I have a Troy Bilt riding mower. It was left at house by previous owner. Got it started once a while back. It wouldn’t start again, except randomly here and there. All it would do is click at solenoid, so I ended up replacing solenoid and it still clicked. The other day, I touched the ground that comes off battery and solenoid (one spliced ground) to a spring under seat and it turned over really quickly and would’ve started if it had gas. I put gas in it and almost got it started but the jump pack I was using died. So, I got a new battery, as the old one needed replacing anyways. Went to try to start and it was acting like it did when the jump pack was almost dead, turning over super slow, maybe once or twice, and then just stopping and the wires get hot, almost melting if I hold it for too long. Why all of a sudden is this new issue here? Is it a connection issue? I’ll admit that I’m not a professional at all with lawn mowers.
Electrical issues or something else?
- Thread starter Kramer432
- Start date
Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. First thing I would check is the solenoid ground. If you have a 3 post solenoid, it is grounded through the solenoid frame, when it is bolted in place. Make sure that this is very clean, no paint or corrosion between the two. If it is a4 post solenoid, one of the small wires is the ground wire. Again make sure the connection is very clean.
Mine has two prongs, and then two addition flap/prong connections under. It’s been cleaned after this photo.
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You have a 4 post solenoid. One of the two small wires should be the ground. Most would guess the green one, but I NEVER ASSUME. Check to see which one goes to a chassis ground. What is that connection, green to black, on the right hand side of the picture?
Tiger Small Engine
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Wires getting really hot tells you that mower wiring has high resistance, such as corrosion on terminals, bad ground, loose connections, etc. Really study the wires visually and see if you can locate the issue.
This photo was taken a few days ago. Since then, I’ve cleaned all this up, adding a ring to this and fixing.
The black and green are the ground. It’s since been cleaned up and put into a ring to connect to frame.
Just to confirm, putting a ring connecter and connecting to frame is enough right?