Outdoor Power Equipment and Small Engines - Craftsman mower front drive slips

I have a craftsman 22" front drive mower that the self propel periodically would slip when it is mowing the lawn. Eventually, it totally failed to work at and my self propel crapped out.

After this happened, I removed the front gear box and opened it up. I noticed the helical gear worn out. I replaced the helical gear. After I put the gear box back together I spun the pulley some to make sure it turned, which it did. I looked at the worm gear and it looked fine, so I did not replace it.

I put it all back together and gave it a try. Well, it did work, but I was back to having it slip every once in awhile.

Now I am wondering if I should have replaced the worm gear as well, even though it seemed fine and it did spin on the bench?. I'm also wondering if maybe the cable needs adjusting to keep in place as it seems a little loose, but I cannot locate any adjustments for it (maybe I haven't looked close enough??)

Hoping someone out there has run into a similar situation and can tell me what might have fixed the problem for them. This mower is 9 years old, so I don't want to put a lot of money into it. A new gear box is $65, so if I can fix it cheaper I would like to.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

Steve - Usually when the drive on these mowers is just slipping it is the drive gear that's made onto the inside of the wheel causing the problem.(the main drive on the axle is mattel but the gear on the wheel is plastic) - doesn't figure.:wall: