Hi All. I believe that I found the problem. Where it was raining today I dismantled the primary sheave assembly and the grease had hardened and piled up against the outer reaches of sheave travel (see attached photos - yikes!). I performed the primary clutch sheave service as described in the service manual. The diameter of the weights were within spec but a couple of them had flat spots. I also noticed that the steel plate had grooves worn in it in a couple of spots, and the primary sheaves appeared to have 'grooves' where the belt was prevented from riding any higher on them. I cleaned everything up, re-greased and re-installed. In neutral the belt will now ride up to the top of the primary sheave but only if you accelerate the engine hard. It still prefers to run in the 'groove' but I am hopeful that with the additional load introduced by the machine that the groove will not play as big a role. 🤔
Hi All. I did a bit more research on this issue and the leak is coming from the 'weep hole' on the water pump. Coolant will drip from weep hole when the coolant seal within the water pump begins to leak. Oil will drip from the weep hole when the engine oil seal within the water pump begins to leak. The purpose of the weep hole is to prevent coolant system pressure from forcing coolant past the oil seal and into the engine. I have ordered a new water pump so suspect that will fix it. Thanks!
Research findings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAsu66SkMVA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it-TFg3ulYI
