Trouble. Maybe bad trouble. (Kind of Urgent)

Diggin It · Jul 27, 2019

Mowing along, everything seemed fine, grass a bit longer than usual, but cutting it easily.

Then the mower quit. No warning. No odd sounds. PTO light still on.

Shut the PTO down, drove up to a area along the driveway. Tried the PTO, nothing. No usual sound of engagement or movement of mower. Then I detected smoke from the rear, somewhere underneath, but couldn't tell exactly where.

Moved over to paved driveway. Forward, Reverse, 2WD, 4WD, Low, High all work. Loader works, 3 PT raises and lowers fine. Hydraulic Fluid level fine.

MMM moves freely, not bound up. With PTO in 'Rear', mower freewheels, no restriction. With PTO in 'Mid', mower turns OK, but I can feel the internal mechanism moving also.

Removed MMM.

Problem comes in when trying to engage PTO in either Rear or Mid. Again, nothing happens other than the light coming on. No sound of engagement and after only a second or two, I notice smoke. Obviously, I can't keep trying that.

As best I can see underneath, I can't see anything unusual. No grass wound around anything for example.

Call in to dealer, awaiting call back.

Ideas?

mslisaj · Jul 27, 2019

About 16 months or so ago Rider7767 had this exact same issue. I believe if you pull the left rear wheel there is an electromagnetic actuator there that actually engages the PTO. Rider I think found it loose which he thought allowed water to get in there and shorted out the windings. He had the smoke too from this device. I also believe it was a warranty repair and his dealer gave him the part to install as it was truly a simple repair. I don't know how you would search the LS forum for this thread but he had pictures of what happened and how he fixed it. Maybe send a PM to him and ask him about it. But don't worry Diggin It as it's not the end of the world. Good luck!

Diggin It · Jul 27, 2019

This doesn't smell like electrical smoke. More like friction smoke, like hot brakes.

But I do NOT hear that typical surge of the PTO engaging, so relay/activation could be a factor.

sodamo · Jul 27, 2019

Ouch, hope you get reasonable resolution, soon.

Diggin It · Jul 27, 2019

It's that solenoid. Picture below. Obvious burnt spot next to the wire input.

Bugger to get out. Requires removing the left wheel and BH 4 point bracket which is about 7 bolts and goes nearly forward of the brake pedal. Then re-torquing everything after reassembly. Solenoid body slides over shaft in PTO and was difficult to remove. Thought it might be swollen from heat.

Dealer is going to borrow one from another machine on their lot so I can get it without having to wait for shipping, but it'll be Monday before I can get it.

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Diggin It · Jul 27, 2019

This is the stud that the coil slides over, held by that one nut shown.

There's a pigtail on the coil with a two pin connector that plugs into this harness connector located to the left and above the coil. There is also a fuse in that bundle, so I'm not sure why that didn't blow.

Avenger · Jul 29, 2019

Diggin It said:
It's that solenoid. Picture below. Obvious burnt spot next to the wire input.

Bugger to get out. Requires removing the left wheel and BH 4 point bracket which is about 7 bolts and goes nearly forward of the brake pedal. Then re-torquing everything after reassembly. Solenoid body slides over shaft in PTO and was difficult to remove. Thought it might be swollen from heat.

View attachment 614662

Dealer is going to borrow one from another machine on their lot so I can get it without having to wait for shipping, but it'll be Monday before I can get it.

.

Oh good! It wasnt something more serious. Removing a few bolts and taking a tire off is much better than rebuilding the transmission!
And it was really nice of your dealer to take a part of a tractor in the lot and give it to you. That is a great dealer!

Diggin It · Jul 29, 2019

Yeah, he's OK. I could have waited for corporate to ship me one, but this was his idea. I wasn't going to argue. Picked it up this morning but haven't had a chance to put it on and try it yet.