1998 518xi hydro is sluggish

[ragtoppers 0]

I picked up a 1998 518xi yesterday. Only ever tinkered with my older horses and 8 speeds. This is my first hydro. It seems that when moving the pedal forward, I don't have alot of ground speed (not as much as would be expected anyway). Fluid level looks ok. Is there an adjustment somewhere or am I looking at something alot more involved? The prior owner tweeked the throttle so now it sounds like it has alot of torque and no speed. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Oh yeah, I hope it was a good deal besides this. Only 338 hrs, 52" deck - $1000...what do you think. Just needs a paint job, it's pretty faded.

[rickv1957 76]

Not real familiar with the 518 but the hydro linkage should be adjustable,hopefully that is all it needs,Rick

[shallowwatersailor 3,216]

I think that I looked at that same tractor. In Gaithersburg, right? My thoughts were that the carb needed adjustment because it "hunted" so much. I passed because I needed a good working unit and was tired of cutting 3/4 acre with my JD 14SB. That is a good deal though!

Try running some Seafoam Deep Creep through it. That sometimes works in situations like this.

Download the Hydraulic Service Manual at the Toro website too. That might help.

John

[ragtoppers 0]

Hi John, yes it is the tractor from Gaithersburg! Small world huh? I changed the hydro oil and filter yesterday and it seemed to make a difference already. Going to try to adjust the linkage today.

Thanks for the info on the Seafoam. I'll give it a shot. Might have my farmer neighbor take a look at the carb to see how we can get it running smooth.

Ordered some parts for the deck too because of the broken off roller on the front of the deck. Didn't see that until I got it home , would have tried to talk him down more.

In a couple weeks I'm going to have a friend of mine who paints cars give my new toy a paint job. I can't bare to look at that faded paint!

What attachments do you have for your 518xi? I have my eyes on a used 2 stage snowthrower. It is at my local Toro dealer for $850. Waiting on my other tractor to sell before I try to strike a deal on the blower.

Darren