XT2 Enduro LX42 Kawasaki , won't move

[LVille555]

Bought it in summer of 2021, i think. Maybe 2022, but i think it was 2021.

I don't know what happened.
Yesterday i was cutting grass as i normally do.
Everything was running and sounding normal.
Occasionally i'll stop and disengage the blades and push left pedal down and set parking brake , step off the mower and pick up a tree branch to toss aside.
But sometimes i'll just disengage the blades and lean over to my left and pick the branch up. And sometimes my butt will come up off the seat a little and mower will start to shut off, but i'll pick the branch up and be fully seated before the mower shuts off.
And after i do that, i'll re-engage the blades, press the right pedal forward and carry on.

Welp, not yesterday.

I stopped in the yard, disengaged the blades, leaned to my left, reached to pick up branch, engine started to shut off, but i got back fully seated before it shut off. But then i engaged the blades, and when i pushed the pedal forward, nothing.
It won't go forward or backwards.
I disengaged the blades to see if that would do anything. Still won't move.
I started and restarted. Nope, still won't move.
Checked under the seat and everything is connected. I mean i has to be, the mower will start, and blades will engage.
I checked the oil. Looks good.
I looked under the mower and used blower to get rid of any built up grass. Not much, b/c i do that after every time i cut grass.
I pushed the left pedal down and pushed right pedal down and released them. Just testing and trying something.
I pushed right pedal down and set parking lever/lock lever(?), under the steering wheel , and that locks the right pedal down. can do it in reverse too.
Still, no movement.
I read about purging the tranny and watched two YT videos.
I've never pushed or pulled that rod in rear of mower since i've owned it.
I pulled it out and then pressed the pedal down and held for 5-10 secs, then did same for reverse. And repeated that 3 times. Then i pushed the rod back in and restarted it. Still won't move.
Repeated the process with mower running. Still won't move.
I decided to disconnect the battery and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Then hooked it back up. Still won't move when i press the right pedal.

The right pedal has tension/resistance, nothing feels loose or like something broke.
I can look under the rear wheel well or down through the holes for the height adjustment, and when i press the pedal forward or backward i can see the lever moving. Nothing looks out of whack.

I don't get it. It was running fine and all i did was lean over to pick up a branch, mower started to cut off b/c i wasn't fully on seat, then i got back on seat before it cut shut off(i've done this numerous times) and then when i went to continue cutting it won't move. Engine running fine. No bogging down sounds. Blades engage. But mower will not go forward or reverse.

I don't know if this always blinks, but on the little LCD screen to far left of screen is a blinking vertical rectangle with what looks like 2 half triangles inside the rectangle pointing at each other. If that description makes sense.

Anyone got any ideas?

i'm puzzled.

[ironman]

Sounds like your motion drive belt broke or came off the pulley.

[LVille555]

Thank you. I'll now try and locate that and check.

[ol'George]

Them sticks make good mulch and help keep the underside of the deck clean as they are chewed up!!

[LVille555]

ok, so the belt did somehow slip off the pulley up under the engine.

not sure how since there are 3 welded-on braces butted right up and around edge of pulley.

belt is in near new condition.

and it is tight asf coming from back of mower up underneath and under the plate where the tension pulleys are and then belt is wrapped around the shaft under the pulley that leads to the bigger pulley for mower deck.

there's zero slack.

and i can't get the deck off.

got the 3 cotter pins out , raised the deck braces out of way, but there's some cable coming from the rear and goes in into like a plastic/rubber gromet , slides into a small brace/bracket welded to deck and on other side it's a tiny braided wire that leads to a spring that's attached to the deck.

there was a cotter pin in the little gromet thingamajig , i thought it would slide out of the opening of the metal brace/bracket after i removed the pin, but it won't move.
Plus, if i was to get the gromet to slip out of that brace/bracket, i still wouldn't be able get the spring off the deck. there's a rod/brace running over top of it and there's no angle to get the hook end of spring to tilt to pop out.

i should note i have some type of all-weld aeroforce deck, apparently more heavy duty than the standard deck.

i was basically forced to buy this mower a few yrs ago when supply chain issues left no mowers in stock anywhere around me.

tractor supply was out of all lawn tractors, only had zero turns, and the higher end ones. Walmart was out. All 3 near me. Both Lowes were out of anything under 2k, both HD's, etc.

i had ride out to some old farm & tractor mom and pop shop way out from me, and all they had was this fancy model with cruise control, armrests, Kawasaki engine, front bumper, etc. etc.
But i needed a mower so i bought it.

Has been great till this issue.

i'm watching vids of people using wenches to lift / stand it up. People using impacts to get that pulley off.
removing the plate and tension pulleys.

Just a nightmare.

i'm ready to push it to end of driveway and put sign on it saying "free"

and then ride up to tractor supply and buy a cheap 38in mower again. my last one lasted 10 yrs.

[LVille555]

OMG

I finally got that pto cable out of that bracket on the deck. And figured out to move one of the deck pulleys made that spring move out from under that brace, so i could finagle the spring loose.

once deck was out of the way, i borrowed an impact from the neighbor and got that bolt loose holding the shaft with 2 pulleys under the engine.

i only had drop down the shaft/pulleys a little bit in order to get the belt back around it. Then i tightened the bolt back up.

But now i cant get that plate underneath to line back up with all the holes for the screws.
AND, the left pedal is all janky feeling now. And when i push it there's clanking.
i laid underneath and when i push the left pedal the cable and a spring are all floppy. and theres some sort of linkage under the plate with a little chrome piece and it slides back n forth about an inch, but the bracket it's attached to is floppy.
i have no idea how all of that stuff is now out of whack.

went from everything being smooth and sounding great and the thing just wouldn't move, to now i got the drivee belt back on the pulley, and now everything under the plate is out of whack.

this is a nightmare.

heck, at one point i had the plate lined up, or so i thought, it was over the pedal bar, and the plate was flush with frame, yet i still dont have the screw holes lined up. it's like a good 1/16 or 1/8 gap, like the plate's holes need to go higher, but the plate is flush with the frame. i can't move it up any higher onto the frame.

[LVille555]

Welp.

After getting the belt back on, but then having issues with getting everything else put back together, and the clutch petal being janky for some reason after i got the drive belt back on - i said f it and called the dealer i gpt it from.

took over a week to send their driver out to pick it up.

i have no idea how this crass, run-down, old asf mom-n-pop farm store is still in business, not how they keep their Cub affiliation.

This dude was in his 70s and haggard asf. Soiled old jeans. Work boots were un-tied, just loose long laces flapping around. Had chew in and kept spitting big nasty spits in my driveway. Sounded like he didn't get past 8th grade.
Rude and interrupting me. I could've pushed the mower up onto his trailer in the time it took him to figure out his jerry-rigged winch system.
Smelled like vodka, probably why it looked like he just crawled out of bed.

So they put it all back together and replaced the belts. The other looked perfectly fine. They even gave me the "old" ones back. Again, they look almost new.
Gave me a totally different key back. Mine was nice and brand new looking.
This one is scuffed up and the actual key part is all worn down, like the grooves are all filed. And there's a burn mark at the base of it one one side.

I guess the "keys" are universal and any key-like thing can start the mower.


Ok. I had hired someone to cut grass twice while it was down and being repaired. So when it came back i just drove it to the shed.

Today i finally said i'll cut yard one last time, hopefully, and run over all the leaves.

Welp, as before. Everything was fine. But then i stopped to move a piece of trash. Disengaged the blades. Pushed the clutch down and set the parking break lever under the steering wheel.

And....get back on. Engage the blades. Push clutch pedal down which auto releases the break lever. Go to drive, and nothing.

I was like "Oh, hell no!"

I get off of it. Now i know where to look. I look way up under the frame below the engine and sure enough i see the belt has slipped down and is now taught against the shaft going vertically that has the bigger pulley on the bottom for the deck.

So.....there's something going on when i push the pedal AND set the brake lever. Just pushing the clutch down to start it, Or using it to stop when i'm out near the street and waiting on cars to go by before i continue, doesn't seem to bother it.
But the only x factor is when i push clutch down AND set the brake lever.

I don't think disengaging the blades and getting off of it to remove trash or debris is part of the equation.

Something is making it slip off the pulley when i push the clutch AND set the brake lever.

But also weird how it can slip off the pulley. Those 3 metal, welded to the frame guardrails are right around that pulley. There's zero gap for thickness of belt to slip down.
But somehow it is.