Briggs 12.5HP engine problems

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Everyone likes updates right? RIGHT? well here is what happened I think.

The drive belt being too tight on the machine and binding made excessive friction and would not allow the engine to rotate enough to start. Due to my not being aware of this fact it pushed the starter beyond its normal capacity and eventually fried 2x brush wires. It was not apparent at the time as the starter was still engageing…..just not enough to pop the gear out and connect with the flywheel.

Removed the starter and disassembled it to see lots of corrosion and the damaged brushes. I thought about replacing the mech with new but it was a week away and $30 ish bucks so in the meantime thought I'd attempt a fix. Tried my had at solder, I suck and it never held. Second attempt I had some epoxy and used it, making sure to get a good connection between the wire and the brush as this was the main point. After a day of curing I assembled the unit and bench tested to great satisfaction it almost spun off the table.
Installed on tractor and with some starting fluid it banged to life and ran really well once it was going.

Next was the driveability. In forward......nothing...….reverse.....nothing. Remembers that I "changed the oil" in the Hydrostatic system....thought well....maybe air in there......maybe not enough fluid.

Tried both, added about a half liter of fluid to the system and noticed a lot of bubbles and air coming out.....let it sit for a good 10 mins running in neutral until there was a white foamy looking stuff at the top.

Installed everything and not is goes forward well and slowly in reverse......like I can push it faster in reverse not....haha

all in all not a bad project to go from sleeping for a year with water in the carb/gastank and being bashed around in a flood area to driving around my driveway.

thanks again everyone for your help, I learned a lot and am glad I did this learning project. Next up to find a longer drive belt, sharpen the blades and install the deck. :)
 
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now all I need is the proper driver belt for the machine, even though I bought the proper one from the Husqvarna dealer here it is much to tight it appears and jams against the belt keepers on the idler pully part.
 

Scrubcadet10

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What's the model number of the mower?
 

bertsmobile1

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You bleed the air out of a hydro by jacking the back of the mower so both wheels are off the ground
Then you run the engine as SLOW as possible to avoid frothing the oil ( white foam )
With the bypass valve open you run forward then reverse quickly changing for about 10 minutes.
Then close the bypass and do the same .
It can take a very long time to get all of the air out.
As the oil level drops you keep topping it up.
Hydros are he only thing where I measure the lubricant to the specified amount and keep working the pedals till all of it goes in .
 
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Model number is LTH125
I went to the Husqvarna dealer, asked for a belt and they gave me the one that matched the parts list.....it runs and drives now but I had to take the idler pully off as the belt was way to tight to run with it on.....even with it not on there I cannot remove the belt easily and the clutch brake doesn't work at all and only way to slow the mower is by the main drive by sliding the handle into neutral.

belt that it says it needs 532140294, which seems to be 82.5" and I have read somewhere that the belt needed is closer to 84-85" but cannot confirm. Tractor is OEM pulleys/etc so no changes there etc.

Weird one.
 
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when I look at my manual I have listed 532141416 drive belt which seems to be a 83 3/4" belt?

Ideas of "which" belt is correct for this mower so I can finish this off.....
 
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