The sting I posted should be put into an ascii word processor and made into one string, and then pasted into the address window of your browser. When you get the part page, you must enter the model number as LT155 or lt155, no spaces or dashes. I was just on the site to check what you said. While I was not requested to enter a password, some where in my system there may be one that is being passed when requested. (One of the first things I did when I got the tractor, was find this site and that was many years ago. ) The registration is simple, and the time to register is worth the information that is available. There are a couple dozen drawing of various component of the tractor, and a parts list keyed to the drawings. There is one drawing that shows the routing of the drive belt, and the part numbers for the plastic fan and all other parts. Fan 12 M127359 You can order the part from the JD parts site or you can get it from any authorized JD Dealer, not big box store. JD Dealers are fun to visit to see the big brothers to your tractor and the other large farm equipment. I have purchased their tune up kit for many years from the JD Dealer because it is cheaper than buying the same filters,plugs, and oil separately from the big box store. This post was edited by knuttle on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 18:09

Had the same problem with my 17 hp Kawasaki in a 265 JD. After trying everything and nothing worked, I replaced the ignition coil since the spark seemed to be weak. This completely fixed the problem. It has started excellent ever since the fix. I have been told it could have been the igniter but this one must be OK. This is just what I found on my tractor.

Amazing what happen to equipment when it gets loaned out?. About 30 years ago I used sears and sawbuck cheap radial arm saw, this was after the day before I helped the guy finish off shed/pole barn style work shop. he was cutting ruff cut 4 by 4 oaks. the next day I was cutting 1/4" plywood the saw quite on the 3rd cut. But, beings I was using it at the time I called sear repair man out. $139 bucks later on a 350 dollar saw. I learned a good lesson that day? Don't borrow equipment. Knowing the day before probably what burnt the saw out. but I still didn't want that on me. JD usually engineers there equipment pretty good, I know my LX system is rock solid with 350 hours on it, but it's not as heavy as you X500. I would say it wasn't normal for the steering to wear out that quickly. Replacement parts are probably going to be pretty high, hopfully you won't have to do it again. But, as rusti suggested some anual pre-ventive greasing sure wouldn't hurt IMO.

Deerslayer: The clamping (lightly) of the wheels does show the loosenes, but in this case I was saying it is a good way to set the toe. Let me explain why I think it is a pretty good way to do it: When the manufacturers come up with a toe-in spec, it is not because they think the vehicle will drive the best with the wheels pointed that way. It is an indirect measurement that tries to account for the looseness of the system and the deflection you will see under the load of motion. With all new parts of a well designed (tight) system, the ideal toe will be very near zero, with just enough to toe-in to help directional stability. 1/32" would be plenty. The looser the system, the more that the toe in needs to be increased, with the goal to be at or near the same actual toe-in at speed as you would get with the new, tight system. This is why the link you referenced says to move the tires out by hand. Most folks using the home gauges are using them on well worn stuff and they want to get you as close to correct as possible while you are moving. In the case of a very loose system, just rolling the car back and forth will not take up the slack, so by moving out as much of the slack as you can, and then using the factory (tight system) spec, you get pretty close to what you need. In my description of using the clamp (again lightly), you will notice that I said to set the wheels to ZERO toe-in with them clamped. This is because the clamp will pull out all the slack in the system and overcome the tire "squirm" that tries to pull the wheel back to where it was before, which happens if you move it by hand. Especially for something built as loose as a lawn tractor steering system (and with a wide variation in loosness between tractors), I think the clamp system will give you a more accurate setting based on how loose your particular application is. If you look at the JD spec for my tractor, they give the .59" toe in setting, but how do you set it? With all the looseness, you will get totally different readings based which way you rolled, if you pushed or pulled on the wheels, and as soon as you move a wheel by adjusting a tierod, you have altered your base setting because you have pushed the slack one direction. In the JD book, I find it very interesting that they say nothing about rolling the unit or taking up slack. They must feel that the huge toe-in spec covers it all, and the actual setting is not all that critical. One thing to remember is that if you have way to much toe-in, your inside wheel does not turn as much as it should, and you could plow it without it turning.