Hi All, This is going to be a long post, please bear with me. 
My Grandkids acquired a 2012 Bolens, model13w1762F065. This is a 38" lawnmower with a B&S 13.5hp. When they got it the deck was pretty much shot and they wanted it just to drive around and use as a tractor and just something to drive around the yard and mud around. They had it for quite some time when it started to be hard starting. They would jump start it but with the battery alone it would stop when it hit the top of the compression stroke and not turn over enough to start. I figured a bad battery, wrong. Same thing with a brand new battery. But this whole time it would turn over very fast when I removed the spark plug. So Google says valve adjustment. Did that twice along the way to just be sure I got it right. That didn't work So I thought perhaps a bad starter. So I took it to a starter repair shop and when he took it apart he said it shows absolutely no signs whatsoever of a bad starter. He said it looked like it was new, no burn marks , carbon dust or signs of a heated starter or windings. He said he could sell me a new one but he was absolutely sure the starter wasn't the problem. He told me to take a voltage reading at the starter when trying to start it.He says there should be very little drop in voltage. Well It showed 12.7 volts at the battery and 2.6 at the starter. So it seems like I am losing voltage somewhere. So I jumped the starter directly from the battery and it did the same thing, wouldn't crank pass the compression stroke.
I am really at a loss. I originally was going to by-pass the safety switches since the deck is no longer on it. Several Google searches point to the solenoid. So looking for the solenoid I found it in the most un-accessible areaup under the seat among all the rods and linkage. So I have removed it along with the wiring harness so I could check it out. Now I am convinced I need to get down to the bare bones wiring, just enough to start, run, and shut off when it supposed to. My question , Is there any hope of getting the wiring down to some thing more basic? I need a starting, charging, ignition, and carburetor solenoid. Is it possible or a waste of time? Thanks for your help and input.
LaVern
My Grandkids acquired a 2012 Bolens, model13w1762F065. This is a 38" lawnmower with a B&S 13.5hp. When they got it the deck was pretty much shot and they wanted it just to drive around and use as a tractor and just something to drive around the yard and mud around. They had it for quite some time when it started to be hard starting. They would jump start it but with the battery alone it would stop when it hit the top of the compression stroke and not turn over enough to start. I figured a bad battery, wrong. Same thing with a brand new battery. But this whole time it would turn over very fast when I removed the spark plug. So Google says valve adjustment. Did that twice along the way to just be sure I got it right. That didn't work So I thought perhaps a bad starter. So I took it to a starter repair shop and when he took it apart he said it shows absolutely no signs whatsoever of a bad starter. He said it looked like it was new, no burn marks , carbon dust or signs of a heated starter or windings. He said he could sell me a new one but he was absolutely sure the starter wasn't the problem. He told me to take a voltage reading at the starter when trying to start it.He says there should be very little drop in voltage. Well It showed 12.7 volts at the battery and 2.6 at the starter. So it seems like I am losing voltage somewhere. So I jumped the starter directly from the battery and it did the same thing, wouldn't crank pass the compression stroke.I am really at a loss. I originally was going to by-pass the safety switches since the deck is no longer on it. Several Google searches point to the solenoid. So looking for the solenoid I found it in the most un-accessible areaup under the seat among all the rods and linkage. So I have removed it along with the wiring harness so I could check it out. Now I am convinced I need to get down to the bare bones wiring, just enough to start, run, and shut off when it supposed to. My question , Is there any hope of getting the wiring down to some thing more basic? I need a starting, charging, ignition, and carburetor solenoid. Is it possible or a waste of time? Thanks for your help and input.
LaVern
