Wildcat Drive Belt Transmission Belt Install

[ottoslanding]

:newhere:

Hello to all. Just joined the forum and had a question I couldn't seem to find in the search.



I purchased my 2010 Wildcat STWC-26KA-LC in oct 2012 so have had it just under a year. It had 278 hours when I bought it and it now has 294 hours. I'm a homeowner and it just mows my lawn. I changed all the fluids and filters and did all the greasing and sharpened the blades over the winter and it runs great and cuts great.

:thumbsup:

Yesterday it just stopped moving. Running fine and blades working but the drive was dead. Transmission belt broke.

:thumbdown:

A new belt is on order via Ebay ( Stens $22.47) but I have been trying to find some tips/pointers on replacing the belt.


Anyone have any tips? I'm guessing one of the pulleys is a tensioner and in it lies the key.

I do have two auto floor jacks and chocks if needed.

Also, what can the old belt tell me? It looks pretty worn--could it be original(294 hours)? Burnishing on the cog side. The belt has several cracks across the belt that reach over halfway across the belt and it was clearly due to fail. The cracks ALL start on the same side of the belt

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

:cool2:


Also, is there a sticky notes page of threads with commonly asked maintenance issues?


Thanks again!

:wink:

 

[Mad Mackie]

You can get operators and parts manuals on the Scag website, you will need the model and serial numbers from your machine to get the correct manuals.
I would be concerned as to why the pump drive belt failed. Pump drive belt recommended replacement is 400 hours.
I use a long 1/2" drive extension and breaker bar to move the tensioners as they have a square slot in them for this purpose. Look over the parts manual for the deck drive belt and the pump drive belt. You will need to relieve the deck drive belt tension and remove it from the clutch pulley as the pump drive belt is installed above it. Check all the pulleys both deck drive and pump drive while you have the belts loose.
Having another person moving the tension lever tool makes belt installation much easier.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

 

[ottoslanding]

You can get operators and parts manuals on the Scag website, you will need the model and serial numbers from your machine to get the correct manuals.
I would be concerned as to why the pump drive belt failed. Pump drive belt recommended replacement is 400 hours.
I use a long 1/2" drive extension and breaker bar to move the tensioners as they have a square slot in them for this purpose. Look over the parts manual for the deck drive belt and the pump drive belt. You will need to relieve the deck drive belt tension and remove it from the clutch pulley as the pump drive belt is installed above it. Check all the pulleys both deck drive and pump drive while you have the belts loose.
Having another person moving the tension lever tool makes belt installation much easier.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

:thumbsup:

Thanks for the info. I spent some time with the manual and the parts schematic and I see the issue with having to remove the deck drive belt from the engine pulley in order to get the transmission pulley installed above it. I also found the breaker slots for the tensioner assemblies. Good point on the helper. Not sure how else to do it with just one set of hands. Is it possible?

I agree with you on wondering why the belt failed. This belt is talking to me and trying to tell me what the problem is. :confused2:

The belt has splits all along it's length. When I stretch the broken belt out it has a sideway curve in it and there are 20 splits on the outside of the curve. One small split on the inside of the curve. Not tracking true and straight on the pulleys?

I just eyeballed the 5 pulleys(engine, 2 idlers, 2 hydraulic pumps) and was looking at the clean wear areas on the idler pulleys. The idler pulley surface is more than twice as wide as the belt and the clean/wear area on the two idler pulleys don't match up. The flat side of the belt rides on the idler pulleys and the wear area is high on one pulley and low on the other. Installation error or would the belt naturally track to true? The engine and pump pulleys eyeball to be even. The idler pulleys look ok other than the wear pattern not being aligned.

Any ideas on whether this is normal and if not, how to correct it? Proper install and then checking with the engine running after install?

Btw, I was blessed when this thing stopped driving as it happened about 20 feet from my garage. Opened the pump valves and free wheeled it into the garage. 10 lb-ft for securing the dump valves doesn't seem like much but that is what the manual calls for. Also, dealing with these belts seems to be easier with the deck height pin removed and the deck lowered to it's lowest position.

:banana:

 

[Mad Mackie]

I use a 12" long 1/2" drive extension with a breaker bar. I have been able to do this by myself one time and needed assistance after I repowered my Scag Tiger Cub which is similar to your Wildcat.
Spin the pulleys by hand to check for roughness and wobble. At 400 hundred hours on my machine I replaced the smaller pulley, the one on the tensioner, as it was noisy and wobbled too much when I checked it. I would also check the tensioner for up and down movement. There are two bearings in the pivot point of the tensioner and excessive up and down movement can cause belt problems. A weak tensioner spring will let the belt whip and slip while the machine is moving. Check all V pulleys to include the clutch for damage as a small gouge that goes into the V belt as it travels over the pulley will cause premature V belt failure. This can also happen with the flat pulleys as well if the guide edge has damage. It is normal to see the flat pulleys have different wear pattern areas as long as the patterns are not extremely offset from each other. Check the flat pulley mount bolts for tightness, doing this may need another person to assist.
I replaced the mount bolt in the larger diameter flat pulley with a slightly longer one. I noticed that the nut didn't have a flat washer under it and the nut showed signs of movement. The longer bolt allowed me to install a thick flat washer under the nut and gave the nut more thread engagement passed the nut. The bigger diameter flat pulley is there to increase the belt wrap around the right side pump pulley and to reduce belt whip as this is the pulling side of the belt travel by the engine.
Always check belts before during and after a test run.
When dropping the deck for belt maintenance, move the adjustment pin to the lowest setting and drop the deck to it. With the pin removed, the deck can drop down too much and on some machines damage the height adjustment mechanism.
On another note, make sure to keep the radiator clean on your LC engine.
Also, on the hydraulic system, when the filter is removed, the reservoir will also drain out thru the filter adapter so be ready for 3 quarts of oil along with the filter.
Mad Mackie in CT

 

[ottoslanding]

I use a 12" long 1/2" drive extension with a breaker bar. I have been able to do this by myself one time and needed assistance after I repowered my Scag Tiger Cub which is similar to your Wildcat.
Spin the pulleys by hand to check for roughness and wobble. At 400 hundred hours on my machine I replaced the smaller pulley, the one on the tensioner, as it was noisy and wobbled too much when I checked it. I would also check the tensioner for up and down movement. There are two bearings in the pivot point of the tensioner and excessive up and down movement can cause belt problems. A weak tensioner spring will let the belt whip and slip while the machine is moving. Check all V pulleys to include the clutch for damage as a small gouge that goes into the V belt as it travels over the pulley will cause premature V belt failure. This can also happen with the flat pulleys as well if the guide edge has damage. It is normal to see the flat pulleys have different wear pattern areas as long as the patterns are not extremely offset from each other. Check the flat pulley mount bolts for tightness, doing this may need another person to assist.
I replaced the mount bolt in the larger diameter flat pulley with a slightly longer one. I noticed that the nut didn't have a flat washer under it and the nut showed signs of movement. The longer bolt allowed me to install a thick flat washer under the nut and gave the nut more thread engagement passed the nut. The bigger diameter flat pulley is there to increase the belt wrap around the right side pump pulley and to reduce belt whip as this is the pulling side of the belt travel by the engine.
Always check belts before during and after a test run.
When dropping the deck for belt maintenance, move the adjustment pin to the lowest setting and drop the deck to it. With the pin removed, the deck can drop down too much and on some machines damage the height adjustment mechanism.
On another note, make sure to keep the radiator clean on your LC engine.
Also, on the hydraulic system, when the filter is removed, the reservoir will also drain out thru the filter adapter so be ready for 3 quarts of oil along with the filter.
Mad Mackie in CT

I don't feel any nicks in any of the pulleys. The smaller idler pulley on the tensioner has a small bit of wobble. My best guess is between 1/16" and 1/32" of wobble and the play is in the bearing that the pulley rides on. The tensioner arm seems pretty solid. The nut on the pulley is tight. The big idler pulley has no wobble.

The wear pattern on my idlers is the small tensioner one is on the bottom of the pulley and the larger idler has the wear on the top of the pulley. The engine and pump pulleys seem to line up closer to the top of the idler pulleys so that small tensioner pulley may be the issue. Are these pulley parts available somewhere besides the dealer?

I put the deck on the lowest setting.

We had more rain than usual this summer so the july and aug mowing has been unusual. It appears I will probably put less than 25 hours a year on this machine. I went through the whole thing last winter for the initial so I had a good starting point and looks like I'll just do it once a year in the winter season. All the fluids and all the grease.

When finished mowing I use the leaf blower on the entire machine including the shroud over the radiator. Should I being doing something else to keep the radiator clean?

Thanks for all the help.

:smile:

 

[Mad Mackie]

The smaller flat pulley turns twice as fast as the larger one. I suggest that you remove the spring from the tensioner and check it for up and down movement. I use an old automotive drum brake tool to do this, you may not have this tool. As for aftermarket pulleys, you may find them in the correct size but you will need to measure yours. There are bushings installed into the bearings of these pulleys that may not be available in aftermarket pulleys. You can remove these bushings and reinstall them into an aftermarket pulley providing the bearing ID is the same. Removing and reinstalling these bushings incorrectly can damage the ball bearing particularly if they are a tight fit. The Scag pulley will have these bushings already installed. I may still have the old pulley that I replaced, I'll go and look for it. Another problem with aftermarket pulleys is the quality of the installed bearing, lots of poor quality Chinese, Russian, and others found in some pulleys.
I also use my back pack blower to clean my machines after use. The LC Kawi engines have a higher than normal repair rate due to overheating. All the cooling air gets drawn into the top of the engine thru the radiator and then around the engine itself and then overboard. This air contains a lot of small dirt particles that can collect in the radiator fins and in the fan on the top of the flywheel. when I have an LC engine come in for service I blow thru the radiator with HP air to clean up this area and make sure it is clean. LC engines have more steps in the engine cooling process than air cooled engines. The incoming cool air must flow sufficiently thru the radiator to remove excess heat from the coolant which must be circulated by a pump both thru the radiator and the engine. Because these engines are made of aluminum, a special anti-freeze and demineralized water must be used in the cooling system. Liquid coolant boils at a higher temperature when under pressure and when mixed with the correct anti-freeze/water ratio. The system pressure cap is another item of importance in an LC engine. The up side of an LC engine is that the operating temperature is more stable than an air cooled engine and should last longer.
Mad Mackie in CT

 

[ottoslanding]

The smaller flat pulley turns twice as fast as the larger one. I suggest that you remove the spring from the tensioner and check it for up and down movement. I use an old automotive drum brake tool to do this, you may not have this tool. As for aftermarket pulleys, you may find them in the correct size but you will need to measure yours. There are bushings installed into the bearings of these pulleys that may not be available in aftermarket pulleys. You can remove these bushings and reinstall them into an aftermarket pulley providing the bearing ID is the same. Removing and reinstalling these bushings incorrectly can damage the ball bearing particularly if they are a tight fit. The Scag pulley will have these bushings already installed. I may still have the old pulley that I replaced, I'll go and look for it. Another problem with aftermarket pulleys is the quality of the installed bearing, lots of poor quality Chinese, Russian, and others found in some pulleys.
I also use my back pack blower to clean my machines after use. The LC Kawi engines have a higher than normal repair rate due to overheating. All the cooling air gets drawn into the top of the engine thru the radiator and then around the engine itself and then overboard. This air contains a lot of small dirt particles that can collect in the radiator fins and in the fan on the top of the flywheel. when I have an LC engine come in for service I blow thru the radiator with HP air to clean up this area and make sure it is clean. LC engines have more steps in the engine cooling process than air cooled engines. The incoming cool air must flow sufficiently thru the radiator to remove excess heat from the coolant which must be circulated by a pump both thru the radiator and the engine. Because these engines are made of aluminum, a special anti-freeze and demineralized water must be used in the cooling system. Liquid coolant boils at a higher temperature when under pressure and when mixed with the correct anti-freeze/water ratio. The system pressure cap is another item of importance in an LC engine. The up side of an LC engine is that the operating temperature is more stable than an air cooled engine and should last longer.
Mad Mackie in CT

Good idea about pulling the spring on the tensioner and then checking for play in the tensioner arm. By drum brake tool are you talking about the tool used to adjust the star for the pad pressure?

I'm hoping I can get the pulley off with no major problems. Just loosen the hex bolt on the bottom of the pulley and it drops off? Maybe some PB Blaster first?

I ordered a new OEM tensioner pulley from ebay and it is on the way along with the stens belt.

I've been trying to come up with a way to do a belt change by myself. I'm thinking securing the belt in place with painters tape and then appltying the tensioner pulley to the belt. I'll let ya know if I manage to come up with anything that works safely.

Good info on the cooling system. I will need to go back in the manual and confirm but I am nearly positive it calls for old fashion green coolant mixed 50/50 with distilled water. I could not figure out via the manual how to flush and fill the coolant system so spent some time trying to find the water jacket and was able to locate a bolt near the bottom of the engine that I was pretty sure had to be in the water jacket. Voila! It drained perfectly.

I need to inspect closer and probably clean underneath the radiator. I've never checked that area.

Thanks again for all the help!

:wink:

 

[Mad Mackie]

Just looked at my spare drive belt pulleys and they both have Chinese bearings!!!! They are Scag dealer parts.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

 

[ottoslanding]

Just looked at my spare drive belt pulleys and they both have Chinese bearings!!!! They are Scag dealer parts.
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

How can you tell the bearings are chinese?




My OEM pulley is supposed to be delivered today and I'll check mine.

:cool2:

 

[Carscw]

How can you tell the bearings are chinese?



My OEM pulley is supposed to be delivered today and I'll check mine.

:cool2:

They say china on them

(( cowboy up and get over it ))