Troubleshooting,
Adjustment, & Service
TROUBLESHOOTING 
WARNING
While normal care and regular maintenance will extend the life of your equipment, prolonged or constant use may eventually require that service be performed to allow it to continue operating properly.
The troubleshooting guide below lists the most common problems, their causes, and remedies.
See the information on the following pages for instruc- tions on how to perform most of these minor adjustments and service repairs yourself. If you prefer, all of these procedures can be performed for you by your local authorized dealer.
To avoid serious injury, perform maintenance on the tractor or mower only when the engine is stopped and the parking brake engaged.
Always remove the ignition key, disconnect the spark plug wire and fasten it away from the plug before beginning the maintenance, to prevent accidental starting of the engine.
TROUBLESHOOTING THE TRACTOR
PROBLEM | CAUSE | REMEDY | |
Engine will not turnover or start. | 1. | Brake pedal not depressed. | Fully depress brake pedal. |
| 2. | PTO (electric clutch) switch | Place in OFF position. |
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| in ON position. |
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| 3. | Cruise control engaged. | Move lever to Neutral position. |
| 4. | Out of fuel. | If engine is hot, allow it to cool, then refill |
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| the fuel tank. |
| 5. | Engine flooded. | Disengage choke. |
| 6. | Circuit breaker tripped. | Wait one minute for automatic reset. |
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| Replace if defective. |
| 7. | Battery terminals require | See Battery Maintenance Section. |
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| cleaning. |
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| 8. | Battery discharged or dead. | Recharge or replace. |
| 9. | Wiring loose or broken. | Visually check wiring & replace broken or |
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| frayed wires. Tighten loose connections. |
| 10. | Solenoid or starter motor faulty. | See your dealer. |
| 11. | Safety interlock switch faulty | See your dealer. |
| 12. | Spark plug(s) faulty, fouled | Clean and gap or replace. |
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| or incorrectly gapped. | See engine manual. |
| 13. | Water in fuel. | Drain fuel & refill with fresh fuel. Replace fuel filter. |
| 14. | Fuel is old or stale. | Drain fuel & refill with fresh fuel. Replace fuel filter. |
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Engine starts hard or runs poorly. | 1. | Fuel mixture too rich. | Clean air filter. Check choke adjustment |
| 2. | Spark plug(s) faulty, fouled, or | Clean and gap or replace. |
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| incorrectly gapped. | See engine manual. |
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Engine knocks. | 1. | Low oil level. | Check/add oil as required. |
| 2. | Using wrong grade oil. | See engine manual. |
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Excessive oil consumption. | 1. | Engine running too hot. | Clean: engine fins, blower screen, radiator, |
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| oil cooler, and radiator screen. |
| 2. | Using wrong weight oil. | See engine manual. |
| 3. | Too much oil in crankcase. | Drain excess oil. |
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Engine exhaust is black. | 1. | Dirty air filter. | Replace air filter. See engine manual. |
| 2. | Choke closed. | Open choke. |
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Engine runs, but tractor will | 1. | Ground speed control pedals | Depress pedals. |
not drive. |
| not depressed. |
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| 2. | Transmission release lever | Move into drive position. |
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| in “push” position. |
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| 3. | Drive belt is broken. | See Drive Belt Replacement. |
| 4. | Drive belt slips. | See cause and remedy below. |
| 5. | Parking brake is engaged. | Disengage parking brake. |
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