My riding mower is more than 10 years old. I've had it a year. Today,
I replaced the back idler pulley on the deck: bad bearings.

After installing the belt, I pulled to to see if the belt and the 4
pulleys worked freely. Pulling it forward, it was quiet, although there
was more resistance than I expected. Pulling it backward caused a
scratchy noise in the electric clutch.

With the belt off, the clutch pulley was hard to turn and made a
scratching noise in either direction. In spite of all that drag, it
doesn't move the belt when the motor is running and the clutch is
switched off. If there's a scratching noise, it's not loud enough to
hear above the motor.

I read on the internet that clutch plates can get rusty, and the cure is
to start the motor and switch the clutch on and off several times. I
tried that. It's still scratchy.

I wonder if the bearings are dry and dirty. As they're used only when
the motor is running and the blade clutch is disengaged, they might last
a long time this way.

Has anyone else encountered a scratchy blade clutch? I wonder if the
solution is the pop the clutch off ( one 10x1.5x60mm cap screw ) and
flush the bearings with lubricant. What would be a good lubricant for this?

Does it drive ok,if so, stop worrying!

On 11/29/14, 12:25 AM, wrote:
Does it drive ok,if so, stop worrying!

It it were dirty, dry bearings, the only way to stop worrying would have
been to clean and lubricate them.

I removed the deck for better access to the pulley. It feels and sounds
like scratchy plates and not dirty bearings.

I'm baffled. Each time I run the motor a minute with the blades
disengaged, that's 3,000 revolutions, polishing the plates. How could
they sound so rough?

It looks like the normal torque for a cap screw that size is 35 or 49
foot pounds, depending on the class. I wonder how I can lock the
crankshaft to get the screw loose.

"J Burns" wrote in message
...
On 11/29/14, 12:25 AM, wrote:

It looks like the normal torque for a cap screw that size is 35 or 49 foot
pounds, depending on the class. I wonder how I can lock the crankshaft to
get the screw loose.

Remove the spark plug and with the piston at a low point, shove a piece of
rope in the spark plug hole. As the piston comes up the rope will stop the
piston. Be sure to leave about 6 inches of rope sticking out of the hole so
you can pull it all back out once you are done.



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On 11/29/14, 6:57 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"J Burns" wrote in message
...
On 11/29/14, 12:25 AM, wrote:

It looks like the normal torque for a cap screw that size is 35 or 49 foot
pounds, depending on the class. I wonder how I can lock the crankshaft to
get the screw loose.

Remove the spark plug and with the piston at a low point, shove a piece of
rope in the spark plug hole. As the piston comes up the rope will stop the
piston. Be sure to leave about 6 inches of rope sticking out of the hole so
you can pull it all back out once you are done.



That's much better than my scheme, fill the cylinder with oil and screw
the plug back in.

It dawned on me to see what happened when I turned the crankshaft with a
wrench. The pulley didn't move. Blade brake!

Because nobody here told me there was such a thing as an electric clutch
with a blade brake, I'm expecting a substantial award from the
Alt.home.repair Complaint Compensation Fund. I only wish it had been in
time for Black Friday.