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If the mower won’t go up a hill and is making a grinding noise, it is doubtful changing the oil will help with transaxle.

Charge the battery to 12.75 volts, then check to see if it is charging. System will not charge a flat uncharged battery.

Yes OEM carburetors are better and the way to go. That said, is the OEM carburetor worth 16 times more? Two or three times more for OEM vs aftermarket is not unusual, but 16 times more! Ridiculous.

Kohler Command has hydraulic lifters so no setting the valve clearance. Remove carburetor and thoroughly clean and replace and see how it runs. White plugs indicate you are running lean on fuel.

Remove mulch plug and put an exit chute on, problem solved. Mulching doesn’t work well on a riding mower or zero turn anyway.

Make sure you have fresh pre-mix fuel, not stuff that has been sitting in the garage for a while. Try adjusting the carburetor and if no change, need to remove carburetor and clean. Otherwise, try to find a shop that will work on a Homelite. The downside is the labor cost on an old Homelite may...

The Kohler Courage is a dog of an engine. The carburetor mounting bolt design is yet one more thing that is poorly thought out. I remember the first few times having the bolts not being right when working on the carburetor on this engine. The Courage is the only model for Kohler that stinks...

Also a leak down test. If unable then take it to a shop.

15%-20% is still slim wholesale margins typically. 5%-8% is giving it away. I have been wondering about gross profit margins on outdoor power equipment for a while now. Any other input from others would be much appreciated. If a dealer is only making 5%-8% on equipment, the parts and service...

How do you continue to try different transaxles four different times. Install first transaxle, it moves a foot and stops, then you start looking at the belt, pulleys, etc. and see what the issue is.

You need an accurate tachometer to set and check RPMs. I use a digital tachometer and typically set low idle to 1850 RPM. 3600 RPM is maximum on a small engine and it doesn’t have to be that fast.

You have your answer then. Everything on the deck has to be dead on and line up correctly.

Finding a good used transaxle is difficult at best. You are looking at $800-$1200 plus labor. Is the mower even worth that, is the question you need to ask.

.010” to .013”.

Check out EBay for used mower decks. Shipping will add up.

It seems very likely that OEM carburetor is dirty, and that the aftermarket carburetor is not dead on with air/fuel mixture, so not running properly.

Just diagnosed a Kawasaki FR691V with a blown head gasket. It is very unusual for Kawasaki to blow a head gasket, usually it is a single cylinder Briggs and Stratton. Have you guys seen Kawasaki engines blow a head gasket? Are all Kawasaki head gaskets metal?

I enjoy both the summer and Winter Olympics. I like sports in general from MMA fighting to college football.

Let me spell it out in simple language. Either your carburetor is dirty and needs attention, or much less likely, you have an air leak. Try to open yourself up to people that have years of experience and are trying to help you. When I get phone calls from new customers, I have noticed that it...

The Bad Boy representative is making some rather broad across the board statements. So before 2018 small engines were doing just fine, then after 2018 everything suddenly went downhill? Ask him about Bad Boy zero turn mowers reputation and quality 15 years ago. Bad Boy used to be a POS and is...

Buy an aftermarket hour meter online, hook it up to battery to correspond with current number of hours on machine, and install. It is a big box store John Deere. I doubt the hour meter will be your only issue.

Why do you keep throwing brand new PTO clutches at it if they fry after an hour of use? Stop, break out the multimeter and start doing some checking, or take it to a good repair shop and have them fix it.

If Seafoam were that good, why am I wasting my time cleaning all these hundreds of carburetors over the years and having the engines run great afterwards? Before I started running a small engine shop, I thought Seafoam was the bomb too.

Seafoam makes people feel better, like they did something, the majority of the time. However, usually is not the solution or even marginally helpful. It is always better to keep OEM carburetor and clean first before buying an aftermarket carburetor. That said, I have had great results with most...

Also from what I understand, the key pads have been improved from the earlier ones that would sometimes crap out. The last one I just worked on, the keypad was fine, it was the $400 wiring harness that was the issue. The local Spartan dealer ended up diagnosing and repairing the problem. In my...

From what I understand, after 2018, the keypads come with a three year warranty. A lifetime warranty would mean lots of “free” $275 keypads.

Thanks for update. One of the first things I check for fuel related issues is the anti-afterfire solenoid on carburetor by sounds and feel. Pretty common problem.

Thanks for being upbeat and positive as always. I did not look up the K66 on the drain plug, however was aware some units have plugs. Not wanting to work on hydro transaxles does not make a shop owner/operator lazy, it shows how years of working alone makes a smart person more selective on...

That is incredible that .2” made the difference between the belt working or not working.

There are several brands of blade sharpening jigs on market. A simple Google search will reveal this. For that matter, a simple Google search will reveal many of the redundant, easily found questions that are asked repeatedly on this site. Have a good day. 😃

The Tuff Torq K66 is a much better transaxle than say the K46. A hundred dollars an hour for shop labor is average in many cases. You are paying experience, overhead, tools, etc. That is book time not actual work time. Sometimes on transaxles you can only siphon out some of the oil and not...

Both these models of John Deere are light duty, nothing special zero turn mowers. If not abused and the transaxles have the ability to drain oil and filter, these hydros will last for hundreds and hundreds of hours. The Z345m is obviously the better of the two. No John Deere fan at all...

Nikki carburetors are my least favorite to work on of all the brands, let’s put it that way.

If you spray carburetor spray into carb, and it starts briefly and dies, most likely a fuel related issue. Possible causes: Gas cap not venting properly Fuel pump Fuel lines clogged Vapor lock Anti-afterfire solenoid on carb Water in fuel Dirty carburetor And more… So you see it is difficult to...

Almost without exception, all shops only remove and replace hydro transaxles, no repairs. I have yet to see a customer that was willing to spend upwards of $1500 for the replacement parts and labor. At that point, spending $1500 on a mower worth less than half that, is ridiculous.

Cameras really help. So does a gate. Never had any really crazy stuff happen, physical altercations, etc. I have fired 5 customers so far this year, which is unusually high. Too much good business out there to be putting up with total nonsense.

The Tuff Torq K46 is nothing to write home about, but in reality, see very few problems overall. They are not made to tow or for hills, this is where some people go wrong. Rarely, thy take a crap after say 20 plus years , and it is the end of the line.

Thank you for clarification on time of TOTAL job. Star Tech was telling a short story about how difficult some of these “quick and easy” jobs can be. That was the point.

Go online and search “mower lifts.” Glad you got the issue resolved. The last mower you want is a Country Clipper.

I have never met one person that regretted going to a zero turn over a steering wheel riding mower.

First check engine mounting bolts to be sure they are tight.

Forward motion worsened after replacing the drive belt. Is the drive belt the correct size? Is it installed correctly? As stated before, is the tensioner pulley binding? Is the spring in the correct position? Do you have good belt tension?

We can’t all be as good as you apparently.

Because very few people actually register for a warranty. Because outdoor power equipment batteries don’t always last past three years or so, fact. Because the batteries by themselves are very expensive.

Take a grinder and slightly take a little metal off of the end of the blade, but not too much so it rooster tails the grass.

The Kohler 7000 series is the updated version of the Courage. In other words, Kohler fixed all the issues. I have never seen a Kohler 7000 with any issues. Biggest problem was a new set of ignition coils.

If you can do all that in only an hour, I will send all my customers with this issue to you. One thing that has always bothered me in life, is when people say, “it will only take ten minutes.” When in reality, we all know it will take more like an hour, for example.

Notice kj4ltc said coils, plural. Always best to replace coils in pairs, just like shock absorbers. The coil is mounted to the engine so it is grounded. It has to be a break in the kill wire from coil that won’t shut off to ignition switch. Inspect wire and test and replace as necessary.

I get several mowers a year with missing and loose engine mounting bolts. The Kohler Courage engine is also notorious with assisting in loosening the engine mounting bolts because it is not as balanced as it should be. Turn the engine off at wide open throttle and listen versus turning it off...

I am always learning, everyday. I also make mistakes. I also know how to apologize. I also know how to treat people and talk to people with dignity and respect.