belt!) I then photographed routing of the transmission drive belt with my digital camera for reference, removed the two Idler Pulleys with sheet metal "Belt Guards" and one end of the steel-rod "Belt Guard" on the transmission, and slipped the back-end of the belt up-and-over the flexible blades of transmission cooling fan to get the belt off. At the front this belt goes ABOVE the steering Idler Arm on the left side so that had to come off to get the belt completely off the mower. I then reversed the procedure to re-install the new belt. I was glad I had a photo of belt routing for reference but still am not sure how to correctly adjust the Center Idler that is mounted to tractor frame through a long slot with a long carriage bolt - basically I tried to put it about where it was and the tension with Parking Brake OFF looks about right. It drives OK anyways...
- I cleaned the mower deck and sharpened the blades, photographed THAT belt for routing reference, and used a pair of vice grips to pull the tension spring off the main Idler Pulley. (The Belt Guard comes off with 3 metric (10mm head) self threading bolts.) After routing and re-tensioning the new mower belt. I re-installed the mower and tested it out!
- The tractor is now running MUCH QUIETER and the engine is not "hunting and surging" on the Governor as badly as it did before when not under load. (It has run OK under load all along - I guess maybe there was TOO MUCH LOAD with the Mower disengaged before due to the "hammered" PTO/Clutch!)
Hope this helps somebody else - thanks to "been there" for encouraging me to post this description of the problem and the "fix"!