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The odds that you installed a defective part right out of the box or made a mistake are much greater than the magnets on flywheel losing strength.

Glowing muffler means you are running super lean (not getting enough fuel). Do NOT run your machine like this until you figure out the problem. Same advice on this one. Thoroughly clean OEM carburetor and replace. Check all intake gaskets for air leaks. Go from there.

Carburetor cleaner is the best “starting fluid.” Better on the engine and if it doesn’t start after a 2 second burst, you have other problems than fuel related.

You tore into this engine and did not need to. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Read details from other posts for help.

Don’t throw any more parts at it (two ignition coils so far). You can buy a good used push mower for around $100 if all else fails…

Grease it until it comes out the seal.

I have one neighbor that mows with a POS Ryobi battery zero turn. He mows too short, leaves lots of thatch on top of lawn, and never changes direction. But then again, this describes lots of people. Anyway, I will stick with fuel until the bitter end.

For most people, a straight shaft trimmer is the only way to go. A shoulder harness also slows most people down and is restrictive. Your individual needs may be different. Echo equipment has always been very easy to start in my experience and makes great equipment.

1400 hours is a lot of hours. Probably a Kohler Command, which is a great engine. Buying a $3000 engine and putting it into a zero turn that might be worth $3000 is a personal choice. Hydro pumps and motors whining is not good. Are the hydros responsive? How loud are they when whining? Does it...

The FIRST item you always check with electrical issues is the battery. Charge and load test the battery and clean all terminals and make sure connections are tight. Then proceed to regulator/rectifier installation. Also the stator could be bad. Both these parts need to be tested before replacing.

Completely drain/siphon fuel tank and blow out if possible. Clean OEM carburetor and reinstall. Also check the items listed by sgkent.

Very slim chance the hunting and surging is the governor needing to be adjusted. As stated previously, probably dirty carburetor or water in fuel.

$22 bucks for a set. Funny thing is you can buy a new set of drive wheels for most mowers for about the same cost. Nice try Peter.

Hunting and surging is not a “feature.” It is a dirty carburetor, intake leak, or a tiny bit of water in fuel, or all the above. Take it back to the dealer. If it was from a big box store, take it to a shop and pay out of pocket.

So if you have an older (20 year plus) rider with all the safeties bypassed, do you rewire it so the safeties are operational before returning it to customer? Do you call them before doing this so customer knows cost involved? I understand all about liability. I see safeties bypassed sometimes...

How much does a good, reliable robot mower (including setup costs) cost that will effectively mow 3 acres?

On fescue, right at 4” is the correct height. Remember, many people mow grass way too low. Cutting too low stresses the grass, promotes weed growth, and causes burnout during periods lacking rain.

Good catch. I think he is trying to wow us with his knowledge.

Actual diagnosis versus throwing parts at it.

The opposite is also true: Not every dealer is crooked. Additionally, if a person doesn’t know what they are doing when attempting to fix something, they can make it worse.

Why would you buy a cheap, 19 year old riding mower if you are doing lawn care for a living? You should have two zero turns at a minimum and that is all you need. Deck hangers, etc. have a lot of slop and will require replacing parts if you want it right. I would level the deck and don’t worry...

Why would you do a partial rebuild on a 40 year old 3 horsepower engine? It ain’t worth anything really.

Yep, this is the turd trimmer I was talking about. It uses the heavy trimmer line you have to stop and replace manually when it wears down.

I told you to do this, and then you contacted John Deere, and they told you to do this. 1/2 turn on bypass hydro release is not enough. Turn it a few full turns until bypass is open. Move steering arms forward and backward at idle 15 times, repeat at mid throttle, repeat at wide open throttle...

The dealer put very little effort into looking at your equipment. The $115 was their diagnostic fee. I am sure you will remember your experience with them in the future for other repairs.

These wheeled trimmers are horrible. Under powered, cumbersome, slow productivity, cannot adjust cut height. A good handheld trimmer will run circles around these turds.

If you replaced the OEM carburetor, correctly clean the OEM carburetor and reinstall.

All small engines start differently regarding choke or not. Even a minuscule amount of water will mess up most small engines. Don’t know why your hour meter is flashing 8s. Sounds like you need to take the time, and correctly level the deck.

Since I didn’t go in deeper to inspect the camshaft for worn lobes, this makes sense to me. Sounds like it rarely happens, but it does. Happy 4th of July to all!

Yeah, a “Donelson” air filter system is much improved over the subpar original air filter system.

I have never seen, verified, and replaced a cam that had intake and exhaust lobes that were so badly worn they were affecting the engine enough that cam needed to be replaced. How often does this happen? Apparently less than the compression release mechanism breaking on the camshaft.

How did you test the PTO clutch? Make sure your battery is charged and strong and has been load tested. First item you check besides the PTO switch on a PTO issue is the battery. Happy 4th of July everyone!

You are experiencing voltage drop. Check with multi-meter when cranking engine. Need to clean and check grounds, clean and check all red power wires.

Dual pump and two wheel motors for hydro means there is no “working it back and forth”. There is a bolt on pump that is the bypass. You open that in order to push or pull the mower when servicing and repairing it. Close it fully to operate it. There is an off chance that the o-ring(s) got...

I quart of oil per transaxle sounds rather low to me, in general.

Walker zero turn cut quality is excellent. Just not a popular zero turn in this area. If your Kohler 7000 was that new, why not take it to dealer for warranty on choke system? Yes, this particular choke system is over designed and can be a pain. I have had probably three that I could not fix...

How many times have you leveled the deck on this mower since 2018? Why would you need to level the deck again? Did you hit something, are the tires aired up to correct pressure, are you leveling the deck on flat concrete?

Caffeine (coffee) first thing in the morning and that’s it for me for the day. I use readers throughout the day. When you lose your sense of humor, it ain’t no fun anymore! Happy 4th of July to all. 250 years of independence. God bless America!

Has a bypass rod on the transaxle. It is either in or out, engaged or not engaged. Try working it back and forth and going through the purging process for air in the system.

Yep, intake.

Personal experience has taught me that changing transaxles on riding mowers need to have the right one swap, or you are going to have problems. Modifications turn into nightmares that don’t always work also.

Original poster said carb, not crab.

I looked up a John Deere Z425 and it has a Kansaki DUP-10 hydrostatic transmission. Which sounds like it has bypass rods and not bypass valves. Bypass rods=hydro transaxle and bypass valve=separate hydro pump and pump motor with hydro lines. So the question is, which is it?

I have peened the valve seats on a couple of different engines and never had a comeback. If done correctly I believe it works long term. Briggs even lists it as a legitimate repair in service manual.

Short block is worth it if the remainder of engine is in good shape and not all scored up.

The time line of ethanol breaking down fuel lines, metering diaphragms, o-rings, etc. is a question that I have never gotten answered, from anyone. Reason being is because nobody really knows, and because I don’t think ethanol fuel does as much damage as many people hype it. Not everything is...

Perform compression test with proper gauge. Remove valve cover and inspect. Try spraying carburetor spray into throat of carburetor and see if it runs for a few seconds.

I have a Tanaka trimmer a customer gave to me. Made in Japan, discontinued brand, great little machine!

The local Honda guy is a putz. If an authorized dealer won’t give it a go, that ain’t good. He should know that equipment backwards and forwards. Since it is already broken, you can’t break it now. Dive in deeper if you have the time and inclination.

The Tuff Torq K46 is the most common, by far, transaxle in riding mowers. On flat ground, and not abused, it will hold up fine. Do not pull anything heavier than about 200 pounds, and do not pull it all the time. A slight slope is fine but will not hold up on hills over time.