Time for a tune up!

A few days ago, I posted about tuning up a push mower. Today, i'll be going through the process of tuning up a riding mower! There isn't much difference, only a little. So I found this mower a few days ago online and decided to go check it out. After working out a great deal with the guy, I trailered it home. He thought the spindle on the deck (the thing that spins the blade) was broken because he has had a problem with them in the past. After I got it home and looked around, the chute going up to the bag was pretty clogged up, which backed up grass under the deck. It was so packed in there it was keeping the pulleys/blades from spinning. This also burnt up the deck belt since it was spinning but the pulleys weren't. After cleaning it all out, I replaced the deck belt and it all worked great! With that being the only problem, I decided to give it a complete tuneup before listing it for sell. Let's get to it!

To start with, I drained the oil because it takes awhile. While this is draining you can utilize your time more efficiently rather than doing everything else first, then doing oil last and waiting. All oil drains are different, but on mine I popped the yellow cap of the end, then turned the black plastic counter clockwise and pulled out to drain the oil. I used a little piece of hose to try and direct it away from the frame. As you can see it was a little loose.

While that's draining I popped the spark plugs in. Simply remove the boot and I used a 5/8" socket and ratchet to remove both plugs. Since this engine is a v twin (2 cylinders), it has 2. Yours may only have 1, it depends. These plugs surprisingly didn't look horrible.

After that I switched out the air filter. Mine was located at the top and accessible after loosening the two screws on top. This looked pretty bad...

By this time your oil may be done draining. On mine when it was finished I just pushed the plastic piece back in and turned it clockwise. Then I moved over to the oil filter. Some do not have these, however most do. Step 1: loosen filter, step 2: get mad because theres no way to keep oil from going everywhere. But really, just put a rag under it and that will catch most of the mess. Of course have a drain pan underneath as well. Be sure the old gasket is not left on it, otherwise the next filter will leak. The second picture is what it will look like if the gasket is removed, how you want it to look. When installing the new filter, lightly coat the gasket (the black rubber ring on the filter) with oil.

Before I go on to anything else i'll put the oil in now. It would be horrible if it was forgotten and you try to start it up. Mine took 2-3 20oz bottles. Be sure to check it after it settles to make sure it is at a good level. Check periodically while filling it up.

Now the last part, the fuel filter. It's best if the tank is empty, but if it isn't simply pinch off the fuel line going into it with a clamp or carefully with vice grips. Then use pliers to move the clamps on each side and pull of the hoses.