[ford4wd08]

I think I have my idler spring for my secondary belt hooked up incorrectly. I cannot find a picture of it in the service diagram. Should the idler pulley move with clutch operator, or is the variator only supposed to move? My idler is moving when I depress the clutch and hitting my fender pan. The more I think about it, I don't think this pulley should have to move which leads me to believe I have the spring hooked up incorrectly.....

 

[backwoods]

I thought something wrong as well but the 110 112 ,212 all hit the pan if I push the clutch down all the way. I'm still not sure if this is normal either.

 

[ford4wd08]

I was able to push the floor to the pan before and it not hit. I'll have to figure this out. 

 

[ford4wd08]

I think I've thought it through and figured it out. The belt is getting stuck in the variator because it's not moving properly when clutch is depressed. It's pulling on the belt more than usual and pushing the idler into the pan. I'm going to remove the variator one day this week and clean it and lube it up well. 

 

[backwoods]

If it works let me know cause I have two I'll have to tear apart.

 

[Kster526]

yes when you push the petal in that pulley comes up to take tension off to stop the tractor from moving . You may need some further adjustments which can sometimes test your patience. If the variator pulley is stuck you need to free that up first. Then go from there.

 

[ford4wd08]

yes when you push the petal in that pulley comes up to take tension off to stop the tractor from moving . You may need some further adjustments which can sometimes test your patience. If the variator pulley is stuck you need to free that up first. Then go from there.

I'm going to take the mowing deck off this week so I can get under it and see it all. I bought some dry lube with teflon in it I plan on using for the variator lube. I'm going to get the belts off and spray it down with carb cleaner or the like and ensure I can still move it easily by hand, then I'll lube it up and make sure it moves freely. I'll try my best to get the variator and clutch adjustments right, this is really trying my patience! 

 

[ford4wd08]

I looked at my variator and cleaned and lubed it. I'm afraid it's wore out. I can rock the center sheave on the shaft. I haven't tore it down to measure it, but I feel like it's too loose. Looking for a used assembly I can measure and rebuild if necessary. Anyone have one for sale?

 

[Kster526]

Not me. Sounds like some E-bay shopping

 

[ford4wd08]

Picked one up used on ebay. 40 bucks for the assembly, says in very good assembly. We will find out!

 

[ford4wd08]

Just checked mother deeres prices on the variatior parts. Holy crap, more than I paid for the whole tractor to replace the bearing surfaces and sheaves. I'll try my used one out, if it doesn't work, I might eliminate the whole concept and just put a pulley setup in that doesn't adjust. We will have to see. 

 

[ford4wd08]

Well I got to put my ebay variator assembly in today. After looking at this one, the bearing surface for the sheaves looked like a mirror and the center sheave would easily fall by gravity if I held it on it's side without binding. My old one seemed to be able to bind due to the wear in the same test. I got it in and replaced some added a washer to the clutch linkage where the variator spring hooks into it. Slapped it all together and after much tinkering and adjustment it's working like a charm! First time since I've owned this tractor that I have a correctly working variator. I will say I had to play with the adjustment. I tried to service manual method and never had much luck.Today I just left the tractor running and made the adjustments while sitting on it and ensuring the clutch was in a good position according to the variator handle. Needless to say I'm a happy camper.

 

[Kster526]

Sometimes its better this way. Glad you were able to figure it out and make it work correctly.

 

[ford4wd08]

Back to original intent of this thread. With everything adjusted correctly, the idler should not hit the fender pan. If it does, it's most likely bound in the variator and pulling on the secondary belt more than normal. 

 

[backwoods]

Now when I get a chance I have two that I need to take a closer look at to.make sure they are in proper working order. Thanks for the help on this issue.

 

[ford4wd08]

Now when I get a chance I have two that I need to take a closer look at to.make sure they are in proper working order. Thanks for the help on this issue.

No problem. I'm also learning that you shouldn't operate the clutch without the engine running. It is basically the same as using the variator without it running. Hard habit to break from starting larger tractors and equipment.