345 Drive Belt Replacement

[Retired Iron Peddler]

The belt guide you refer to was the one that broke off and "rode" the belt through a pulley and broke the drive belt. The JD tech who replaced the belt told me to leave it off and I did. I've had no problems with the belt since then without the guide.

Bill

 

[hardtime]

Used this post repairing my 345 hydro belt today. Very good info, thanks.

Removed the seat assembly as shown. Glad I did because the hydro pulley nut had backed off slightly. New self locking nut was just the ticket.

 

[RSGX345]

A couple weeks ago, while replacing my PTO, I slacked the drive belt and took off the front idler. It looked to me, like weaving the belt around and onto the transaxle would be a major pain, for someone like me, who had never seen what it looks like under there. I read, in some other threads, that it was worthwhile taking off the fenders. I decided to try that and clean while I was in there.

I might be a moron, but I couldn't figure out how to get the belt off and on without removing the spring. I think I read a previous post of yours, describing the wire to the front bumper. That is what I set out to do during the PTO replacement. I'm sure I'm going to feel silly when someone explains what simple thing I missed, but I don't see how he could have just pulled the spring forward and leave it there until finished. For one thing, pulling it forward actually makes the belt tension tighter.

In short, I'm glad I did it this way. Several times, I took the advantage of being able to work from above. The 5 minutes it takes to remove the fenders and fan are well worth not having to weave the belt around it. I think I would have been able to get it from below if removing the fenders was not this simple, but I would have needed to use a bunch of swear words in the process.

I've got the new belt on now. Even with the fan, spring, and the front idler removed, the belt was very snug going over the transaxle pulley. Now that I know what it looks like up there, I'd still do it this way next time.

I try to work on our things myself, if I can. It is an additional way that I provide for my family. We can buy used equipment that saves us money and maintain what we have that also saves us money. I'd have to get a second job if we paid to have someone else maintain even what little stuff we have. It can be frustrating and rigorous working on our car, truck, tractor, etc. I try to take my time and make it as easy as possible. The main point is not to break something while I'm doing it (including myself). There are a surprising number of things that I have paid to have a professional do and then later had to redo it myself. Then I'm really mad that I spent the money. Now I try first and if I can't do it, happily hand it and some cash over to a pro.

I'm new here, bought my GX345 this June used with 475 hrs.

I had to change my drive belt and didn't have a service manual, that's how I found this forum/post. I thought I'd add my experience with this for other that want to do this.

I do all my own work as you stated, for much the same reasons. Anyway I thought I'd try the short cut method first, without taking the fenders off, it looked fairly easy. I removed all of the pulleys from underneath, but tried for while to get belt off, but I couldn't get enough slack to get the old belt off. I think if you can get the clutch pulley off you may be able to get enough slack to remove the belt from the bottom. I couldn't get my clutch off easily, so I went from the top. I could of cut belt off, but I figured it'd be impossible to get a new belt back on if I couldn't get old belt off.

I really didn't want to take everything off because I thought it'd take to long, but it's really not that bad. Once fenders are off, this make thing much easier once you get gas tank and fan blade off. I thought I'd mention I observed the same thing as you, that the nut on the fan/drive pulley was loose. You wouldn't be able to check and tighten nut without having fenders removed.

The other thing I think is worth considering is it is replacing all three of the idler pulleys, there only $13-18 ea. I believe these were original and tractor had 500 hrs. One of mine was definetly shot, loose noisy bearings. One was marginal, felt a little notchy, and the third one felt tight and smooth. But I brought it to JD dealer and asked the JD tech what he thought and he showed me why he wouldn't use the one I thought was good. The tech spun the good used bearing and it just kept rolling for a long time. He took out the new bearing and when you spin it, it doesn't hardly spin for long at all. The new one has grease in it causing rolling resistance. The used one clearly didn't have any grease left. Tech though it may last a while, but if it fails, sooner than later, could possibly ruin an expensive belt (~$75-80). I also replaced the plastic bushings and seals on the idler arm, and a new lock nut on the trans/fan pulley.

I guess the bottom line to consider is if you want this fix to last a long time, or if you don't care and don't want to spend the extra money as to how your going to try to replace the belt form the bottom only or the top.

 

[chad22]

Looks like you had a lot of fun replacing that belt. lol

I can usually replace them in less than an hour but not that one "that's for sure".

I have to replace a belt on my sears garden tractor/loader "once the belt arrives by ups" and thankfully it won't be that hard to replace.

Chad

 

[JD Power]

I just finished up on replacing the trans-axle belt. Thanks to all the posts on this subject as it made the job a lot easier to follow. I had a little grief separating the electrical connection to the PTO. I finally wiggled it apart after 15 minutes and could get the new belt up onto the drive pulley. The electrical blades in the PTO plug were really corroded tight. Used some electrical spray and put them back together quite easily. Taking the fender/seat assembly off is the best way to go. I would have missed the trans-axle input sheave pulley had all the gear splines worn away and was just about free spinning. The nut was tight and that was the only friction holding the pulley tight to the input shaft. I had read somewhere that the spline metal on the sheave pulley is softer than on the trans-axle input shaft. That keeps the input shaft splines from wearing out creating a real costly mess. It appears that spline takes a lot of the stress when turning the input shaft so you may want to check it when you get to that point.

 

[hunt4570]

So I'm way late to this, but it sounds like what I need to do

 

[hunt4570]

And I cheated.. I took it to a dealer to let them do it, I just didn't have the time.. Had them replace the leaking valve cover gaskets as well

 

[bmg88201]

Wow, I’m just a do it yourself-er and I changed my belt in about 2 hours. I didn’t take off half of that stuff to get it done. Replaced a few sheaves while I was at it. I suppose it’s good to remove all that stuff to inspect things though. This is a great forum.

 

[hunt4570]

Wow, I’m just a do it yourself-er and I changed my belt in about 2 hours. I didn’t take off half of that stuff to get it done. Replaced a few sheaves while I was at it. I suppose it’s good to remove all that stuff to inspect things though. This is a great forum.

Yeah, like I said short on time, had them replace all the idlers and fan while they were in there.. heck the thing is about 25 years old.. also did the valve cover gaskets as long as they had it.. but now I dont have to mess with it .

 

[mjw]

Yeah, like I said short on time, had them replace all the idlers and fan while they were in there.. heck the thing is about 25 years old.. also did the valve cover gaskets as long as they had it.. but now I dont have to mess with it .

Do you have the newer metal valve covers?
My dad replaced the gaskets a few years ago but still had leaks.
One of them fully let go last summer and I found out that there is an upgrade from the plastic valve covers that warp/crack and leak.

I’m rereading this thread in preparation of replacing the drive belt and fuel lines.

Fuel pump failed, old style that leaks into the hot muffler, got lucky it failed during snow season, short run time, cold temps probably helped prevent a major fire.
Bought the drive belt last season, just been to lazy to put it on.