doctorzoidberg
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- Joined
- Jun 8, 2016
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Hey everyone!
This is going to be a long post to bear with me!
I have a 1998 Exmark Lazer z with a 52" deck and about 1200 hours on the mower. I picked it up used a few years back from a guy who was a fanatic about maintenance (only used WIX filters, cut service intervals in half, always kept indoors, etc) and it showed when I bought the mower. Up until recently the mower has been working flawlessly but this spring the mower just doesn't cut like it used to and bogs down very easily. If I don't stay on top of mowing (every few days) when I cut the grass I have to go over 2 - 3 passes before the cut looks half decent, which I am cutting with the blade height around 3.5 inches so not super low. The mower used to power through no problem but now bogs very easily to the point where it will almost stall out unless I go at a snails pace ESPECIALLY if I am going up hill. The exhaust from the mower is clear, no white or black smoke at all really.
The mower has a 25 hp Kohler engine and last year I put the Exmark mulching kit on the mower, full baffles with chute block and wavy exmark blades. Even after the mulching kit went on I didn't have issues with the mower bogging down even when mulching some pretty deep leaves (6+ inches) so I don't think that is the problem.
Here is the list of things I have done to the mower based off tons of reading on this and other forums:
1. First thing I did was lift the mower and scrape the underside of the deck completely, took the blades off and gave them a good sharpening, using a bench grinder to get the large dings out and then hand files to finish it and give it a nice sharp edge. This seemed to help a little but problem still exists.
2. Replace the air filter, both inner and outer
3. Replace the fuel filter and the fuel lines since they were deteriorated and cracked when removing the fuel filter.
4. Removed carburetor and gave it a good thorough cleaning
5. Replaced spark plugs
6. Changed oil and oil filter
7. Last year I had to replace the exhaust muffler as it has rusted through, when it did that the exhaust fumes exited right near the choke and throttle cables and melted those a bit. They would stick really badly and needed vice grips to get them to move so I also replaced both of those as well at the same time.
8. Took the valve covers off to check for bent push rods or loose lifters, both seemed fine.
9. Verified both cylinders are working by starting the engine with both running and removing one coil at a time from the spark plug to make sure engine stays running, which it did with both cylinders.
10. Changed hydraulic oil and filter
After all this the mower is still bogging down and I just am not sure what to try next! Anyone have this problem before or have any suggestions as to what might be the problem? Could there be some spindles that are needing to be service/replaced and if so how do you know? When I turn the PTO on there isn't any excessive noise or grinding or anything like that so that doesn't jump out at me as a possible problem. Only other thing I can think of is could the tilt of the deck be causing problems? I know it is supposed to have a slight rake with the front lower then the back but haven't had a chance to double check that yet. The reason I ask that is because in addition to bogging down it doesn't seem to have nearly the same suction as it used to, it is leaving dandelions and other tall weeds unless I hit the spot several times.
Thanks for any advice/suggestions!
This is going to be a long post to bear with me!
I have a 1998 Exmark Lazer z with a 52" deck and about 1200 hours on the mower. I picked it up used a few years back from a guy who was a fanatic about maintenance (only used WIX filters, cut service intervals in half, always kept indoors, etc) and it showed when I bought the mower. Up until recently the mower has been working flawlessly but this spring the mower just doesn't cut like it used to and bogs down very easily. If I don't stay on top of mowing (every few days) when I cut the grass I have to go over 2 - 3 passes before the cut looks half decent, which I am cutting with the blade height around 3.5 inches so not super low. The mower used to power through no problem but now bogs very easily to the point where it will almost stall out unless I go at a snails pace ESPECIALLY if I am going up hill. The exhaust from the mower is clear, no white or black smoke at all really.
The mower has a 25 hp Kohler engine and last year I put the Exmark mulching kit on the mower, full baffles with chute block and wavy exmark blades. Even after the mulching kit went on I didn't have issues with the mower bogging down even when mulching some pretty deep leaves (6+ inches) so I don't think that is the problem.
Here is the list of things I have done to the mower based off tons of reading on this and other forums:
1. First thing I did was lift the mower and scrape the underside of the deck completely, took the blades off and gave them a good sharpening, using a bench grinder to get the large dings out and then hand files to finish it and give it a nice sharp edge. This seemed to help a little but problem still exists.
2. Replace the air filter, both inner and outer
3. Replace the fuel filter and the fuel lines since they were deteriorated and cracked when removing the fuel filter.
4. Removed carburetor and gave it a good thorough cleaning
5. Replaced spark plugs
6. Changed oil and oil filter
7. Last year I had to replace the exhaust muffler as it has rusted through, when it did that the exhaust fumes exited right near the choke and throttle cables and melted those a bit. They would stick really badly and needed vice grips to get them to move so I also replaced both of those as well at the same time.
8. Took the valve covers off to check for bent push rods or loose lifters, both seemed fine.
9. Verified both cylinders are working by starting the engine with both running and removing one coil at a time from the spark plug to make sure engine stays running, which it did with both cylinders.
10. Changed hydraulic oil and filter
After all this the mower is still bogging down and I just am not sure what to try next! Anyone have this problem before or have any suggestions as to what might be the problem? Could there be some spindles that are needing to be service/replaced and if so how do you know? When I turn the PTO on there isn't any excessive noise or grinding or anything like that so that doesn't jump out at me as a possible problem. Only other thing I can think of is could the tilt of the deck be causing problems? I know it is supposed to have a slight rake with the front lower then the back but haven't had a chance to double check that yet. The reason I ask that is because in addition to bogging down it doesn't seem to have nearly the same suction as it used to, it is leaving dandelions and other tall weeds unless I hit the spot several times.
Thanks for any advice/suggestions!