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[staninlowerAL]

Do I need to prime the oil pump before I start her up? If so how do I do that.

Man thank God y'all had me check the tranny... Bone dry....

I need to find the steering housing too. I drained the radiator and there actually was some antifreeze in there so that's good.

Prime the oil pump: Remove the filter cover and fill the hole at the top of the housing next to the block with engine oil. A squirt can hand oil pump works good. Search and you'll find lots of posts and some pictures as well.
Steering Housing fill plug: Pipe plug just to the right of the radiator where the steering shaft connects to the steering housing. You can drain it from the bottom to check for water (which is common). The plug is drilled from the bottom and side for venting. Usually plugged from lack of maintenance and care.

[Glen]

Hi,
There is an index in the manual I posted the links for, on page 1 of this post, starting on page 76 of the manual. It makes it easier to use on the internet. The lubing info is at Lubrication in the index.
The transmission oil level plug is low on the left side of the trans. Fill it only to there. It holds 3 1/2 pints of oil.
The drain plug can be seen from under the platform, I guess you found it.

The steering gear filler plug, the top one of the 3 plugs, has the vent holes, Stan was talking about it above.

The 2 final drive units need the oil checked too, or changed. There is a plug above each oil pan, which go under the gears. You have to take off the drawbar to get to the plug on the left side.

[Roshambo]

Thanks much for the continued support gents. So here's what I did over the course of the day:

-flushed and filled radiator
-flushed and filled engine oil and filter, added magic oil crap
-filled tranny oil (it was bone dry...)
-cleaned battery terminals
-drained fuel tank of crap fuel, removed hood and tank, serviced fuel bowl with new screen and cork seal, added new fuel w. Fuel and carb treatment
-cleaned oil bath air filter, degreased, and replaced oil
-replaced radiator cap
-degreased entire machine, washed, scrubbed excess rust off spark plugs, cleaned spark plug tips


Now here's the problem. I didn't know the spark plug cables had to be put back in the same order so I jacked up.... it cranks now but won't start :,(

Also upon cleaning the nasty sludge from the bowl and adding quality fuel, I noticed there is a small open hole under the carb to the left of the carb drain plug..... it was leaking badly at first, particularly when trying to start. But I knocked on the carb a few times on advice of father in law and it slowed and stopped....

Can anyone advise what's causing the leak and how to correct my mistake on the sparkplugs?

[Dale Finch]

The plug wires/cylinders are numbered front to back, #1,2,3,4. If you look at the distributor cap from the rear, and start at the upper right tower at the 1 o'clock position and continue clockwise, they are #1,3,4,2.

The fuel leaking out of carb after unsuccessful start is normal.

[staninlowerAL]

Plug wires: Find #1 cylinder on compression stroke, TDC, the pointer should align with the timing mark on the crank pulley. Remove dist. cap and observe which wire aligns with the rotor, that's number 1 plug wire. Clockwise around the dist cap is 1, 3, 4, 2. Place your plug wires in that order and you should be good.
Leak at the carb: could be caused by the needle valve not seating. Tapping on the carb (not too hard, the metal is soft) might have seated it. The leak you saw from the carb is designed to leak excess fuel when the engine does not start. You probably had more fuel in the carb when the engine did not start than the updraft suction could handle.

[Roshambo]

Whew.. what a relief. I was hoping it might be some sort of drain. I will get back at it in the AM. Should I leave the fuel shutoff all the way open or only half, etc.

Thanks much!

[staninlowerAL]

The OEM tank fuel shutoff valve is designed to seat either fully open or fully closed. Owners Manual instructions says place it like that to operate. It's a good idea to shut off the fuel and let the engine die from lack of fuel when you shut it down for the day. Keeps the gas from leaking out on the ground while you're sleeping.

[Roshambo]

Ok y'all I got her going! Sounds so much better but when I turn RPM up a light fill of white smoke is visible on very bottom of machine. I did decrease, etc, should I be worried?

[Roshambo]

Also I can't find a spark plug wrench big enough I take these old plugs off. Suggestions?

[Jim Becker]

The spark plugs have a 7/8 inch hex. It is one of the standard size plug wrenches but not that common any more. However, I usually use the box end of a combination wrench. Easy fit, even with the hood on. For some plugs, it is easiest to use the wrench "bottom side up" so the handle angles down from the box end.

[staninlowerAL]

... when I turn RPM up a light fill of white smoke is visible on very bottom of machine. I did decrease, etc, should I be worried?

Try to see where it's coming from. Look at the oil filler cap, a little smoke there indicates a little exhaust is getting by the rings and into the crankcase, showing up at the oil filler pipe which is the most convenient exit point. If you have not done a compression check wet & dry, that might help. 80-90 indicates you're loosing some power either at the rings, valves/seats or both. Below that you'll probably notice a loss of power when working the engine.

[Roshambo]

Yeah I mowed the lawn today... very slowly. I can't advance the throttle past mid point without it struggling and whenever I try to shift the gear grinds unless I shift very slow and am lucky.. power is very low. Particularly when trying to get up any hill.

Good amount of smoke coming out the exhaust now. No longer the oil pan.

[staninlowerAL]

Congrats. It's a good feeling to see progress being achieved. Sounds like the compression might be low. As for the gear shifting, nothing about these transmissions is synchronized. You need to make sure you come to a complete stop and allow the mower to stop turning before you try to shift gears.

[Roshambo]

Damn I'm in a good spot! I didn't know lol. Ok good... really I have to come to complete stop even before shifting to 3rd gear?

[Roshambo]

Oops forgot to ask how do I correct compression?