My father in law just bought a Murray DRM500 riding lawn mower, sorry but I'm not sure of the model as yet but I think it's a 502-255290. It sounds good, runs great as long as it's in REVERSE. That's the problem, it will not go FORWARD. He thinks it's a cable problem, but no one knows anything about these mowers, (looks like a little red beetle, and the lady at Sears, said she remembered selling these, but couldn't help us). Does anyone have any suggestions?

Is this a hydrostatic transaxle?

Morrowrj

Sounds like the cable. I just got one from my father-in-law and I had the same problem. The transmission uses a push-pull 2 cable system. I took the steering column apart and removed the broken cable. Since I did not get the manual with the mower I searched online for days before finding a site with a part I hope I can use. (www.buymtdonline.com). I ordered a cable and it should arrive this week. I'll post again if it works and list the part number. If it works I might order another cable or two to have on hand since this seems to be a problem and it takes less than an hour to change out.

OK, new trans cable came today and I wish I had ordered 2. It works great, an exact match. If you go to the web site above and search for part number (746-0935A) this should bring up the cable. Like I said, I would order two and just replace both. Make sure you verify that one of the cables is broken first. Take apart the steering column and see if one of the "Z" ends on the cable has slipped out of the hole it is supposed to be in, that's a good sign that the other cable isn't pulling while the other is pushing. I just ordered a second one so I can replace the other one. Good luck, hope this helped.

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Originally Posted by jomag

My father in law just bought a Murray DRM500 riding lawn mower, sorry but I'm not sure of the model as yet but I think it's a 502-255290. It sounds good, runs great as long as it's in REVERSE. That's the problem, it will not go FORWARD. He thinks it's a cable problem, but no one knows anything about these mowers, (looks like a little red beetle, and the lady at Sears, said she remembered selling these, but couldn't help us). Does anyone have any suggestions?

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That happen to me today and yes it it a broken shift cable. Good luck replacing it.

The only problem is going to be locating parts for a murray now.

The cables can be found at mower repair shops if you have one in your location. Take your cable(s) with you and they can match it(them)to a generic cable. I have replaced mine twice and now I put liquid silicone into the outer cable sheath two or three times a season using a small diabetic syringe. It works very well because the silicone displaces any moisture that gets in before it can jam up the works.
When adjusting the cables, make sure there is almost NO slack in them at the bell crank. Also, my mower was not set for 3600 rpm engine speed - adjusting it to let the B & S motor achieve this speed makes the mulching work much better.

I have this very same problem, but how do get I get it off from the back? The steering column was no problem, but the back I'm not sure of and don't want to break anything.

You can download the manual here: http://www.hammerwall.com/Download_Manual/8193/
Put in the code they give you and then on the next screen click on the "Download Manual" phrase to get it.
By the way, the DRM 500 is also called model 247.27022