Hydro, belt, or pulley problem?

[farmcodan 1]

Not sure where to post this. Not sure it's really a problem. I have a 1993 314H. Toward the end of last summer it began acting a little different. On a cold start, more often than not the trans belt would jump off. This might happen 2 or 3 times and then no problems for as long as I ran it. (Start, stop, forward, backwards; whatever.) The belt was new beginning of summer. New filter and tranny fluid last spring.

If I pulled the cold start lever up sometimes it would idle for a while and go. Other times it would jump off.

Is my hydro going bad? Is it possible that the pulleys are misaligned? (How would I go about checking that?) One edge of the belt might be a little more worn than the other, tough to say.

Great site. Learned more about horses in the past year than I even considered might be out there. Thanks for any thoughts you might have.

[Kelly 1,028]

You do have the belt guard on right? I would check the idler pulley to see if it is worn, it should spin free with the belt removed and have no side play.

[Hydro 130]

I don't know for sure.... but I had the same issue with my 97 this fall. The belt was running off the idler. Everything "appeared" to be as listed in the schematic. I posted here about it but my small engine mechanic widened the slot on the cover plate and that let the idler move to the right and the problem was solved otherwise the back side of the belt rode up on the edge of the idler :confusion-shrug:

[farmcodan 1]

The cover is in place. The idler pulley seems to be right. Spins freely, no play. The belt comes from the hydro pulley and wants to roll onto the idler too far to the right. I tried easing the idler "out" from the body to line it up better. Jumped three or four times as I was getting my deck set up. Then I went out and mowed for an hour or so with absolutely no problems. I thought I had solved the problem, but as I was throttling down and parking it the belt jumped again. It sounds like its moving just like yours did Hydro. Thanks for your thoughts, I keep at it and see if I can make it work better.