When you are tipping the mower and you say it smooths out the engine surging, you are causing either water or contaminate away from the fuel jet and pickup tube in the carb. You need to clean the fuel system again to remove the contaminate out of your system. I always tell the customer to replace the fuel in their fuel cans when they have this problem and I clean the carbs.

 

Heh, heh! Best actual chuckle of the day so far!


You sound like a remarkably nice guy. A wife who cleans your mower so it doesn't work and then runs over the gas cap, and you are still hanging on to her?

 

Hey guys i have a very strange problem with a Toro personal pace 20017 walk behind. the thing comes into the shop with a complaint of the self propel not working. apparently the customers husband ordered a ton of new parts for the self propel function and assembled it but it still did not work so they brought it to us. after poking around a bit, i pulled the wheels off and, Voila!, the gears are laying in the bottom of the wheels with all the hardware. a few washers and one of the woodruff keys were lost. a simple trip to ace hardware fixed her right up.

after reassembly i tested it on the shop floor and it worked great. so we called the customer and they picked it up happy as can be. so a week later they called back, this time complaining that the mower wont self propel on grass. I figured they were just not explaining the problem correctly. so i took it and pulled the wheel off and again, the parts were laying in the bottom of the wheel. this time however, i found one of the E-Clips was broken if half?? Never seen an eclip break that way especially on a simple self propel system.

so again i gathered the necessary hardware, reassembled it and was working again. this time i took it to a "testing field" out back. It propels itself all the way to the grass but as soon as the rear wheels get in the grass, it stops. like stops. you can push it easy enough, but there is no self propelling going on. if you raise the back end up, the wheels spin and fast with the lever all the way in.

i looked at the belt. the pulleys(although not entirely certain what to look for), and inside the trany. everything looks good. the belt tightens up when engaged. the only theory i have left is the belt itself slips when under load, but only in grass? i believe we have a belt on the shelf so i gonna just go ahead and try it out. however the customers paperwork shows they purchased a new belt as well.

anybody have any good theories? also, what type of wear im a looking for on the pulleys?

thanks for any help

 

First check to see that they have not sheared the blade coupler key boss which also holds the drive pulley. Second could be that the cable to the self propel is adjusted too loose. That should cover the possibilities with that unit unless the pin in the axle that keeps the trans from shifting the bevel gears apart has also sheared.

 

ok one of my coworkers took a look and on a hunch spun one of the wheel gears around and no it drives great in grass. i was really shocked at such a simple goof. but in case anyone else has a similar problem, check the wheel gears for correct orientation.

still though im baffled as to why it would propel on concrete but not grass. could the CoF in grass be that high?

 

on the outside edge of the gears is a L or R. the L is out on the left and so on. If you have the wrong letter out then the dog will not pick up and drive the gear. On the personal pace, if you push on the upper handle and hold the unit in place, you will make the wheels spin on the pavement. If not you have the gears on with the wrong side out.

 

I have a 1 1/2 year old Toro 20066 mower with a personal pace system that does not work. The self-propelled feature does not move the mower forward when the activation bar is pushed. If I continue to manually push the mower, smoke starts coming out of the rear. The mower will not roll backward at all as if the rear wheels are locked. Does anyone know what is wrong with this mower?

 

First you will need to remove the spark plug wire from the plug for safety. Next lift the mower up on edge with the air filter up. The smoke is you drive belt slipping on the transmission pulley. You want to see if a small stick has jamed between the belt and the pulley on the transmission. This is the biggest item on this unit I see coming into the shop. You might have to replace your drive belt if you smoked it too much. If you do not find anything between the belt and the transmission pulley, you might have to see if you transmission is froze up since you can not pull the mower backwards. This unit the transmission must spin backwards when you pull in reverse. If the transmission is froze you should still be in warrenty at one year and a half old. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the reply. I didn't see a stick in the pulley or belt (although one may be there). Since the mower does not roll backward, would that indicate that the transmission is bad and is the cause of my problem?

 

This model has a spring loaded key in the axle that slips when you push foward without the engine running. When you pull in reverse, the transmission must spin in reverse. Your transmission is not allowing you to pull in reverse and will not power with the engine running means that the transmission has a problem.

 

CK:

I have a 20332 that is less than two years old. Last time I cut with it a metalic sounds started when I would depress the handle. I stopped pretty quickly and now no self propelled action occurs.

I am able to pull the mower backwards up when the engine is off.
I have split the transmission open and everything looks OK and as noted in many of your other threads there are no sticks or anyting else inpeding the belt anywhere. Both of the pins that run through the gears are intact (although I find it odd that there is a washer behind the pin and between the gear.. seems to not let the gears actually be engaged).

Any thougts..?? Thanks so much for your help and support..!!

 

I'm hoping someone can offer some advice. I have a Toro Personal Pace #20332 lawn mower, 2 years old, that's seen a lot of use. It will go on grass on it's own but I still wind up having to add some push power myself.
If I push the personal pace handle down and lift the back of the mower up so the back wheels are off the ground both rear wheels spin around - a good thing. When it's off the ground like this if I put my foot gently against the right wheel the wheel continues to spin - a good thing. But if I put my foot very gently against the left wheel the left wheel stops spinning instantly (the right wheel keeps spinning).
My thought is maybe I should spend $7 and replace the worn gear (the one that's on the axle and moves the left wheel) to see if that is the problem. Hoping someone can diagnose this.
Thanks,
Tom

 

The differential allows one wheel to turn without the other, just like in a car. If you stop the right wheel, the left doesn't keep spinning?

 

The transmission has a differential setup with one wheel or the other being able to spin freely. The real way to test this is to lightly lift the mower up as you push on the handle and the wheels in grass or other surface to drag lightly to see if both wheels drive. If you feel you are having to push too much, you can check you cable adjustment to the handle bar clamp on the side bar. Loosen the nut and pull the housing towards the mower as this will take slak out of the inner cable. Hope this helps.

 

Cheese and Camino Kid - thanks for your responses.

 

I have a Toro 20066 and have just replaced the transmission. I started it up after the replacement and now it doesn't even self propel!! And believe this or not when killed it will not pull backwards without dragging the back wheels!! And when started it does fine except the transmission must not be engaging at all. I adjusted the cable thinking it could be that but still not working. So I am at a loss as to now know what to do. I did check the outside pinion gears and made sure the wheels would roll backwards so could I still have mispositioned the wheel gears? And can u get the transmission back on backwards to make it not work? As you know you must pull the new transmission apart to install and tighten the pulley on the pinion.

 

Take the gears off the axle shaft and look at the side of the gears. You will see an R or L. Put them on the mower with the "R" facing out on the Right side of the mower and the "L" facing out on the left. The right and left sides are as you are standing behind the mower.

 

My original upper handle broke and I'm in the process of disassembling the broken one and reinstalling the parts on the new, but I can't figure out how to get the handle off? Is there an easy way to slide the handle over the guides?

 

All I can say is it takes some mussel to slid it off. It sounds as if you are trying to replace the upper plastic slide. Unhook every thing and then work the handle over the upper metal tubing handle. It is not the easiest. Take your model numbers and serial to this site and look at the handle. You might have to remove the side slides first. A lot depends on the mode.

https://lookup3.toro.com/partdex/index.cfm?xCaller=Toro

 

In the Toro "Toro Walk Behind Manual Drive Systems" manual, they say to make a tool to help get the handle off; don't know if it applies to all models:

 

Is there anything special I need to know about the 20092 model (s/n 280017640)? Do the previous remarks about the other cast-deck models apply? I have both the no-backy-uppy problem (mostly on the R side), the grinding-gears problem (mostly on the L side), and the L side is clearly not pulling its share of the load. I've taken the L side apart, and found the inner bushing on the pivot arm, pinion gear and wheel gear pretty badly worn, but don't really know what signs of wear I should be looking for elsewhere. Uncovered the Gearcase and it looked OK, but who knows?

The plan now is to fix up the axles and see how it performs. So far I'm planning on replacing the pivot arm bushings, pinion gear, and wheel/gear assembly. Should I just plan on replacing all the parts on each axle side, other than obviously-reusable stuff?

 

My self propel on my 2 y.o. Toro 20016 went out. I could only get it to propel if I pulled the handle approximately 50% of the way. So, I replaced the belt. Now, it doesn't propel at all. I noticed that the belt was kinda loose (like I could tug on it about an inch). I assume it needs to be tightened? If so, how?

Thanks very much for helping the mechanically u-ninclined!

 

I don't have one of these steel-deck PP mowers, but I'm wondering if the gears are interchangeable. Usually the R means it's a right-side gear, and the R goes on the outside. ("L" on the outside of the left-hand gear.) It looks like the gears might be interchangeable if they were reversed -- that is, a gear marked "R" might be usable on the left side if the R were placed on the inside. Does anybody know for sure?

 

Update: I replaced the worn bushings on the pivot arm, pinion gear, and wheel on the left side. The grinding-gears noise went away, and the left side actually helps drive the mower now. Jury is still out on the no-backy-uppy problem. Doing the same for the right side this week.

Looks like the owner's manual advice on lubrication is no joke. Also, the inner pivot arm bushing doesn't get much grease via the Zerk fitting on the pivot arm, and was MUCH more worn than the outer bushing. So as part of my annual maintenance from now on, I'm going to take both axles apart, clean and lube everything. Thankfully my gearcase (aka transmission) looks fine and is still full of grease.

 

The gear will have an R on one side of it and an L on the other side. The gears are the same but directional. If you can only see the R on a gear then put the R side inboard direction.

 

The cable is adjustable on the side of the handle bar. Loosen the nut on the cable holder and move it toward the deck and tighten. A little movement will do a lot. Make sure your belt is correct and on the pulleys properly.

 

Final (I hope) update:
Have now replaced everything that looked worn on both sides, as well as both wheels, which were probably not worn enough to worry about. R side was worn much less than L side, but in the same way -- mostly the inner pivot bushing. The inner and outer bushings look and measure identically, but there's a significant difference in cost. I wonder if the inner bushing is meant to be sacrificial? As mentioned earlier, it doesn't get any grease from the Zerk fitting. It's a bad design, but periodic disassembly and lubing should help considerably/

 

I am replacing one of the drive wheels on my mower and there is a spacer that seats into the wheel cover and with that spacer in the threads for the bolt are not even coming through to see where I can attach the nut. Taking the spacer out I can install it but it is not correct. Their is a video by Repair Clinic on Youtube that shows how to do it. The problem is they show a white wheel cover and I have a black one. Anyone have any knowledge about this. It's such a simple repair and very annoying. I can seat it in the hole in the dust cover where it is supposed to go but its almost like I am doing something wrong because it is not allowing me to get the wheel bolt through enough to thread it.

 

Here is a link to the parts diagram. Check and see if your assembly matches.


Parts and Diagrams for Toro Consumer 20036, Super Recycler Mower, 2004 (SN 240000001-240999999)

 

I'd like to believe the color has nothing to do with it, but one never knows. In my mower (a 20092), you have to grab the axle under the deck and pull it outward as you install the final parts on the axle. That takes up slop from somewhere and makes the axle and all its parts move further outward. (I have a black cover, FWIW.)

But it sounds like your problem is wholly contained in the wheel? Are you sure the wheel cover is seating properly down over the axle? Does your new wheel look like the old wheel? Can you re-install the old wheel?

 

make sure your nut is seated in the recess in the height adjuster back side. the spacer has a shoulder that seats into the gear cover. you will have to hold the nut in place as you insert the bolt through the wheel and cover with spacer. I usually tell the owners to position the height adjuster in the highest position as that makes it easier to hold the nut in the recess.

 

I have a 20334. The personal pace got to where it was not pulling strong up hills or going as fast as it used to. I adjusted the cable tension, but now I get a grinding noise when I engage the self propelled handle.

 

I have the Toro 20018 the gears were grinding when engaging self propelled. I replaced the gears on the axle, the gears on the wheels do not appear to be worn. Worked for a short time but the gears are again grinding and slipping when you first engage. Took the wheels of and the axle gears are worn down again. Any thoughts? Do I need to replace the wheels too? Bearing issues? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Closing thread. Its been hijack many times. Please start new..

Thanks.