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It's just another way JD saves on material costs and quietly plans for deck rust to make the mowers virtually useless in a few years. I have quite a few "haul cart pullers" around my area because the decks rusted out in only a few years. JD and many other manufacturers have not made a "10-year...

Hello U., This problem suggests to me that the fuel tank need to be emptied, removed and cleaned out well. Along with that all of the fuel hoses replaced. With use and age, dust, grass clippings and even bugs find their way into mower fuel tanks. This stuff lays in the bottom of the tank and...

Hello D., A person does not have to "register" their mower, but they do need the product model number off of the manufacturer label that is under the seat or on the seat frame (on most models), so they can find the applicable manual. Even Cub Cadet does not have a very good repair information...

Sounds like it's time to move on to a commercial brand other than JD. By all means stay away from the "box store" models.

There is no "better" starter made to overcome a camshaft with a broken compression relief mechanism. Have you pulled the spark plug with the valve cover off and watched the valve operation to see if the small bump of the intake valve is occurring? There are videos online about how to check for...

At the very base of each lap bar there is a turn knob that can be loosened to adjust the lap bar to the position you want them to be. Pretty easy to do.

Hi Slomo, Maybe they can find an old bottle of slick 50 on the shelf and cure all of their engine troubles? LOL

Hello S., Welcome to the world of franchised dealerships. JD "corporate" is only interested in selling the "big money" farm, industrial and forestry equipment. The L&G stuff is a sideline hustle they really don't profit from. I have not seen a "serial number" on a JD rider mower deck, that...

Hello B., Unfortunately, there are a lot of boot leg repair information copies that people have cracked the code on. I stay away from them. I worked for JD and saw this all the time. My general manager wanted me to actually charge area independent techs that I have known for years for any...

Hi Star Tech, I guess I still have a soft spot for the old manuals, but it is hard to store them and keep bugs a rodents from using them for bedding or to snack on. I'm worried about using any of the "cloud" services for back up due to the service disruptions I deal with a few times a year...

Solenoids are typical to fail especially when a battery is too low, and the starter is straining to turn the engine for startup. It creates a lot of heat on the solenoid contacts and in the starter.

Hi Star Tech, Most automotive and AG parts counter personnel anywhere you go these days are nothing more than breathing bodies who are occupying a position until something better comes along with better pay and less work. If they do not show an item on their computer screen in stock, they often...

Hello B., The difference in price for the JD repair manual/CD and an eBay repair CD clearly demonstrates their corporate greed and a crumbling customer support system. They have a high image of themselves as being "exclusive". John Deere was a premier product for many years, but they have...

All oil manufacturers have material data sheets (MDS) for each formulation of oil they produce. The weight viscosity is an API unit of measure. A given company could produce several different blends of additives in a "10W-30" engine oil. Many Of their formulas are "proprietary information" so...

Hello A., Are you referring to the traction drive belt or the deck blade drive belt?

Hello E., The carburetor has a blocked internal air bleed, sediment in the carburetor passages or the fuel line has garbage in it from the fuel tank. Those are the 3 most common things I see on this series engine.

Sadly, JD has really their lost direction when it comes to quality and workmanship. It was going downhill fast when I was a service manager up until 2010. Everyone just plays pass the buck and no one takes responsibility to resolve issues anymore.

That is residual oil getting cooked due to an overheating condition. The cooling fins under the fan shroud need to be cleaned really well. There is also a very high chance that the head gasket is failing. This engine design is bad about this. There are plenty of videos online about how to...

Pull the main power fuse and look at it. If it looks partially melted in the plastic, the holder contacts are getting rusty, and the fuse has poor connection. You can put the fuse in and out a couple of times and if the mower will start, the fuse holder needs to be replaced.

Some of the newer (small) Briggs and Stratton engine do not even have a drain plug, just an "add oil before starting engine" sticker. Of course, customer think that means it has some kind of magical "lifetime" oil. After the sticker wear off who cares? It's doomed from day one. Hence the title...

Thanks for letting us know B, These are occasionally "slide in" throttle blade (on some models). If it has a small center screw, it will need some Loc-Tite to prevent it from happening again.

It's crazy (to me) what people pay for "equipment branded" oils, but they are brand loyal especially if it involves the illusion of "free" warranty repairs. Truth be told, no equipment manufacturer makes their lubrication products, they just purchase large quantitates of oils and greases from...

As I recall Peerless made quite a number of rider mower manual gear drive transmissions. Many of them were used in MTD and AYP chassis riders. "Murray" is just a chassis product label. The only weak point was the input shaft and pulley shearing the splines or keyway, but a tack weld can resolve...

Hydrostatic (automatic) transmissions produce more fluid bypass internally and fluid aeration when pully input shaft Rpm goes higher. The design of the hydrostatic transmission does not have any internal tricks to really make it go much faster. If you want more actual speed, find an early...

Hello M., Why a steering wheel on a zero turn? Smoother control especially in tight areas or turns. The one I have seemed to sit a little higher as well. It appeals to many that cannot handle (not a pun) a separate R&L hand control because they react (jerky) too fast. I have both an RZT s-50...

1980's Flashback.... Add a bottle of Slick 50 oil additive and it will run forever.

I run Royal Purple 20W-50 in my '95 Harley and it is a vast power improvement over the SAE 50 Harley oil they were recommending. Straight SAE 50 is way outdated in my opinion. Air cooled engines are critical about the correct viscosity for the ambient temperature conditions. The most wear on...

Hello ILENGINE, That is so the investors can swoop in and build housing complexes on land that was once used for crop production. Why teach students about farming when there will be very little land left to farm in the future? If things keep going this way, we will have to visit a museum to...

Thanks Star Tech for the clarification.

Hello Star Tech, I went through industrial arts and technical trades school, and we actually had hands-on lessons back in the 70's and 80's. As the 90's rolled around many of the schools stopped supporting the trades and focused more on "grooming" kids for college or scholastic sports. Now we...

Did you put the shorting bar back in the same way it came out? It could simply be upside down. It is spring steel and flexes with seat pressure when the seat is occupied. With the shorting bar removed it takes the seat safety switch out of the circuit.

This is likely not what you want to hear but it needs to be said. You are exceeding the design limitations of the machine chassis and engine oiling system. Steep angles require equipment designed for the task. Those engines would be equipped with a deeper oil sump and larger oil capacity, so...

Hello Forum, Has our repair industry hit rock bottom? Most of the good independent shops have closed up around my area and the dealers just want to install a new engine instead of repairing one with a blown head gasket. Even worse they often give a customer an insane repair estimate and then...

Keep slinging parts until you run out of ideas, then go by a new machine. That is the plan all manufacturers have anyway.

Heck, they are ramping up to E-15 now. The save the world tree huggers are patiently ramping up the program to do away with (starving out) anything that runs on fossil fuels. Of course, their solution is batteries and that is already shaping up to be a worse environmental disaster in a short...

She got it figured out and that's what counts.

Hello S., Where do you get 100% unleaded? I thought all gas had to be unleaded since the 70's. I think you mean non-Ethanol. Some people call it recreational fuel.

Hello H., If they did not engineer components to fail, we would not have much work at all. Of course, on the other side of the situation is the customer(s) who thinks you are trying to rip them off because a fuel cap seal/ flapper has disintegrated and cluttered up the fuel lines all the way...

The high-pressure pump is likely the issue.

Hello I., Not all O-rings are made from the same material. Generic O-rings can be a luck of the draw because most are produced in mass quantity overseas. I've had trouble with poor quality O-rings and fuel lines that would split. Lately, I just bite the bullet and pay for OE to avoid issues...

These Opposed twin engines were built to specification for many different manufacturer's machines, so the parts are not always the same. That is why you find so many part number variables. You need to look up the parts using the engine product identification plate information located on the top...

Hello S., I mostly use Stanadyne diesel performance additive.

This is always a subject of discussion because people are misled to believe that a filter should appear "full". They do not understand the physics involved with fuels.

A return line filter? That is odd to me. Yes, the return can have air in it because it is returning the fuel that the injectors did not put into the cylinders back to the fuel tank. Never expect a return line to be full of fuel. This machine may take multiple filter changes before the systems...

Hello C., I don't think they make a metal carb for this design.

Jonsered is typically an export but owned by Husqvarna Group in Sweden

We need the product label information to look up exactly what machine you have.

Did you buy this and the seller said it was rebuilt or did you rebuild it?

Sounds like the fuel tank needs to be drained and flushed. Get some diesel fuel conditioner in that fuel tank quick. People that don't use a good fuel additive will have problems. Modern diesel has bio diesel mixed in it (read the pump at the station). And you will not do any better with AG...

Gator blades are more of a constant mulch cut blade so the chute discharge would be lower than standard blades.