582 Special

[lbuttke]

Picked up a nice 582 special over the weekend.

Came with a 44" deck that look to be in good condition.

P.O. said it did not start, so he went out and purchased a new mower last spring and this one has been sitting since.

Checked the oil level, way over full.
Checked the gas tank, empty, guess I know where the gas ended up.
Try chargeing the battery, junk battery.

Change the oil, add fresh gas, add good battery, little 16 horse briggs fired right up.

Does have a nasty sounding wine comming from the motor that gets louder the faster you run the motor.
Would the wine just be the nature of the 16hp twin cyclinder?
Or could there be some thing hidded wrong that I don't know of?

 

[aschumacher]

Lonny, real nice find, and 16hp twin at that. Question for you and others...You said 'oil way over full' and 'gas empty' and implied fuel filled the crankcase! Not sure about the Whine, but how did the fuel get into the oil !! ??

 

[kmcconaughey]

Allen, diaphragm fuel pump failed, as in hole in the diaphragm and siphoned all the fuel into the crankcase. The Onan in my AC620 did that to me ONCE, then I installed a fuel shutoff valve that I close after each use.

 

[agitch]

I always use a shutoff also after every use. I'm pretty sure my fuel pump is fine but I just don't want to take the chance.

 

[lbuttke]

Well today I installed a new and correct fuel filter along with a new shutoff valve, so that should elimanate any problems.
<font size="-2">as long as I rember to shut the gas off that is</font>

 

[dmull]

Lonny - You should check the head gaskets. If the PO tried to start it while crankcase full of gas, it could have blown the headgasket, warped the head, or even bent rods.

 

[lbuttke]

Ryan.

From what I can tell the head gaskets appear to be fine, no sign of leakage even when running.

Motor makes no strange noises when running, only odd sound it makes is a wine when the clutch is engaged, makes no different if it is in gear or in netural, same wine. Clutch locked down, no wine.
Will have to check the 90degree angle box for oil level, as it might be where the wine is comming from.

 

[lbuttke]

A question about my 582 special?

Is the rearend suppose to be Aluminum or Cast iron?

 

[mgonitzke]

It's probably cast iron, but it's definitely not a normal CC rear...crappy peerless trans.

 

[rhammond]

I have a 1604, which is the later version of the 582 Special. Mine went south last year at around 1300hrs, dropping a valve or throwing a rod, something that resulted in covering the neighborhood with oil smoke and blowing oil up thru the carb. I really liked that engine up till then, though (and it was really run hard and abusively). It was Dad's mower, and I really enjoyed running it. I miss the strong arm lift, as I could tell height without looking, just from the feel. I met a guy a few years back that had 1800hrs on one of these, and it was running great.

That whine may be that 90 degree gearbox, to go from the driveshaft to a pulley (where that pulley runs the belt to the transmission). Mine did that for the last 800hrs or so. Sounded like a Chevy Powerglide transmission. I asked a mechanic about whether i should be servicing it (changing grease), and he said he'd never known one to go out, but that most whined. By the way, the mechanic told me that transmission is pretty rare to find in good shape. Can't get a new one, and the used ones are scarfed up a lot (so its a good thing to look for as a spare). The brakes on these are prone to quick wear, if you have steep hills (like I do). Single brake rotor on the transmission and all that. The pad-repair kit is really expensive, so I made pads. I felt the best way at the end was where I bought riveted Chevy pickup pads, drilled the rivets, robbed the pad material, and made new recessed rivet areas to attach those pads to the cub's pad plates (trimming the ends of the pad material to fit). But, like most, I ran a lot without brakes, rolling to stops (I was too dangerous about that, really, given my hills). The mechanic told me that folks will just shift without getting fully stopped (hence the scarcity of those transmissions). I watched ebay every week for 3yrs to try to find another peerless transmission in good shape (as a spare), and didn't find one. But, you guys have more cubs and parts up north (versus Alabama).

 

[lbuttke]

Had to do some maintance on the deck today, seeing how the deck blades did not want to stay running at full speed when hitting thick grass.
Figured it was one of 3 possable things wrong.
1 bad belt
2 broken spring on belt tighener
3 rusted in place belt tighener

Turned out to be #3, after a hour work and a little help with a blue tip wrench all is good again, even cuts better now for some odd reason.

 

[vthomley]

Lonnie, its amazing what a little maintenance will do for these wonderful things! I know I'm probably as bad as anyone for maintenance....No I didn't say that did I?

Here's the email I got this morning - Hi Vince

I still have your correspondence from last year. I ended up buying a craftsman so I could put off fixing the old ones. Now I have 3 non-working lawnmowers and a really long yard. Are you still fixing mowers? If so, I think I need your help. I still have the old ones - one belches black smoke and the other needs a new float to stay running. The craftsman had something break on Sunday night. It makes a bad knocking sound. Do you want to take a look at them for me? Shoot me an email or give my cell phone a call. I'll have to bring them to you one at a time as I only have a car. The most important one is the craftsman. I think my neighbors may turn me into the grass patrol pretty soon for letting it get so long. Anyway - let me know if you are available to help me out. Thanks!

Maybe she should go buy another craftsman...

 

[dsimms]

Can someone tell me --Is $2250.00 way over the line for a 582?? I have to say it is in --What looks to be Great Condition. I've heard it run and sounds fine ,38in deck looks to be solid all around Hours where under 500--Around 400 Best I can remember. I miss not have a Cub --And would love have this one---But the price is to High??

Appreciate the Help!
Thanks
D.

 

[mgonitzke]

Is it gold-plated? I wouldn't pay 1/4 of that, personally.

 

[kweaver]

D.S. - A wise old man once told me , "If you have to ask, then you can't afford it."

Matt - You squeak

oh btw Friday gold was $1242+ per oz

 

[mmeyer]

Lonny - my 582 special has the same whine - its the 90 degree box on mine - i ended up drilling two small holes on the top of that box - one to insert a grease fitting into, and the other (at the opposite corner of the box) as a vent - then while the tractor was running, i pumped new grease into that box until nice looking grease came out of that vent hole (it took a lot of grease before nice looking stuff came out!!) then i put a short bolt into that vent hole to seal everything back up. that did quiet mine down a lot, but not completely - kinda sounds like a hydro - but at least its really easy to re-grease it now.