I was gifted a used 2009 Bobcat zero turn mower. Did not run, needed some work. Complaint from PO was hard to steer, hard to crank, his local repair guy did not want to work on it so he bought one from TSC and called me and said come get it if I wanted it. So, I ended up fixing the carb, slightly filthy and choke did not work, replaced PTO switch, new battery, new fuel pump, old one leaked fuel into crankcase, so oil change and filter. Still very hard to crank, check out ignition coils and they were marginal, replaced them. Cranks in 4 seconds and runs great. I mowed a little bit with it and decided I would do hydraulic oil and filter change. I cranked it up and started to drive it to garage to work on it and right pump started making a horrible noise and machine would only move in response to left steering lever. Now, here is the question. I can buy a new pump for $550 or so. I have gotten different advice, one, go ahead and just replace the one that died, two, replace both of them. Unit has 1019 hours on it. Never used commercially. Looks to be a straight forward repair, just time consuming. Don't really have the $550 to spend on it much less double that to replace two of them. Any thoughts on which way to go? It would sure be a step up from my old Cub Cadet and Snapper riding mowers.
Before you go spending money,pull the unit out and have a look at it.
For all you know it could be nothing more than the drive pulley spinning on the shaft or the bearing behind it.
With my bad knees and aching back took a bit longer than I thought to take it all apart. The pump was seized. Two things had happened and not sure of the sequence. The lower seal just about the pulley had blown and there was a bunch of oil sprayed all over the underside of the engine. When I took the pump apart, I found 4 or 5 bearings jammed in between the piston pump and the pump housing. I later discovered that the bearing had come from the thrust bearing and there were pieces of the bearing cage in various places. I freed it all up and not sure whether I should just buy new parts for the pump and give it a go for fixing it or just buy a new pump. Looks like new bearings and seals would be in the $100-125 range. The head does not look damaged or scarred in any way. A new replacement pump would be $550 or so depending on the source and who has one in stock. A Bobcat dealer said he would advise me to replace both pumps and both drive motors or buy a whole new unit and he would allow me $500 for my machine. Such a guy, he does not understand what being on a fixed income means, I reckon. How likely is the other pump to go out? I plan on flushing the system, drain both drive motors and refill with new 15w40 and a new filter. Suggestions, comments?
Thanks
Michael
The big problem is now there will be little bits of schrapnel all through that drive.
So just like in Air Crash Investigations, you need to account for every last scrap of the collapsed bearings.
All of the balls / rollers and all of the cages , including the rivets .
Good thing is it will really only be time which you sound like you have a reasonable supply of .
bad side is it must be kept very clean because dust will destroy the new pump in no time flat .
You should also check the motor
Drop in pump & motor units are cheaper than buying them singularly.
Down side it will not be cheap .
Mulligans have always been my go to for hydro work till I found a local repair agent.
They have been brutally honest with me on several occasions up to the point of not selling me anything.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
My Lawnmower Forum
101.7K posts
15.6K members
Since 2010
A forum community dedicated to lawnmower owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!