Ferris IS2100z no power to left wheel

[stevem5215]

Yep, fan blades are there to keep the trans cool. A 75 day out isn't hot but the trans get hot from USE not from heat of day. Sure at 90 you need to worry more if a blade breaks off but overall you need to ensure the blades are there and working. I check mine after ever cut and blow the grass out underneath the seat. Overheating that trans is a bad idea and at the very least I'd fix the fan and replace filters (fluid drains out with filter removal) and refill with a good fluid like you mention. And pray you didn't damage anything internal. ZT4400's are gonna be an expensive fix if so. They are an extremely heavy duty transmission. (my Simplicity Citation XL has Zt3400's in it and my ZT-2500 has ZT2800's in it (less power).

 

[Notforhire]

Early on I discovered that grass clippings small sticks etc. seem to accumulate in the cupped hub of the fan and on top of the drive unit in general. Since new (2016) I have always blown out the debris after I finish mowing. This particular day I mowed for about an hour (starting with a clean machine, with fan blades), before discovering that the fan was broken. Since there is no temperature alarm on the drive unit and it isn't visible from the operators seat, I don't know what else I could have done to prevent this short of doing an inspection every five minutes. Honest boss the blades were there when I started mowing.

Now I'm assuming that it was a stick that decided to steal my blades, but I really have no evidence of that. There were no sticks, pieces of trash (or fan blades for that matter) found in the fan area. For all I know the fan fairy took them while I wasn't looking.
My 18 year old 1000Z also gets blown out after ever use, but generally it's pretty clean and doesn't accumulate clippings etc. like the ZT2100. The fans are mounted up high and also protected by a sheet metal guard. As far as the drive goes, IMO it's better design.
Don't get me wrong, the 2100 is an improvement. It's a great unit to operate. Because of the suspension it doesn't beat up my bad back like the old rigid frame 1000z and handles better on hills/irregular ground.

Yep, fan blades are there to keep the trans cool. A 75 day out isn't hot but the trans get hot from USE not from heat of day. Sure at 90 you need to worry more if a blade breaks off but overall you need to ensure the blades are there and working. I check mine after ever cut and blow the grass out underneath the seat. Overheating that trans is a bad idea and at the very least I'd fix the fan and replace filters (fluid drains out with filter removal) and refill with a good fluid like you mention. And pray you didn't damage anything internal. ZT4400's are gonna be an expensive fix if so. They are an extremely heavy duty transmission. (my Simplicity Citation XL has Zt3400's in it and my ZT-2500 has ZT2800's in it (less power).

 

[Carl_NH]

I guess you looked around the lawn to find the pieces of fan as this would give you some idea of how long you ran "unfanned" but seems the fan eating fairies took care of them!

I've been putting off changing my hydro filter since last year so this encouraged me to get it done. Originally done at 100 hours when I added the cooler, now at 390 (vs 250 per manual) just the filter and reservoir drained 1.5 qts. and the old 15-50 Mobil 1 was molasses color.

I hope you get your unit back on line soon.

 

[Notforhire]

I guess you looked around the lawn to find the pieces of fan as this would give you some idea of how long you ran "unfanned" but seems the fan eating fairies took care of them!

I've been putting off changing my hydro filter since last year so this encouraged me to get it done. Originally done at 100 hours when I added the cooler, now at 390 (vs 250 per manual) just the filter and reservoir drained 1.5 qts. and the old 15-50 Mobil 1 was molasses color.

I hope you get your unit back on line soon.

I actually just came in the house after a brief game of "fan blades, fan blades, where are the fan blades." No luck. I can't walk very far, so I'll take a second look after the ZT is operational.

My parts delivery dates are spread out over next week. As soon as the filters arrive I intend on draining at least the left side. I don't want to leave anything open if I can avoid it. The Mobil 1 isn't due till this Fri.

I think the oil cooler is a great idea! Unfortunately with the newer self contained units I don't think there's a way to hook one up. It would be money well spent, IMO.

I wish there was a simple way to soften the ride on my rigid frame machine. It's been one of the most trouble free machines I've ever owned. I tried a suspension seat. It was an improvement, but not enough.

 

[RandyT]

I actually just came in the house after a brief game of "fan blades, fan blades, where are the fan blades." No luck. I can't walk very far, so I'll take a second look after the ZT is operational.

My parts delivery dates are spread out over next week. As soon as the filters arrive I intend on draining at least the left side. I don't want to leave anything open if I can avoid it. The Mobil 1 isn't due till this Fri.

I think the oil cooler is a great idea! Unfortunately with the newer self contained units I don't think there's a way to hook one up. It would be money well spent, IMO.

I wish there was a simple way to soften the ride on my rigid frame machine. It's been one of the most trouble free machines I've ever owned. I tried a suspension seat. It was an improvement, but not enough.

No way to connect a cooler on that system. Heck the separate pump motor systems if working properly don't move that much oil by comparison back into the system for filtering. The hydrostat system is best described as a closed loop system. The oil that is in the pump/hoses/motor gets moved back and forth within that loop system and the only oil that is recovered, returned to the overflow tank and then filtered and pumped back into the system is do to the pump inefficiency loss.

 

[stevem5215]

The best you can do on a non suspension model is to lower the rear tire pressures. I'd suggest instead of 15lbs use 10-12lbs. Makes a difference on my ZT2500 with front suspension only.

 

[cnrenterprises]

The machine is driven by two Hydro Gear ZT transmissions ZT-4400™ - Hydro-Gear.
Everything is self contained, one unit for each drive wheel.
I haven't gotten a chance to look into how the parking brake arrangement works.
The only thing wrong that I could find is the broken/missing fan blades.
For a machine that is designed to run all day long in summer heat, I would be surprised if it would overheat after one hour (max) in 75 deg. weather.

I was unable to look at it today, but tomorrow I can lift it up and really look things over.

See page 8 of the Manual for trouble shooting. Your issues are likely one of the ones listed. You can access them from the link you posted.

 

[Buckeye Guy]

I have the exact same mower and have owned it for 7 years now. Twice mine has done the same thing on the left side. Once, it was just a touch low on the reservoir tank, added not even a cup of oil and then it was fine. Second time, a stick (or something) partially dislodged the release lever underneath the pump (the lever used to release the valve for moving). I opened and closed the lever a few times, put it back and it was fine ever since. Doesn't explain your missing fan blades though. Surprised you didn't hear that happen, were you able to find any of the blades in your yard? Might help to explain how it happened.

 

[POGuy]

I have the exact same mower and have owned it for 7 years now. Twice mine has done the same thing on the left side. Once, it was just a touch low on the reservoir tank, added not even a cup of oil and then it was fine. Second time, a stick (or something) partially dislodged the release lever underneath the pump (the lever used to release the valve for moving). I opened and closed the lever a few times, put it back and it was fine ever since. Doesn't explain your missing fan blades though. Surprised you didn't hear that happen, were you able to find any of the blades in your yard? Might help to explain how it happened.

I lost those little blades once. Ran over a curved piece of bamboo while cutting along a hedge. Had a bad feeling as I watched it go under the deck then heard a quick "zip" sound, less than a second long, sure enough, blades gone. Never would have heard it unless I'd seen it happen in real time !

 

[Buckeye Guy]

I lost those little blades once. Ran over a curved piece of bamboo while cutting along a hedge. Had a bad feeling as I watched it go under the deck then heard a quick "zip" sound, less than a second long, sure enough, blades gone. Never would have heard it unless I'd seen it happen in real time !

Wow, guess it doesn't take much to knock the blades off. I wear noise cancelling headphones when I mow, so I most likely wouldn't hear it either