My Craftsman DLT 3000 is running fine, but I am unable to get the blades to engage. When I raise the lever to get the blades to engage, it is stiff, and I get no movement from the blades. Looking at the little steel cable that the lever is connected to there's not great tension on the cable. When I got underneath it to look at it, I saw that the steel cable is connected to a spring. That spring stretched, but I'm unsure if it stretched enough to do what it is supposed to do. I am unable to see what the spring is connected to, so I don't know if something is faulty with the cable, the spring, or something further down the system. Can anyone here provide some clarity or a typical solution to this problem? Thanks!

The cable for blade engagement hooks up to a bolt that pulls in a pulley to power the blades. The spring that the steel cable is hooked to is there for tension. You probably have a rusted up mower deck, and that post will not move. You need to drop the deck, take the moving pieces apart, wire brush them clean, and grease them up real good. Got to keep that deck clean...