I'm working on a Craftsman YS4500 model# 917.276680 42" cut riding mower. My friend brought it to me with it not wanting to pull up a small incline. So I replaced the drive belt; still won't pull. Then I replaced both V pulley's and the idler pulley and the idler return spring; still won't pull. I then exchanged the aftermarket drive belt with an original Craftsman 140218 drive belt; still won't pull. After I finally installed all these different parts I was test driving it on an incline and I reached down and pulled the brake pedal to me very so slightly and it would climb a telephone pole. PLEASE someone tell me what my problem is. Oh so many Thanks to anyone who may reply.
The tension on the belt , thus the ability of the belt to turn the pulleys comes from a big spring under the deck.
There is a smaller spring that returns the pedal.
The big spring cuts grooves in the mounting bolts / holes and can rip out & fall off or just cut right through and fall off.
The hole that the tension arm rotates in flogs oval so full tension can not get applied to the belt.
bertsmobile1; I replaced the idler return spring that attaches to the side of the mower frame. Is this the spring your talking about? Where is the smaller spring that returns the pedal? Is it the one on the end of the brake rod back by the transaxle? Thanks
#4
mhavanti
Another thing to consider are the engine drive pulley, variable rate pulley are both warn enough the belts are bottoming out in the pulley thus you have to pull back on the brake pedal to exert more pressure on the belt.
Using the diagram above, you replaced spring # 161
So either you have put it in the wrong place
The spring is too long
The belt is too long
The pulleys were too small
Plate # 186 is worn or the spacers are in the wrong place & are pinching it.
bertsmobile1;I replaced #161 spring and it was approximately 3/8" shorter than the old one I took off so that ought to give more tension on the belt correct? I put all new pulley's and idler pulley according to the diagram. The belt was also per item # in diagram. I put the spring in the exact place I took the old one off from. Reckon it could be the transaxle pulley or the pulley on the engine like mhavanti suggested? Thanks anyone helping me out.
The new drive belt is like 1/2" x 84.50. If the trans pulley or the engine pulley is worn; could I use a shorter drive belt so maybe it would get a better fit in the pulley's?
If you can pull the brake pedal back towards you something is stopping the clutch fully releasing.
The nett effect is like driving a manual with you foot resting heavily on the clutch pedal.
So get it up in the air & get under the mower while some one works the clutch brake pedal including pulling it back up.
Could be the PO had put the spring in the wrong hole in the frame or one of the bolts holding the idlers in is sitting proud & fouling on the frame.
Also check right back at the brake section as it can hang there as well.
The tension on that spring is the only thing that drives the mower.
If you had both the float & V idlers off at the same time double check you have put them on in the right place.
It is easy to invert them, you would not be the first, nor the last to do it. :ashamed::ashamed:
AFAIK there is none.
The mower was made by AYP ( Husqvarna ) and they do not print service manuals either.
If there was one we would have directed you to it from the get go.
The owners handbook + parts list is the best you will do.
Even then, since the take over parts books are no longer downloadable for most models just the individual sections that can be printed off the Sears web site.
As it was not working when you got no reason to believe that the spring was in the correct place to start with.
These things are fairly simple and some thing as silly as having the spring too far back so the angles are wrong can cause your problems.
If the drive pulley or driven pulley was worn out then pulling back on the brake pedal would make no difference, the belt would still slip because it is trying to drive on the inside face and not the V's.
If the mower is up high enough take some photo of the tensioning arm, brake on, brake off & brake pedal pulled back and post them.
Also never trust any part.
Did you measure the new belt against the old one ?
V belts do not stretch ( much) they wear thin so go loose.
bertsmobile1; I'll take some pictures when I take it back apart and upload them. It seems like the idler bracket with the pulley's on it is as far as it will go thus still leaving a slightly loose belt. The belt is part# 140218; the correct one required for this mower. Would using say an inch shorter belt help any?
That belt codes out as an A 84.25 so a plain Kevlar wrapped A 84 would be a 1/4" shorter ( and a lot cheaper ) but that is putting a band aid on a broken leg.
However measuring it would not hurt Occasionally a belt is the wrong size in the right sleeve.
While you have the camera out take a shot of the tranny pulley & the engine pulley, Max may have been right but generally you should not be able to pull the lever up easily.
If the bottom of a pulley has a polished look at the very bottom then it has worn beyond it's useful limit.
he belt will also tell you this because it will be worn & generally burned on the inside surface which should never come into contact with anything.
The front sack pulley is a touch on the golden side.
When on site , I use the pull on the brake trick to determine if the belt is gone or the pulley is gone.
Pulling up works = belt
makes no difference = pulley.
Thanks guy's for your input. I got the mower where it pulls now. The oem belt was a 84.50 and I put a 83.75 belt on it and now it pulls fine. Evidently the trans pulley or the engine pulley or both is worn. The trans pulley shows more wear than the engine pulley but without changing the pulley's out I went with a shorter belt for now and it seems to have fixed it. Again Thanks for your replies.
