Sears-Craftsman Troubleshooting
These are some questions we’ve gotten in our e-mail about Sears -
Craftsman garden tractors. We see some here at our shop for repairs
and have repowered quite a few. It doesn’t seem as though there is as
much on the internet about the Sears and Craftsman as the other
brands. There is a Sears garden tractor Yahoo group, Here’s a link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesearsgardentractorgroup/
It is a well moderated forum and the members and moderator there are very helpful.
Q: My dad has an 18 H.P. 1984 Craftsman garden tractor. It runs fine and mows very good. Recently using the mower, the electric clutch
stopped, the engine was still running. I turned the electric clutch
off and ran the mower a few minutes. I tried the electric clutch
again. It worked for about 5 minutes then stopdc again. The engine
was still running. This happened several times. I shut the engine off
and then there was no juice in battery to start engine again. I
charged the battery and the engine started and ran fine several times.
I started mowing again and same thing happened after a while, the
electric clutch stopped and the engine still ran. We cannot find any
naked wires or anything grounded out.
A: Take a voltmeter and hook it to the battery with the engine
running. Your voltmeter should read 13.0 to 14.8 volts. If it reads
less your charging system is not working. Try replacing the rectifier.
Q: My craftsman lawn tractor’s blade deck stays engaged at all times,
as soon as I start the tractor the blades are engaged.
A: Check if the belt clutch tightener is fully releasing when you
disengage your PTO. Also check all your belt guides and make sure
they are adjusted correctly. Also do you have the correct length belt
and correct width belt on your unit?
Q: I have a Craftsman 25 horsepower riding mower with a Kohler engine in it. The engine starts and runs fine, but the darn thing blows the 30 amp fuse and dies every time I pull the PTO knob to engage the
mower blades. I don’t see any bare wires shorting out anywhere. Any
ideas? Is it the PTO switch, or the ignition switch, or the electric
clutch? Just trying to figure out where to start replacing stuff.
A: You will have to locate a short within the circuit of the PTO
switch and the PTO clutch, you might need a new clutch.
Q: Is there a way to increase the performance of my new FS5500
Craftsman lawn tractor’s transaxle? Perhaps a valve that can be
shimmed up. Under heavy load it’s like pulling a harrow uphill, the
engine doesn’t bog down but the wheels don’t turn. I can back up, take
the hill at a lesser angle & it does fine. I plan on installing some lug tread tires too.
A: They have that safety feature built into the transmission because
the transmission will not hold up to a higher stress level.
Q: I own a Sears 14HP garden tractor and it is approximately 6-8 yrs
old. I have noticed that it runs rough at low speed. I have changed
the spark plugs but no change.
A: It could be a dirty carburetor or water in the carburetor. I
think you should try adjusting your valve clearance.