Craftsman 917. 276081 Engine dies under load of mower deck

[ebf]

first start this year and the engine died as soon as I engaged deck. I have changed all 3 blade shaft assemblys and while things work better (as in it does not die right away now) there seems to be a heavy load when the deck is engaged. the idlers rotate freely and I'm stumped.

any help is appreciated.

 

[Duckshot]

Dumb thought but I'm a dumb guy. Maybe it is an engine problem and not a deck problem. Have you checked the air and fuel filters? Same thing happened to me with my old MTD, who knew that after four years it would be a good idea to clean the air filter. I abused that old beast, but I could always get it running. Ex-wife before she was the ex, made me give it away and get a Toro, that was an overpriced piece of crap.

first start this year and the engine died as soon as I engaged deck. I have changed all 3 blade shaft assemblys and while things work better (as in it does not die right away now) there seems to be a heavy load when the deck is engaged. the idlers rotate freely and I'm stumped.

any help is appreciated.

 

[wjjones]

It could be your pto/ ogura clutch going bad. The last time I had this happen I swore the belt was on all of the pulleys but after looking again it was off of one pulley.

 

[ebf]

here is an update, I hope this info helps because I need it.

I decided to rebuild the carb. it runs really great now until the deck is turned on. when the deck is engaged something is telling the engine to add gas as it instantly fouls the plugs. is there something telling the motor to produce more power when the deck is engaged?

any help is appreciated, I will have to turn to a shop soon.

what exactly does an electric clutch do when it is going bad?

thanks

 

[Ifixdit]

here is an update, I hope this info helps because I need it.

I decided to rebuild the carb. it runs really great now until the deck is turned on. when the deck is engaged something is telling the engine to add gas as it instantly fouls the plugs. is there something telling the motor to produce more power when the deck is engaged?

any help is appreciated, I will have to turn to a shop soon.

what exactly does an electric clutch do when it is going bad?

thanks

Disconnect the clutch wire connection and turn the PTO on and check voltage and see if 12volts are coming to the harness. If not, you have an electrical issue before the connection. If you're getting 12 volts there hook the connector back up and turn the PTO on again and see if you are still getting the same voltage. If not, I suspect the PTO is bad. It sounds like the PTO is pulling more voltage than it should and the engine is interpreting that as being under a heavy load thus dumping more fuel into the engine. Keep us posted what you find. Good luck!