[S854]

Mowing the field the other day the mower drive belt was impaled by a short 1/8" diameter hunk of wire... something that would maybe be used to tie re-bar orders together...

Anyway, the belt and the wire hunk went around about 12 times and before I got the presence of mind to shut the darn thing off, the belt broke... it was making the same kind of racket I'm now hearing from the engine... a knocking...

I haven't taken the electric clutch apart yet... the sound definitely is louder towards the front of the engine...

Any other things I might consider? Here's a video of the noise...

Oh... and the noise will go away if I spray lubricant (Deep Creep) between the engine and the clutch... go figure...

 

[larrybl]

I would check the clutch. Pull the hood and sides so you can get a good look at it. Hopefully didn't damage the engine PTO bearing.

 

[tomw0]

It seems the noise is definitely on the clutch side of the sheet metal, so is likely within the clutch. I do not think it is engine knock. As you move the camera around, the sound changes depending on which side of the 'air deflector'(?) it is on. Louder towards the rear of the tractor.
I am afraid you'll have to take it apart to know. Does the sound change if the belt is removed? I could not see if there was a belt installed. Does the sound change if the clutch is engaged? That would potentially limit the sound source to clutch parts fumbling around when they are disengaged, and making less noise when they move 'as one piece'.
tom

 

[38racing]

The clutch is held by some anti rotation bracket or pin. Maybe it moved and clutch is banging from too much free play.

 

[Forest Gump]

The clutch is held by some anti rotation bracket or pin. Maybe it moved and clutch is banging from too much free play.

Right: you need to get into the clutch area and inspect and quit running it. Them cluthes can get pricy.

Hopefully it's not the electric clutch wires hung up in the clutch and damaged. That bailing wire was circling through the clutch pulley.

Is that noise with the clutch dis-engauged?

 

[no2498]

if it's not the clutch look at the lifters

john

 

[S854]

The clutch is held by some anti rotation bracket or pin. Maybe it moved and clutch is banging from too much free play.

DING DING DING!!! We have a winner...

There's a bracket bolted to the front of the engine... two ears of the bracket ride on the clutch frame to keep it from rotating... it was just a little out of adjustment...

This explains why when I sprayed the DeepCreep into the clutch the noise went away... there wasn't enough drag on the clutch 'plate' to make the frame bang against the bracket...

Oh... and I found the clutch had in excess of .030" of air gap on one of the adjusters... I ran them all down to .012"... sound right?

Thanks to all for your replies... I like tinkering with things... it's just more fun when you know where to tinker and why...

 

[dave_r]

Examine that bracket for wear, as if it's been "banging" for awhile, it may be worn.

If that bracket wears through, then the outer shell of the pto clutch is free to rotate, and the wiring harness winds up getting damaged from being pulled by the pto as it spins.

 

[S854]

Re: "engine" knock or something else? FIXED!!!

Examine that bracket for wear, as if it's been "banging" for awhile, it may be worn.

The total time it had been running -- from when I picked up the debris to the time I drove it into the shop for repairs -- was less than 5 minutes.

I pulled the clutch to inspect it (that's when I discovered the mal-adjusted air gap) and there wasn't any wear on it or the bracket where they were hammering together... the total gap between them was something I'd probably have to measure with a feeler gauge... regardless, they're tight now...

If anyone was wondering... here's a picture of the clutch/bracket... the red arrows are the two adjusting bolts, the green arrow was where my gap/noise was coming from and the yellow is where I put some DeepCreep which silenced the noise initially (it's also one of three places where I measured the air gap)...

Glad Julie's tractor is functional again (so is she!)...

 

[38racing]

The torque on that clutch is critical. For 7/16 bolt its 50-55 ft lbs.