Fixing a John Deere 155c riding lawn mower <Riding lawn mowers>

[Scottintexas]

since my mom's house got flooded in Houston one of the casualties was her riding lawn mower,
it didn't get moved to higher ground before the water came up and unfortunately sat under about 8 feet of water for 48 hours.

I just found out about it today unfortunately,

I don't know the model but I'm assuming at this point it's toast ? Can anybody confirm if I should even try to get it working,

She is looking at a new one, John Deere D155 https://www.deere.com/en_US/products/equipment/riding_mowers/lawn_tractors/100_series/d155/d155.page

I know John Deere is /// edited - meant isn't the same mfg /// the same as the big tractors but does anybody have experience or advice before she buys one,

She has a little over 1 acre of flat, st. Augustine to mow (back yard, side lot and back lot) to mow.

Thanks,

 

[MIDLIFECRISIS]

I have had a JD for a few years now and wish I that I would have bought the zero turn instead of the tractor. Her old mower would just need all of the fluids drained and flushed good. That is if it was running good before the extended dive time.

 

[txav8r]

@Scottintexas , I have an exmark pioneer 48" zero turn. It cuts a beautiful lawn and over twice as fast a a riding mower. It can cut perfect at 7mph. I used mine on some pretty rugged terrain and it takes it. They are not the cheapest solution, but they are a much better mower than any of the "riding lawn mowers". If you go this route, try to stay with the Kawasaki motor line, and away from the models that have combined drive units. The individual drive units are easier and cheaper to repair/replace than the combined units. I understand that cost and time may not be a driving factor, but many of the zero turns are just a better mouse trap.

 

[Zarrella]

Cub Cadet 54" is my next mower. I have had the Cub Cadet 50" for the last few years and I love it!! I have never had a single problem with it. Like Mel said stay with a Kawasaki engine.

 

[Speedling]

Buddy has about the biggest cub cadet with some solid shaft blah blah blah 50" deck yada....
My toro with the 22 hp upgraded engine 42" deck will mow waaaaay faster and cleaner with the mulch kit.

His is a tractor and pulls his small trailers around his shop and i won't dare try that with my toro.

 

[RightStuff]

When I bought my tractor a friend that works at JD said to stay away from the 100 series and look at the 300 and highers for a better build tractor (engine, frame, tranny, etc). I'm sure either would be fine for basic mowing, but I ended up with a 300X. It does the job just fine, but I would probably go with a zero turn, or at least a mower with a 3 blade deck next time.

 

[Gym]

Sorry to hear your mom was one of the unfortunate down in Huston @Scottintexas. I'm sure the lawnmower wasn't the worst of it either. Depending on the pre flood age, condition & value would determine on whether replacement makes sense or not. If one of our yammy motors got flooded with fresh water, not hydrolocked, I think we'd try to resurrect it. If it's worth over $500 I'd try changing fluids, plugs, fog the cylinders and give it a crank. That shouldn't cost more than $20-25. If it was mud or silt laden water that may be a bigger issue not worth the trouble. I hope insurance can help out.

 

[AZDANSX230HO]

Those engines are not very expensive to replace if it's bad, the rest of the mower is probably fine as there are no real complex electronics on them.

 

[davel501]

Sorry to hear your mom was one of the unfortunate down in Huston @Scottintexas. I'm sure the lawnmower wasn't the worst of it either. Depending on the pre flood age, condition & value would determine on whether replacement makes sense or not. If one of our yammy motors got flooded with fresh water, not hydrolocked, I think we'd try to resurrect it. If it's worth over $500 I'd try changing fluids, plugs, fog the cylinders and give it a crank. That shouldn't cost more than $20-25. If it was mud or silt laden water that may be a bigger issue not worth the trouble. I hope insurance can help out.

Agreed. As long as nobody has tried to start it with water in the engine you should be fine. Change the fluids (including gas) and pull the plugs then spray fogging oil into the cylinders then try to crank it (by hand if possible) and keep spraying with fogging oil to get a nice coating in there. Install fresh plugs and see if you can get it to fire up.

 

[Wayloncle]

I'd try to clean up and drain/flush the engine just to see if it worked, lime mentioned above probably only $25 in oil and filter.
If it runs, sell it....I'm not saying lie about it being flooded, but someone will buy it if it runs and cuts grass.

My mom has a CubCadet zero turn with a steering wheel, she didn't want one with the handles to turn so she found one with a wheel and it happened to be a CC, she loves it, she cuts a few acres with it.

She bought a JD 175? About 7-8 years ago and hated it ever since the first time she used it, didn't cut even, seat wasn't comfy, steering sucked....she was mad that she spent that much on a JD and she didn't like it

 

[eticket]

I have the Troy Bilt zero turn with a steering wheel, love it so far. Cub Cadet has a sister model, slightly different. This is supposedly to be easier to handle on hills than the lever steering. Maybe overkill for a flat yard but I like the intuitive controls.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I bought a JD110 in 2004, I mow 1/4 acre 50 to 52 times a year. I've never changed the oil yet. About all I've done is cleaned the deck and sharpened the blades a few times. Runs like a Deere!


Dontcha know ... that little green turd will probably blow up this weekend!

 

[Britboater]

I bought a JD110 in 2004, I mow 1/4 acre 50 to 52 times a year. I've never changed the oil yet. About all I've done is cleaned the deck and sharpened the blades a few times. Runs like a Deere!


Dontcha know ... that little green turd will probably blow up this weekend!

You owe it to your mower to treat it to some new oil now…....

 

[Scottintexas]

I appreciate everyone's input, I went down to visit her today and it turns out "going to" meant already did and she had the new mower delivered last night.

I worked on the old mower, I drained the oil and immediately got about 16 ou. of water and the the oil which hadn't mixed at all.
I pulled the spark plugs and got about 8 ou of water out of one cylinder and the other was dry. I pulled the air filter and it was soaked with water still standing underneath it so I'm sure there's some in the carburetor bowl also ( I couldn't remove it).

I tried jumped the starter (bypassing the key) to crank it with the spark plugs out just to move the pistons but the starter just spun. I had a 20a fuse that had corroded that I believe it effects the key as the battery ( it was brand new) did even let the lights come one.

I'll have to make another trip down in a few days to work on it some more, I left it by spraying a lot of fogging oil in each spark plug hole for whatever it's worth.

I stopped by the JD dealer and they were actually optimistic and told stories of others that had flooded that came back to life easily

 

[RightStuff]

So...what'd she get?

 

[Scottintexas]

John Deere 140

 

[Zarrella]

@Speedling
Just curious how fast your mower cuts? My Cub Cadet cuts at 6 mph forward and 3mph in reverse. I cant imagine cutting any faster. I have a mulching kit and it really provides a nice clean cut. I really had not considered a Toro. As a kid I remember having a Toro Reel mower that was awesome.

 

[Speedling]

@Speedling
Just curious how fast your mower cuts? My Cub Cadet cuts at 6 mph forward and 3mph in reverse. I cant imagine cutting any faster. I have a mulching kit and it really provides a nice clean cut. I really had not considered a Toro. As a kid I remember having a Toro Reel mower that was awesome.

I am referring to a toro zero turn compared to my buddies tractor type. I am sure if cub has a zero turn it would be awesome as well. Tractors are great and my zero can't pull anything or have a plow, but i love it.
I had a few tractors before, and after i got on this toro i was like WOW

 

[Scottintexas]

so I was able to get this JD 155c mower to my house,

The starter pinion gear spins but doesn't travel up the nylon threads to engage the fly wheel. I took the starter off and cleaned up the gear, clutch and nylon threads, I couldn't remove the "c" ring to pull the pieces off. Everything moves easily by hand and when I spin the pinion gear with my finger it will travel up the threads but when it's on the mower and the battery powers it, it just spins very fast in place at the bottom.

I'm wondering if the clutch drive which I can spin both directions is actually working properly?

Tomorrow I may just be buying a new starter for $40.

 

[Scottintexas]

well there's all kinds of stupid in the world and I just again confirmed my space in it.

Had the idea to jump start it after reading sometimes the battery isn't strong enough to throw the pinion gear into the fly wheel so even though it was a new battery I went out and hooked up my handy lithium jump pack (thank you JBN) and it was smart enough to alert me the poles were reversed. I had to stop to make sure I was understanding it correctly and sure enough I looked and yes, I bought the wrong battery, the poles are opposite and of course the cables aren't long enough to reach across.

The starter seems to be working but spinning the wrong direction so the gear is actually being thrown back into the starter instead of out into the fly wheel.

I'm taking the boat out the next two nights so the tractor is going to have to sit (unless my OCD kicks hard and I can't help myself).