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Replaced a drive belt on my mower and now the gas pedal has a lot of play. [Pictures]

I replaced the drive belt on my Troy Bilt LTX 1842 riding mower as the old one was cracked in many places. I tripled checked the replacement part number for the belt and purchased it at Lowes. I took pictures underneath the mower of how the old belt went around the pulleys and also followed in the schematic.

Problem is, the electro-static gas pedal now has a lot of play in it and the new belt has a good amount of slack in it. It'll drive but I have to push the pedal a lot further. I have been reading about other people's similar problems but with different brand mowers and some talk about a spring gone bad on one of the pulleys but I never saw a spring pop off or see one disconnected. Any suggestions? Thank you.

I just noticed that the belt may be looped around the idler pulleys incorrectly. Would that make a difference? The schematic and the diagram on the back of the new belt I purchased show a different direction than how it was originally installed on the mower from the factory. That is the direction I installed the new one as well.

Could that explain the crazy number of cracks on that belt if it was being bent backwards every time it passed around the idler pulleys? The other belts (transmission belt and deck belt) are the original ones and they show no sign of any cracks.

Are you the original owner? Maybe someone had put a slightly shorter belt on in the past and made some adjustments. Maybe the after market belt you purchased is slightly larger than the original oem belt, if it were the original belt your replacing.

Usually new belts makes things tighter because they aren't worn and stretched. I would get the next shorter belt and see what it does before trying to make some adjustments.

I bought it brand new in 2003 from Lowes and this is the 1st belt replacement. I'm pretty sure they don't make a "next smaller size" for this model unless I go with a belt meant for a different mower. I agree if anything, it should have made everything tighter.

Common problem here is part #6, variable speed pulley. Its sticking or binding, does not move up and down freely.
It can be removed,cleaned and give it a light thin coat of lithium grease. If it is not worn to much, it should solve your problem.

Did the trick! Thank you very much. These forums have a lot of great info and am glad I found it. I will continue to stick around.

Rivets said:

Common problem here is part #6, variable speed pulley. Its sticking or binding, does not move up and down freely.
It can be removed,cleaned and give it a light thin coat of lithium grease. If it is not worn to much, it should solve your problem.

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What would the next option be? I've done everything mentioned earlier in this thread (changed lower and upper belts, lubed the variable speed pulley) but my acc. pedal can be completely depressed and the mower will not move-I just get a loud whirring. I've done all kinds of repair and maintenance on my mower but this has kinda stumped me, any suggestions?

Are you sure that both belts are routed correctly and tight? If both belts are tight, are you sure the tranny is shifting from neutral to forward? If the tranny is being turned by the belts and in drive, then you have an internal tranny problem.