OK, I know this isn’t really a construction technique, but no other category seemed to fit. And I thought it might be useful to someone someday.
Here’s the deal: 14 HP Ariens zero turn lawn mower with 42″ deck. Working fine, until one day the wife mows and says it feels like it’s vibrating more than usual (no off-color remarks now, please).
I try it out, and sure enough, it’s vibrating more than it should. But only when the blades are on, so that eliminates engine problems.
Take off the blades, check for balance, both before and after cleaning off the crud. Everything balances ok. No loose blade problems, and they are not installed upside down.
Check the deck, no problems.
Check the bearings on the blade pulleys for slop or stickiness. No problems.
Check the belt. It’s fine. Still vibrating, though.
Finally, after much head scratching, I just start looking everywhere, just for kicks. Finally found the problem: while she was mowing, she ran over a small tree branch (not uncommon, under 1/8″ thick) and part of it (about an inch long) broke off and was stuck in the groove of the belt drive pulley! It was packed in there pretty well, and the color blended in with the steel pulley, so it was not real obvious. Just enough to make it vibrate excessively.
Anybody else have any bizarre situations with relatively easy solutions? Easy, once you figured out what the problem was, that is. I think it’d be interesting to read some more.
Pete Duffy, Handyman
Replies
Yup! Wife leave for work in a jeep cherokee we used to have. Calls and says the throttle is sticky. I go and trade vehicles. About 2pounds of dog food on top of the intake manifold. Now this one might realy help someone. We put in statellite for internet in Feb. 03. Worked fine.. Through out the summer the signal was degrading. Wife goes out to the dish to grab a digital photo of the clear blue sky to send directway. In first photo you see a few yellow jackets. Second photo, yellow jackets covering the (transponder ?) bulb thing that the dish reflects into. Spray that baby and we're back to 96% signal. Mike
Hydraulics on the tractor, to raise and lower equipment, started working at times and locked down others.
A very annoying problem. After doing all we could think of with the oil, filters, cylinders, etc., we blew out the lines and a now toasted big cricket came out of them.
How did it ever get in there and why did it wait so long to give trouble?
Satellite dish installed on Minnesota roof in January. Works great.
In June, not so great.
Three tech guys visit. Finally the last one says, "it's the leaves on the trees blocking the signal." Trimmed a branch and voila.
carpenter in transition
Bought a junkyard trannie for parts. The output shaft would turn more tha 1 revolution and lock up. turn back the other way more than 1 rev and lock up.
Took it to the shop disassembled and cleaned. Man those syncros looked brand new. So do the gears.
Found a needle bearing (extra) in between 2 teeth.
Reassembled and stuck that junkyard trannie with all new parts in my TR4 A.
SamT
DW complianed I wasn't amourous enough
12 pack of Molson fixed it right up
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
If my wife drank 12 beers she wouldn't care either.
I'd have ta make it a full case then..I don't share well with others.
"the girls all get prettier at closin time"
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
While working at my father's car repair shop on afternoon, I hear a car horn blazing down the street. The horn is on constant, sensing a problem with the car I grap a pair of wire cutters and wait for the car to stop in. I could see the woman waiting at the traffic light. She pulls in, I motion for her to pop the hood. I pull the plug and off goes the horn.
At her wits end she tell me it started the moment she started the car. I ask did anyone do any work to her car. Yes her husband fix the chrome trim on the horn button. I look at the steering wheel and sure enough. The husband had tapes that trim nice and tight by wrapping it to the wheel.
In Peace and Partnership,
MartinHeads I win, tails you lose.
Had a Hyundai once with a "horn stop" fuse. Fuse broke one day. Horn quit when I replaced the fuse.
>> "the girls all get prettier at closin time"
Party till she's cute.
Sorry, Unc - I cannot convert to address to "All."
Son-in-law had a sprinkler system that would come on for a short while then one sprinkler head would shut off. replaced sprinkler head; did no good. I concluded that something was moving into position to clog line under flow conditions, but moved out of line w/o flow. Opened line & found a small disc of plastic that wasn't completely cut out. Sho nuff, honeychile, it acted like a little flapper valve when flow started.
DonThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!
I have a pump- up- the- hill septic system and a good friend who's a plumber. I call him with any kind of water related trouble. He is a very patient guy, plus I take care of his carpentry problems. Anyway my pump alarm starts going off, the tank is full, I'm freaking (this is a new house, but for the past 20 years I've been messing in septic systems and I'm thinking "they've" found me again!). Pump down past the float alarm and it stops alarming.....but the pump doesn't cut on. Literally, she-it. I call Andy, he sez it sounds like your pump float's stuck. I sez I don't think so, the alarm went off. He sez no ya dope, the pump float, go fishin' for the other float, then smack it and call me in the morning.
And then there was:
Mrs' Snort is driving home from Thanksgiving dinner ( about 30 ex-patriots have been getting together for about 30 years to celebrate) hits a pothole and the car stops running. I'm way too happy to fix anything, so we hitch a ride home. Next morning, I'm thinking I have to go and track down a loose damn wire somewhere. I've worked on enough cars to know that tracing down loose wires is the worst. Call party host ( who professes to know everything about anything) to let him know I'm coming to get the heap, and he says something about the emergency gas shutoff switch. I think riiiiight, but after I get there and change the busted tire, I start reading the car's manual. Varrrroooom. Turns out Mrs. Host had read her manual and passed the info to Mr. He still won't admit it...now I'm thinking of getting one of those switches installed for my next encounter with those tasty members of the cabbage family<G> Don't worry, we can fix that later!
>> I cannot convert to address to "All."
Switch to Advanced View. Click on the My Forums button, last button in the third row of buttons above, to go to your preferences, or on the link near the bottom of the message reading frame.
Something wierd in my ISP, Juno, won't support Advanced. It's probably a bizarre problen w/ a simple solution, but I don't have the time to grind through it.
Thanks for the directions. I'll try going to advanced again. Sometime last year, Mark at SYSOP led me through getting the site to function by going to the process for simpletons. Have no idea at all what caused the original problem to crop up. Probably some wierd thing that Juno introduced as an upgrade that isn't compatible w/ Prospero.
DonThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!
A lifetime ago, like about 1967, wife of a friend who was in Thailand in Army came to house, frazzled beyound all getout. Seems her lawnmower wouldn't start and she needed help. Symptom was as follows. Lawnmower wouldn't start, and she'd go ballistic, discuss under her breath the marital status of the lawnmower's parents, kick the son of a female dog, pull the rope and it would start right up. Always did it. Stupid as this sounds, I diagnosed it correctly w/o examining the beast. Carburetor mounting bolts became slightly loose, allowing carburetor to fall away from cylinder head, keepng it from getting fuel/air mix. The kick, applied in just the right location would jar carb against cylinder; engine starts; vacuum keeps carb against cylinder all the time it runs. Tightened bolts, problem went away! She thought I was a genious. No, just obtuse and with a wierd sense of humor.
DonThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!
I had a 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger once. When it was about 8 years old it started dying every time i went around a corner or steep curve to the left. The engine would die, I would steer to the side of the road and as soon as I stopped the engine would start right back up. It happened one day and I decided I would try to locate the problem. Opened the hood and removed the air cleaner. Couldn't see anything so put my hand on the carb so I could lean over more. As soon as I started leaning the carb lifted right off the manifold. The nuts on the right side were backed almost all the way off so that when I turned left the carb lifted right off the manifold and starved the engine.
Your post made me think of 'Sling Blade'.
"Ain't got no gas in it."
before ignitions got so dadgum complicated, it wasn't unusual for the solenoid to fail. all one had to do to get it started was find the solenoid (typically about the size of a frozen orange juice can, with a pair of wire posts on one end) and cross the posts with the shaft of a screwdriver. sparks would fly and the engine would start right up- over the years i've saved a few people the cost of a tow somewhere to get it fixed.
m
Where my brother worked they had a good looking drill press sitting outside next to the scrap dumpster. I asked his boss what was up with it. he told me the shaft had frozen up and it was going to the scrap yard and that if I wanted to fix it I could have it.
I took it home, opened the belt housing and discovered the belt was twisted enough to lock the pully against the head casting. Freed it up and its been running fine for ten years now.
Good score - You ought to submit that one to Taunton for "Fine Moments in Building History."
:-)>Kevin Halliburton
"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men." - Solomon
"Good score - You ought to submit that one to Taunton for "Fine Moments in Building History." "
Not after the "guy with the chainsaw story" got ripped a new one for not returning it.
The vacuum hoo-ya on my irrigation system (the thing that prevents the water from syphoning back into the house - can you tell I'm not a plumber?) was leaking like mad. I went to get an o-ring and was told I had to buy the whole repair kit - no problem, less than 10 bucks ... put it in, everything worked great.
That was last week ... yesterday, my neighbor came by cause HIS vacuum thingy was leaking ... turned out his o-ring was fine, the other parts were busted ... my old ones were still sitting on my workbench (why I never throw anything away is another thread) ... still had the tools i needed sitting there too .... literally took less than a minute to fix it ... of course he thinks it's amazing that I knew what was wrong and had the parts and tools right at hand ....
If he had asked me a week earlier I would have told him to call a plumber ....
i was wondering when the infamous chainsaw story was gonna pop up...
m
My neighbor has a small scrollsaw, he asked me if it was worth replacing the motor or should he buy a new one. I took a look at it, the eccentric was screwed on too tight and the motor wouldn't turn, just hummed. I backed the screw off and he had a working scrollsaw.
mike
In leaner times, I was renovating an aged mobile home to live in for awhile. Two biggest problems were rotted out bathroom floor and mildew under kitchen cabinets.
Causes?
Copper line under the tub had gotten grazed with a nail...had to be at the factory...I sweated in a coupling and fixed the floor.
The more bizarre one though, was the kitchen leak. ABS from sink trap to vent sloped uphill , trap had chronic slow leak because of this... fix was to saw about 3" out of the vent above the tee, put in a coupling, and lift the drain line up. This also improved the slope of the drain line leading back to the bathroom.
Maybe not easy fixes, but certainly bizarre. This trailer had to be 15 - 20 years old and people had been living there with these unfixed leaks since it came off the factory floor. Must have been plumbed on a Friday.
Always rode v-twin bikes. One afternoon, riding out in the country, miles from anywhere, it lost power and started blowing smoke. Couldn't get better than 35 mph home. Took the engine apart, everything looked fine but I put new cylinder rings on anyway and reassembled. About 20 hours each tear down / rebuild. STILL blows smoke.
The first time it seemed so obvious what the problem had to be. Engine blowing smoke, right? So I put a compression gauge on and the front jug was like 25 psi higher compression than the rear. Darn, I must have missed the ring, or lined the breaks on the rings up somehow and oil is seeping past, or missed SOMETHING. Take it back apart. Everything looks good. Replace the rings, valve guides, etc., anything it seems like it could be. Rebuild and -- still blowing smoke.
I tore the engine down a third time and was frustrated as all get out to figure out what the problem was. Bike mechanics had no good suggestions. Finally my uncle (we're close in age) said, put it back together and change the gas.
I had gotten two-cycle pre-mix at a gas pump. I remembered back to the day I started blowing smoke and thinking wow - 96 octane gas on the pump, that'll be good for my bike! Because v-twins love high octane gas. The front jug on a v-twin has higher compression because on an air cooled bike it gets more cooling than the rear jug (learned after the fact).
remodeler
On my way to class from work oneday, I decided to kill some time at a parts house about a mile north of the school. After drooling at the goodies for a while, it was about time to depart. I got into my venerable behigamooth and the automatic shift lever just flopped around like a piece of boiled rigatoni.
I crawled under the grease coated oil covered transmission and the shift arm had fallen off the Xmission. The E ring had fallen off. The was a plastics distributor right there -- Ridout Plastics [they deserve the credit] -- and the clerk [or is it "sales associate"] rumaged in the cash drawer and gave me a genuine paper clip.
I fitted the arm over the stud and secured it with the paper clip and this repair lasted several years -- in fact longer than a replacement E ring.
~Peter
Another one comes to me.
Cousin of a friend had an '82 Honda hatchback years ago that would run a little bit, no power, sputter and die. He had the carb replaced (expensive too - some kind of special ####'y that wa sa hybrid carb/fuel injector before injection became standard), fuel pump replaced, computer replaced, etc., and finally gave up on the vehicle because the problem would come up. He was going to pay $100 to a junk yard to pick the vehicle up and I told him I'd take it off his hands if he'd sign the title over.
It was obviously fuel problem so I went over the whole car and discovered the frame had rusted through where the a mounting bracket held the rubber or plastic fuel line to the undercarriage, so the fuel line was kinked. I didn't tell him what the problem ended up being.
remodeler
met a woman ,who later became my SO..she was travelling all over the US and Canada in a BIG RV..I called it Wheel Estate. She had to go back to Calif. for busuness, from NC where we were..I had to go do a job in Ark. during this time.
She made 300 miles and ..dead RV. Ford 460 in this thing. Let it cool for a few hours..runs fine. This continued all the way into Texas for her..she was stopping at Ford garages tryin to figgure it out..and dumping a ton of $ into fuel pumps, carbs, filters, sensors ETC. I was basically incommunicato, stuck in the Ozarks, getting frantic messages on my home amswering mach..from her.
I finally changed the message to say " CA (carolanne) TAKE OFF THE GAS CAP!..
Her next message was.."Problem solved, Gee, I love you!"
Bad cap vent, made the vacuum starve the engine..leyt it sit, and it eventually released the vacuum..
If she only woulda had a cell phone.
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Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Hate to tell this one, but here it is:
Had read all the pages in the owner's manual for the bulldozer and somewhere it said that it had an audible signal that meant to stop and turn everything off immediately if it sounded.
Drove the machine for several years and one day, roading it to another dam, dog with me on the dozer, the alarm sounded!
Turned everything off and checked all oils and filters and etc's and could not find anything wrong.
Started again fine and was running right along when that alarm sounded again. No lights or gauges gave notice, nothing wrong but just in case, dog and I walked several miles home, called the shop about it and the mechanic asked if it sounded like the horn.
What horn? I didn't even knew that thing had one!
Well, the dog was moving around and evidently sat on the horn those two times, nothing else wrong with the machine. I will never live that one down.
Had a Datsun 280Z, Got in one fine morning, drove out the parking lot and up the hill, crested and sped up. Click, the engine dies. . . for a few seconds. Speeds up. . . dies . . . speeds up . . . dies.
I pull over and rev the engine, vroom vroom, no problem, sounds goooood.
Nurse it back home and RTFM.
Under Fuel Enconomy it says that above 30MPH, if deaccleerating, the fuel is turned off.
The plastic cam in the Throttle Off Idle sensor was broken.
I just bent the contact so it wouldn't close. No Mo' Problema.
SamT