GX 345 engine noise

[D Long]

Bought a used gx345 kawasaki fd611v engine 515 hours it's obvious tractor has been well maintained but I hear a noise in lower engine area thought it was pto clutch removed it to rebuild or replace but cranked tractor to move and noise is still there the pto does have a rough upper bearing but even with it off it sounds the same any thoughts or suggestions

 

[tomplum]

I'd say go a step further to take the tension of the drive belt and drop the drive pulley. That takes the drive system out of the equation. Welcome to TBN.

 

[jaydee325]

Agree with tomplum. I had a 325 garden tractor and had a noise that I traced down to a tensioner pulley on the main drive belt.

Another time, I traced a strange noise down to a chunked out main drive belt.