Backing up about a year. G1900, later production, 54". Runs awesome. Had zero issues with it last year other than running out of fuel on the last mowing. I get almost 19 hours on a tank of fuel. Anyway, I refilled it, finished the last mowing of the season, then pulled the deck, sharpened the blades, replaced gearbox fluid & cleaned the breather, replaced air filter, both fuel filters, engine oil and it's filter, bled fuel system, replaced HST fluid and filter (Super UDT2) and just checked it over. Finished by removing the rear fender and hood, and giving everything a good washing with the then new Yamaha power washer.
It sat all winter, from November through March. Out in a storage building with no heat or a/c.
Fired it up this last March to move a small trailer. Little sluggish at first but it cleared up nicely, as expected after sitting, and it was about 45 degrees that day. I let it run about a minute or so at just off idle speed, so about 2000 RPM give or take (no tach obviously). Get on it, raise the deck, hit HST pedal to go forward and it sits still. After a few seconds it makes a lot of noise and then finally takes off. Finished what I was doing, parked it in the shop and let it sit overnight. Came back out the next morning to check the HST fluid thinking maybe it was a little low from last year's service. Nope. If anything it is a shade high, but maybe 1/16" over the high line on the level gauge. Nothing worth being concerned with, IMO. April comes around and I have to start mowing onions. Same deal. Starts fine, HST is non existent and after maybe 30 seconds to a minute, it will make noise and take off-although noisy. Revving the engine helps make things start happening sooner. Shut engine off, even hot, and restart after a minute, same thing. Like it loses it's prime. Something else I noticed is that when I go to raise the mowing deck, the HST will slow down. If I hold it in the raised position, the HST will get real noisy and eventually stop working. When this happens, it freewheels as if you were to move a release lever, will head down the hill like in neutral. Also noticed that there is some residue near the HST fill cap on the back of the transaxle. HST fan is in perfect condition; as are both U-joints as I bought it with failed joints a few years ago.
I do not see any signs of any kind of external leakage, no spots, and when the fender was off last year, there were some dry clippings around the top but nothing indicating any fluid leakage.
y'all got any ideas? Mowing season is finally done-and it got a workout this year. Mowed twice a week for 2 months due to a really wet summer, so I didn't have any time-nor a spare mower-to do anything with it. The HST screen is clean-I cleaned it last year and again about midway through this season, both times did not find one speck of metal or dirt or anything else on it. It was also spotless when I got the mower.
It sat all winter, from November through March. Out in a storage building with no heat or a/c.
Fired it up this last March to move a small trailer. Little sluggish at first but it cleared up nicely, as expected after sitting, and it was about 45 degrees that day. I let it run about a minute or so at just off idle speed, so about 2000 RPM give or take (no tach obviously). Get on it, raise the deck, hit HST pedal to go forward and it sits still. After a few seconds it makes a lot of noise and then finally takes off. Finished what I was doing, parked it in the shop and let it sit overnight. Came back out the next morning to check the HST fluid thinking maybe it was a little low from last year's service. Nope. If anything it is a shade high, but maybe 1/16" over the high line on the level gauge. Nothing worth being concerned with, IMO. April comes around and I have to start mowing onions. Same deal. Starts fine, HST is non existent and after maybe 30 seconds to a minute, it will make noise and take off-although noisy. Revving the engine helps make things start happening sooner. Shut engine off, even hot, and restart after a minute, same thing. Like it loses it's prime. Something else I noticed is that when I go to raise the mowing deck, the HST will slow down. If I hold it in the raised position, the HST will get real noisy and eventually stop working. When this happens, it freewheels as if you were to move a release lever, will head down the hill like in neutral. Also noticed that there is some residue near the HST fill cap on the back of the transaxle. HST fan is in perfect condition; as are both U-joints as I bought it with failed joints a few years ago.
I do not see any signs of any kind of external leakage, no spots, and when the fender was off last year, there were some dry clippings around the top but nothing indicating any fluid leakage.
y'all got any ideas? Mowing season is finally done-and it got a workout this year. Mowed twice a week for 2 months due to a really wet summer, so I didn't have any time-nor a spare mower-to do anything with it. The HST screen is clean-I cleaned it last year and again about midway through this season, both times did not find one speck of metal or dirt or anything else on it. It was also spotless when I got the mower.