cub cadet 3185 loosing power help

[7388Hammer]

Hi I just bought a cub cadet 3185 and when I go up an incline it boggs down or if I am on flat ground and am at full speed and engauge the blades it slows down and the blades barely turn untill I slow down and the blades spin fine in otherwords I can only cut grass at a crawl. Any idea what is happing to the power? Thanks - Ken

 

[Carl_NH]

First, take the deck off and check the bearings and grease them make sure they are all spinning freely. And while you have the deck and shrouds off, make sure the deck drive belt has tension and everything spins freely.

Sharpen the blades, make sure the other pulleys are all turning free, etc.. Not sure if your 3185 has a shaft drive ? If it does check that gear box for oil as well.

Now if the deck spins OK, then check the PTO clutch - you might have a bad bearing in the PTO but thats not a typical problem.

 

[7388Hammer]

All that seems to be good and it is a shaft drive to the mowing deck. It loses power going up hill with out mowing deck being engaged?

 

[Carl_NH]

This has nothing to do with the mower deck then. Its either a hydro problem or a linkage problem.

Does the engine bog down (labor) going up a hill or does it just slow down?

Have you tried going in reverse? If if goes fast in reverse but slows down going forward that would lead me to think its drive line/pedal adjustment - I dont know the exact linkage on your machine.

Check the hydro fluid level too if OK, then check the brake adjustments, if OK then I would get a hydro filter from your dealer (I would get a CC hydro filter as some "direct" replacements wont work). Change out your fluid - Shell Rotella 15 40 can be found at Walmart for $13 range for 5 quarts. Check your manual for the exact amount..

Beyond this you may have a bad geroter (intermal pump motor) inside the hydro and they can be fixed but I dont know the process..

 

[aczlan]

Could also be a fuel delivery problem, sounds like it happens when you put a load on the engine.
I would check the throttle linkage and make sure it is free, then replace the fuel filter.
While the filter is off, drain some gas from the tank into a container to see how fast it flows out.

Aaron Z

 

[Carl_NH]

Good call azclan,

OP didnt say whether the engine was slowing down maybe thats what he meant by bogging down..

You are correct that fuel will cause this condition - also on fuel check the gas tank vent (little hole in the cap) - they get plugged with dirt and can starve the furl pump...

Carl

 

[drifter2518]

Is it a twin cylinder motor? Do you have spark at each plug? I had a CC 2158 twin Kohler that mice chewed the wires to one coil and acted the same way...no power with deck engaged.

 

[7388Hammer]

It is a twin cylinder 18hp briggs and yes the engine boggs down and blades slow down under a load engine will bogg down and stall out on a uphill incline but run full tilt and cut fine downhill

 

[aczlan]

It is a twin cylinder 18hp briggs and yes the engine boggs down and blades slow down under a load engine will bogg down and stall out on a uphill incline but run full tilt and cut fine downhill

Do you have a push bumper on it? If so, what does it do if you push against an immovable object (such as a tree or wall) while on flat ground?
Might there be something in the fuel tank that is rolling backward and blocking the outlet in the fuel tank when going uphill?

Aaron Z

 

[7388Hammer]

Ok did that and rear tires spun for about 2 seconds and then engine bogged down slowly and cut off in about 5 seconds after tires stoped spinning