Clutter happens, and now that we're in the home stretch of the mowing season (at least for those living north of the Mason-Dixon Line), grass clippings and sundry other types of lawn debris have had a chance to subtly build up in unexpected places.
One such out-of-sight place is the area around the drive pulley of a lawn tractor equipped with a General Transmissions RS 800 Element V continuously variable transmission. (Long name; let's just call it the GT RS 800 from here on out.)
Anyway, if you're experiencing some difficulty with your drive pedal or speed shift lever sticking or balking when you try to go from forward to reverse speed, odds are it's because the area around the pulley is gummed up with lawn gunk. Fixing this problem is relatively simple.
It only requires locating your transmission -- many are found under the driver's seat, but not all -- and if you're handy with a screwdriver, you can probably fix it yourself.
General Transmissions posted a document and video describing the fix on its website recently; go to the link listed at the end of this post to check it out. (Not sure if your tractor is equipped with a GT CVT? Our CVTs are enclosed by a black case -- we call it "The Vault!" Most other transmissions are housed in silver/gray/metallic casings.)
Here's the link to one possible fix to the sticky shift issue: Service & Parts | General Transmissions (Click on Transaxle RS800 driver pulley pollution to read about the issue; then click on the "RS 800 primary pulley cleaning operation" video to see how the fix is implemented.) If you dont want to tackle the job yourself, call in a skilled technician, of course.
One such out-of-sight place is the area around the drive pulley of a lawn tractor equipped with a General Transmissions RS 800 Element V continuously variable transmission. (Long name; let's just call it the GT RS 800 from here on out.)
Anyway, if you're experiencing some difficulty with your drive pedal or speed shift lever sticking or balking when you try to go from forward to reverse speed, odds are it's because the area around the pulley is gummed up with lawn gunk. Fixing this problem is relatively simple.
It only requires locating your transmission -- many are found under the driver's seat, but not all -- and if you're handy with a screwdriver, you can probably fix it yourself.
General Transmissions posted a document and video describing the fix on its website recently; go to the link listed at the end of this post to check it out. (Not sure if your tractor is equipped with a GT CVT? Our CVTs are enclosed by a black case -- we call it "The Vault!" Most other transmissions are housed in silver/gray/metallic casings.)
Here's the link to one possible fix to the sticky shift issue: Service & Parts | General Transmissions (Click on Transaxle RS800 driver pulley pollution to read about the issue; then click on the "RS 800 primary pulley cleaning operation" video to see how the fix is implemented.) If you dont want to tackle the job yourself, call in a skilled technician, of course.