Archive through June 09, 2005

[bmcmeen]

Richard C. -

If the blades and sockets are the same as the single conductor connectors (and I believe they are), you can always pickup a pack of male and female single connectors from CarQuest. They're usually hanging on the electrical connector "spinner"...

I've also had good luck using tiny needlenose pliers to squeeze the tabs and extract the old connectors and reuse them if they're in decent shape. Use a bit of solder just to be sure...

 

[bmcclure]

I have an old 125 that works great. I am having trouble with a lot of slop or play in the steering and am wondering where to start to look for the problem. There is a bit of play in the spindles. Someone told me that there is an adjustment at the end of the steering wheel rod. Is that correct and if so, how can it be adjusted?
Bob

 

[rbedell]

Gary S:

The problem with your 1450 could be a number of things. I would suggest that you start by eliminating things. The first, would be to charge the battery, and then after it is charged up, take it to a shop (or auto parts retailer) and have the battery checked. They have a tester that will check batteries under "load". I have found Lawn & Garden batteries seems to have a short life. So, as my suggestion, start with checking the battery. If the battery is OK, then we can move on to step B.

 

[dfrisk]

BOB M. - Look at the bottom pic Charlie posted of the Baling Wire repair below Your post. That's the steering gearbox. The round nut with the 10 slots on it is the adjusting nut for the worm gear. There's a cotter key You remove and them You can tighten up the steering worm shaft which the steering wheel attachs to. Probably 1/4 to 1/2 a turn is all the more You need to tighten. Get it too tight and You'll ruin the ball thrust bearings inside or possibly the diecast housing. Then on the steering arm on the side of the gearbox there will be a bolt welded to the arm and a fine threaded nut with a jam nut. Tighten the stud maybe 1/4 of a turn and relock it with the jam nut. Any tighter and the stud make lock up in the worm shaft. You also may want to tighten the two nuts on the pivot bolt for the steering arm. Loosen the top one, tighten the one closest to the housing and retighten the top one. Couple shots of grease at least once a year helps too. If You still have the original ball joints on the tie rods they create a lot of slop too. If all this doesn't help as much as You like the gearbox has to come out for a total rebuild. Not a bad job but not easy with the gearbox in the tractor.

 

[stanner]

Bob M

Once you get the box up to snuff as Denny said, i found out that'll get rid of most of the play, but the rest of the slop is all a summation of loose parts such as tie rod ends, king pins, spindle bushings, and the front axle pivot bolt. turn your wheel, and watch all of these, you'll be surprised... HTH

 

[ncostello]

Richard C.

Go to www.terminalsupplyco.com

They have a large selection of automotive connectors and the assiciated pins. Not sure...but I'd bet you can find the ones you are looking for. Normally the blades for them require a special crimp tool...which you can get at Napa.

 

[jshafer]

Hi guys. Been a while since I've been here but I need a little help. I have an older 10? (7 I think) and the spindle bolt on the center pulley on the mower deck sheared off. (Probly from hitting that dang broken fence post!) Anyway, I got the remaining part of the bolt out and it looks like a 3/8 course thread bolt, drilled for the grease zirt. I have another deck for a newer 127 and went to borrow that spindle bolt but it is fine thread. Can anyone verify that they used 2 different types of spinlde bolts on these mower decks. I may be looking at fabricating a new one but want to make sure that I can't find one out there. Note: There is actually a diagram earlier in the list for this portion of the deck. I do have the manual for this deck but can't find a reference to the bolt specs.

(Message edited by jshafer on June 13, 2005)

 

[mgonitzke]

John S.-

Take the pieces to your CC dealer. They will have a new one for just a few dollars. That bolt is grade 8 so you probably won't be able to drill thru it....

 

[sblunier]

Matt is right......


BUT, why is there a common misconception that grade 8 bolts can't be drilled or machined???? I do it all of the time, as do many others, with standard HHS bits (of good, but not great quality). It's not mild steel, that's for sure, but it isn't titanium either........

 

[jshafer]

Thanks Matt and Steve for the quick response. The problem is the nearest dealer is over 2 hrs away from here. I contacted one of the advertized dealers here on the forum and according to his books there was only the fine threaded bolt type used for all decks. This lead me to the idea of fabbing something. I guess I need to know that there are fine and course thread center spindle bolts produced for this thing. If I know that there were 2 kinds made then I can look for the right bolt. I would much rather buy the bolt than fab it. I am more of a wood worker thasn metal worker but I do have the tools and help here to fab it.

 

[lherrmann]

Question: Should there be a spark when you hook up the battery?

I replaced the wiring harness in my 106 after a fire. I also replaced the VR, coil wire, spark plug, choke cable, and jumpered the safety switch.

I have checked and rechecked the wiring to make sure I don't fry the VR again.

1)When I go to hook up the battery I get quite a spark, like a short somewhere and I think something sounded like it wanted to run, but I only touched the cable to the terminal once so I'm not sure. Anyone have an order for troubleshooting for shorts? Any other hints for rewiring? Best way to clean and/or check connections, etc..?

also

2)The old VR had 3 posts and the ground wire was attached to the bracket mounting bolt. The new VR has a 4th screw on the back side but I hooked it up with the ground on the same bracket bolt as before. Should the ground wire go to the screw on the back?

Sooner or later I'll get it right....

 

[kmcconaughey]

Lisa, you might already have a copy of this but just in case, here's the electrical schematic for the 106.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Lisa, BTW, there is usually a small spark when you hook up the battery terminals but it shouldn't be like arc welding. Be sure the key is turned off when you hook up the battery. Check on your old VR, there should have been a bare, braided wire running from one of the mounting tabs to a terminal on the back of the VR, most likely this wire was crimped on. On the new VR if there is no ground wire running to one of the mounting tabs you'll need to run the ground to the 4th terminal. But then I could be wrong........

 

[kmcconaughey]

And just in case..... always connect the <font color="ff0000">+ Positive</font> terminal first, this way if you touch the chassis with the wrench, it won't arc. And when removing a battery always remove the - negative terminal first. Unless of course the vehicle is <font color="ff0000">+ positive</font> ground......

 

[jinfante]

does anyone have the clutch setting for a 1200?

 

[gsmyth]

Cub Cadet 1450, 1978 vintage...continued
Thanks to all who responded. Battery seemed too easy to be true--so it wasn't. Corrosion is gone. Battery is fully charged. I had a weak battery connector so I replaced it. No joy. Still get a click and whirring/whining sound but no motor turnover with key turn. Now looking for something called a "Bendix" gear, but the shop tells me it's $63+ shop/visitation cost. I'm no cheapie but that seems high for a nylon gear and brushes. I want to find and look before buying a assembly. I'm told I have to remove the starter motor on the right side of the engine --I'm thinking it's the larger cylinder shape under the coil. It looks like a simple bolt on from the bottom but it's a IH Cadet so there may be, well, stuff I need to look for or be careful of. Once that is off what do I look for? Can I see what I'm looking for directly or do I have to break down the starter motor? I have serial numbers for the tractor-- will I need them for parts or is there a "universal" motor? I'm not unhandy but should or can I do this myself or do I schedule a housecall? Anything else I need to consider? Do I have to remove both the motor and the coil? I have a parts manual pages from online viewer but I need to rely on others for best suggestions/alternatives for now.

 

[sblunier]

And remember....on a 30-40 year old tractor, RED isn't always Positive (+) and BLACK isn't always Negative (-).......things get repaired with whatever color wire is around.


ALWAYS, check.....then check AGAIN!!!!!

 

[sblunier]

Gary,

Remove the starter and thoroughly clean the bendix with brake cleaner first (spin it out and clean up the spiral gear etc.), then lube it with some dry film lubricant like Dri-Lube (NO OIL BASED PRODUCTS HERE) and try it again.

Your bendix is probably gunked up and not "throwing out" enough to grab the ring gear...common problem, easily solved.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Steve B., good point!

And, IMO, everyone should have a volt/ohm meter and know how to use it. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. Even a 12v test light will work for some basic testing.

 

[mhomulak]

I have an 128 and it recently started to have problems with the drive shaft. It seems to be slipping where it attaches to the rear end. The clutch seems fine but it makes a grinding noise and won't move when shifted into any gear and the clutch is released. Any suggestions. Thanks!