Hello! I am having problems with my mower idling at too low of a speed to engage the PTO to cut the grass. A few months ago, before everything started turning green, I foolishly chose to mow a patch of grass that was extremely dry. It was a windy day also. Some of the grass built up on the back and caught fire. I noticed the mower was barely going, so that's when I jumped off and saw the fire. Visually, all I can tell that happened is that the insulation burned off of one of the ground wires. Also, the valve cover on the left was leaking oil. This is the second time I've had an issue with the oil leak. I took off the cover, cleaned all of the gasket sealer off, reapplied gasket sealer and screwed it back on. As far as the oil leak, I believe one of two things happened: Either the fire heated the sealant and caused the leak (doubtful, since it's rated to 650 degrees and the fire was very short lived), or I didn't apply enough the first time and the leak started again without me noticing. Whenever I took the valve cover off this time, I noticed the screws were not anywhere near as tight as I would have made them. Regardless, I still had to pry the cover off when I got the screws out. I am going to thoroughly clean and de-grease the mower. I'm going to reapply the gasket sealer and use thread locker this time. I'm going to change the oil and fix the ground wire that had the insulation burned off. I am hoping this fixes the problem. Everything I know how to do I know from watching you tube videos, but I'd call myself a quick learner. If anybody has any suggestions, I'm willing to listen. I've checked the throttle cable and the choke and both are still connected and functional. My uncle who has worked on small engines for 30+ years thinks the throttle cable needs to be adjusted, but I don't know how it could have moved to the throttle down position. I am working on it now, doing what I know to do. Any help would be appreciated.
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Ariens Max Zoom 60 PTO problems/low idle
- Thread starter Hawk007
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Export threadbertsmobile1
Lawn Royalty
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- Nov 29, 2014
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It would help a lot to know what engine you have & even more which carb is fitted to it .
Fire related a couple of things come to mind
1) throttle cable cover got soft and the cable slipped under the clamp
2) plastic throttle connection to the governor rod got soft & the hole elongated
Fire related a couple of things come to mind
1) throttle cable cover got soft and the cable slipped under the clamp
2) plastic throttle connection to the governor rod got soft & the hole elongated
It has the Kohler 25 HP engine. The mower part number is 991087. I'm not sure how to tell which carb is fitted to it. So far I have just replaced the valve cover with new sealant and replaced the ground wire that had the melted insulation. I've got the manual and the schematics and am working my way through everything, cleaning it and making sure everything is as it should be. The sealant will be cured tomorrow and I will add oil and see if anything has changed. I will check both things you listed tomorrow.