New addition to the garage>>> sunstar

[roma3112 4]

I had the good fortune to find a guy on the internet 15miles from me that had a sunstar for sale. Well not having the $1700.00 he was asking i sent him an email asking him if he would be willing to trade a 4-5 year old husquavarna tractor for it. Well we played email tag and he finally agreed to trade even steven. my machine was in tip top shape, it was a 15hp hydro with a bagger, hiw was an 87 vintage sunstar, he said his dad got it new in 87 with the 48" deck. The machine is in really good shape it has a little surface rust on the tins. The engine has 208hrs on itand seems to run strong, he had all the origional paperwork with it to boot. The guy was happy and i was extatic!! I tore into the machine changed plugs oil and took the deck off to service it. just about the only problems i found soo far is that the starter seems a bit noisy and the gas gage works intermittently. i found one wire that runs by the left side of the engine parralel to the +12v wire to the clutch that is broke clean off. Tomorow i will grease the front end service the deck and try to track down a hydro filter for it. I was wondering what type of oil do you use in the mower gearbox is it 90wt? Also do any of you sunstar folks know if there is a napa or other non simplicity hydro filter available? My nearest dealer is 1hr each way. I will post some pics tomorow, any other things i should look for on the sunstar that is a comon problem to them? I plan to use this machine as my weekly mower.

[ehertzfeld 1]

If you can get the Simplicity number, Napa should be able to cross reference it. Good luck with your new toy.:D

[ambler 0]

John just run the snot out of it Looks like you need some attachments. Download the operators manual, its all in there.

[carbuff713 0]

I recommend ordering Simplicity filters on-line from Jack's. They show up in the mail in one or two days. Of course they are close to me. David

[roma3112 4]

I finally got some pics of the sunstar i traded for last week. I did very little cosmetically (just minor touch ups to some rust spots on the hood and frame). Mechanically i went through the entire machine all fluids, plugs filters ect and I changed out the broken hour meter. Hopefully she will mow just as nice as my sovereign.
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[Roy 0]

"willing to trade a 4-5 year old husquavarna tractor for it". Husquavarna for a Sunstar?? Excellent trade. Think you came out smelling like a rose on this one. ^ Congratulations and carry on.

[MarksA-C 93]

Hey, what kind of filter do you need? If you take the old one to any Automovve store like Checker Auto or Advanced auto they will find a brand new one in no-time. Good TradedOd

[roma3112 4]

mark actually i was looking for the hydro filter locally, what i wound up doing was contacting Wix directly and they looked up an equivolent wix & napa part # for the hydro filter, so i found a napa-gold hydro filter which saved me almost a 2-hour drive to the symp dealer. i have probably spent the better part of a few days going all over this machine, if i had to pay a dealer for the service it would been over $500.00 for sure, not withstanding that i agree I think i made out on the deal especially where it was a 1-owner and for the most part it was maintained well for a 1987 machine. Now i just need some grass to mow :D:D

[WITom 0]

I see that it's a 20 hp - no doubt has the hyd. oil cooler coil in the air intake plenum. Keep in mind there is a u-joint in the driveshaft from the engine to the tranny that needs grease - right behind the engine and under this coil. Not real easy to access - have to do it from underneath. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up on it as it's real easy to miss if you're not familiar with the Sunstars. Good luck with your tractor - they really are built like Sherman tanks!

[roma3112 4]

tom thanks Yeah i found that fitting after reading through the manual. I luckilly downloaded the service manual from simplicity before they took all that stuff off the free side of their webpage.8) Just about one of the worst things i ran into was the stucl left rear rim, i beat on that thing for about three hours with no luck. I did as one member suggested and loostend the axle nut and i will drive it for a bit and try it again in a month or so.

[ambler 0]

John, When you take off the tunnel cover check the slip coupling to the tranny. There should be a grease fitting there. Most of the tractors I have seen didn't have one just the hole. That should be greased every 25hrs.

[Woot 0]

Here is some info on tranny oil filters that I found: Wix - 51084 NAPA - 1084 Purolator - PF 13

[MikeES 466]

One other problem these tractors have is fuel lines. With the gas tank way in the back, and when the gas lines get old and brittle they can draw in air but the gas does not leak out??? I know of 2 tractors (DA 1920 Ultimas) that were very hard starting especially in winter. Both ran well when started. Both were cured with new gas lines.