7305 lack of power in high gear

Chris_J · May 9, 2003

I have a 1998 CC 7305 hydro/diesel w/440 hrs. Since I have purchased it (390 hrs) I have had a lack of power in high gear. Tonight when I drove down to the neighborhood park to mow, I noticed that I could not get over 4 or 5 mph in high gear.

When I do try to drive in high gear, if I let up on the pedal, the engine revs up but I don't go any faster. If I push down on the pedal, the motor bogs down and smells hot (the guage isn't showing overheating at all).

Any ideas?

barticus73 · May 11, 2003

May need a HYdro filter and oil change.

Anonymous Poster · May 25, 2003

Chris,

I had this happen just yesterday. Tractor had been running fine. All of a sudden no power. Turned out my 3 yr old (who sits on my tractor almost 2 hrs each day) had activated the cruise control. The proper position for the lever is downward. Once I deactivated it everything was fine. He obviously activated it while the tractor was NOT running as although he loves to sit on it, he won't get the keys from dad til he is at least 21. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I do hope whatever it is that it is something simple. Also, it is a good idea to change the fluid and filters. I have a cross reference of filters that can save you some serious money. Let me know and I can email them to you.

MikePA · May 27, 2003

Information from second thread on the same topic...

Here is more information on power problems - maybe you can help me determine if this is a hydro issue or an engine issue. When I set my rpms for 2000 rpms and put it into high or middle gear and then accelerate, the tractor starts to accelerate but then gradually slows down. The thing that I notice is that when I slow down, the motor rpms also go down - way down (500 - 700 rpms). If the hydro filter was plugged (needed changing), wouldn't that just affect the transmission power/speed and not the engine rpms? The other thing I notice, is that it begins to smell hot and pushes a little black smoke (not much - very hard to see). The temp guage shows operating in the green (the needle doesn't even get to the middle of the green).

As far as the filters & fluid, all were changed 50 hours ago.

Maybe this will help spark some other ideas - or maybe stay with filters needing to be changed.

Thanks!!!

rback33 · May 27, 2003

From what i have read it sounds like something is causing the engine to "lug". The hot smell is probably not the engine temp, but the exhaust temp. This too is very hard on engines. As for the cause, I am at a loss too. I know NOTHING about those particular tractors... could it be a computer problem related to the fuel input?

jrlichina · May 27, 2003

If there is a restriction in the hydrostatic unit it can put a very high load on the engine causing the RPMs to drop.

GSS · May 27, 2003

Not exactly sure, but I recall reading something in the manual for my 7360SS about the fuel filter needing changed only when lack of power or pinging is experienced. Maybe just pull the filter and check the bowl for sediment. Maybe you got close to the bottom of your tank recently and stirred up some junk in there? You never know...

Chris_J · Jun 3, 2003

I had seen that in my manual as well, so I went down and picked up a new fuel filter and threw it in, bled the lines and gave it a try - no luck. My hydro filter just came in, so I'm going to go and pick it up, change the oil and the filter and hope that helps out!

Hopefully this will be the end of it!

Ledgemere Farm · Jun 10, 2003

If you go to MTD's website and login, you will have access to Cub Cadet tech support. I have e-mailed them in the past. The response time was a couple of days. I would suggest contacting them directly if changing the filter and oil prove unsuccessful.