So, now having such amenities as jack stands, wheel chocks, and a large hand mirror (plus a battery powered work light, a yoga mat, etc.), 'twas time to revisit the case of the mower's drive belt.
Getting a proper look underbeneath, I found the cause of the dislodgement: a medium-sized stick had gotten up into the belt's path. I guess that'll do it.
Being now somewhat able to see what was going on, and to reach up into the affected area, I managed to coax the belt back onto the crankshaft pulley, but not onto the left-side hydrostat pulley (the belt seems to be snagged on the fan, which I hope hasn't lost too many blades). I can't really see what's going on in the above-the-hydrostat area, so time to return to the house, take a short break, and fetch a USB endoscope. Eyestalks and tentacles!
Oh, and it turns out that the bottom of the crankshaft assembly has wrench flats, presumably to aid in removing or tightening the infamous bolt that holds the deck pulley and clutch in place. But... only wrench I have that'll span the flats is a pipe wrench, and, the fitting in question being somewhat recessed above the rim of the pulley, I can't actually grab it with the pipe wrench. I guess eventually (before, I hope, the dreaded day when it becomes necessary to replace the drive belt), I can either procure the proper wrench or make one out of a piece of steel strip.
Back to it. Endoscope isn't being terribly useful. The fan hasn't lost any blades - yay! I determined this by turning the fan (and thus the hydrostat) by hand. Getting the belt onto (and off of) the crankshaft pulley isn't that much of a problem, but that hydrostat pulley is a major challenge.
Aaaand... now I see why the belt is being so dagnab uncoöperative with regard to the hydrostat pulley/fan. That stick apparently diverted it with great force, leaving it partially outside the frame, having passed between the bottom of the fan and the top of the lower frame rail. Pushing it back into its proper place, without removing the hydrostat? Um. Well, maybe I can loosen the bolts just a little, and tilt the hydrostat to create some clearance between fan and frame? Maybe?
Maybe later. My fingers are sore.
Meanwhile, on the Venerable Prius front, I'd finally gotten around to ordering the proper 12V battery from Toyota Monday afternoon, the main site directing me to online ordering from Rusty Wallace Toyota up in Morristown; I got a shipping notice this morning, with a tracking number of "RUSTYS VAN". Er. That doesn't sound like a UPS tracking number. They figure 30 miles or so is local delivery? Sure enough, a van with Toyota markings showed up this morning with my battery.
First thing with a new battery is to put it on the charger. It's taking a few hours on the 15A charger to get from half-charge to anywhere near full-charge, which is a Good Sign; old wore-out batteries take all the charge they can hold rather quickly.
And! With only a modicum of cussin', the new battery is swapped in and the clock reset. Car starts right up, without the disconcerting dimming of the dashboard display. Gas gauge sez empty, but after a few miles of driving it should reset to nearly-full. The not-that-old battery seems to be really most sincerely toast, not even useful for an undemanding solar-power application.
Tomorrow, I'll have another go at that dang belt.
Thursday afternoon:
There is no problem that cannot be solved by the use of high explosives....
I removed the left wheel, for somewhat better access.
It doesn't appear that there's any way to increase the clearance between fan and frame short of completely dismounting the hydrostat, which is seriously major disassembly.
Or, I could order a replacement belt, do something about whatever sort of wrench is needed to take the deck pulley and clutch off the crankshaft, cut the old belt, pull the remains out, and install a whole new one.
I will not use Tannerite.
I will not use Tannerite.
Maybe if I took some Acme® Gorilla-Hands™ Vitamins I'd be able to skoosh the belt back between fan and rail?
Seems there's no way of loosening the fan on its shaft while the hydrostat is in place.
Based on some searching, unless I haven't come up with the right terms, it appears I'm the first one to experience this particular wedgie, with the drive belt stuck under the hydrostat fan. Great.
Well. If it got from where it belongs to where it is, without obvious damage to anything, it should be possible to get it back from where it is to where it belongs. With enough force. But without prying against anything delicate. Removing the bypass rod may help... maybe?
Oh great. Bypass rod connection is on top of the hydrostat, so getting it out of the way looks like another bunch of Not Happening.
Reviewing the deck belt pulley/clutch side of things, it seems that on a Sears mower one simply removes the guard atop the engine to expose a handy wrenchable spot atop the crankshaft. On this one? Not so much. Remove guard. Remove rotating screen. Top of crankshaft remains hidden beneath the impeller. Remove impeller... oops. It doesn't come out without removal of the engine cover, which may entail removal of other stuff, so forget it for now.
Growf. Well, I don't really want to remove that just now, anyway. I want to get the drive belt back around the fan and onto its proper pulley.
Library remains mostly in storage. Was it Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency in which someone was pondering a 3D computer model of a sofa and a staircase and proving definitively that it was geometrically impossible for the sofa to have gotten where it was?
I may end up draining the oil (which, as noted earlier, is due for changing anyway) and turning the mower on its left side for better access to the belty zone. Maybe tomorrow afternoon. Maybe Sunday.
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