LTX 1142 KW Oil Change & PTO spinning
 

Hi All,

I am new to this forum, and wanted to share my experience changing the oil for the first time on my LTX 1142 KW with the Kawasaki FR600V engine.

This fairly new lawn tractor came with my house purchase and just ticked past the 50 hour mark. So, I decide to change the oil and filter. Should be 10-15 minute job right?

First, I went to the dealer to buy a replacement oil filter. I bought the filter and took it home. When I compared the filter to the original, it was about 1/2 an inch shorter, but looked like the right diameter. I decided to go back to the dealer and check. All they could find was that the new filter was the part number listed for the engine serial number (no comment about changing the filter size on this model).

So, I warm up the engine to get the oil warm before draining. Then, I see this strange oil drain setup. A plastic fitting with a T opening; looks like it is meant to direct the oil away from the engine. Ok, I go to the store and buy a piece of 1/2" I.D. tubing to fit on the nipple. Back to the shop to drain the oil. I back off the plastic bolt to let the oil out, and finally it starts to flow slowly. I leave it to drain for 20 minutes and return to find that only 1.2 litres have drained out of a 1.8 litre sump. I try blocking up the opposite side wheels to get more oil to flow etc... I find the plastic fitting that is screwed into the sump drain hole is actually loose, and seems to let more oil out if I press it down (counter clockwise direction). Still does not let much more oil out of the sump. I decide it must actually be empty and remove the plastic bolt. The last 0.3 litres (300 ml) pours out and runs back toward the base of the engine and starts dripping all over my PTO electric clutch. Lots of swearing and condemning the engineers that couldn't design a direct oil to ground path!

Now to clean the oil, I remove the mower deck. I have to remove the belt guard to get the belt off of the PTO. Clean the oil off of the PTO clutch and pulleys.

Change the filter, add new oil, and start the lawn tractor to fill the filter. The machine starts fine, and the suddenly starts to buck and shimmy like something is out of alignment.

Shut down machine, and check oil. Needs a bit more oil now that the filter is full. Add oil and start machine. Bucking and shimmy start almost immediately. Shut down machine.

Look underneath, and see PTO clutch wires have been ripped out. Apparently the only thing stopping the clutch from spinning is the belt guard.

Re-wire the PTO clutch and install mower deck and belt guard. Start machine and it runs fine and the clutch works.

Lesson learned 1: do not run this machine without the belt guard, even if you don't have a belt to guard.

Lesson learned 2: poor engineering makes my blood boil!

Question 1: How do you remove the plastic fitting from the sump if you want to install a fitting that will work? There is not enough room to turn the fitting all the way around without hitting the frame.

Question 2: Will the oil change light and message reset itself? and do you know when if this is the case?

Thanks!
Tom