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I have a 2016 BB that I have had starting issues since I bought it. the starter was replaced (after warranty ran out, of course). after about a month the same issue and I found and fixed a bad fuse wire. Then I replace the battery.
Same issue reappeared. I had the battery checked and it was good. I can keep a trickle charger on it and it will crank fine but if I cut it off, it's time for jumper cables. When the dealership replaced the starter it looks like they may have reengineered the wiring. Any ideas???

Bbbaker said:

I had the battery checked and it was good. I can keep a trickle charger on it and it will crank fine but if I cut it off, it's time for jumper cables.

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Are you saying you have to keep a trickle on the battery or it won't start?

Sentence 1 you said battery checked good.
Sentence 2 you said keep a trickle, cranks, cut it off and needs a jump. I'm confused.....

Load test the battery at an auto parts store for free.

Make sure your ground strap is a tip top. Sand slash polish away at the connections.

I would inspect all mower shop molested wiring. Can you get a copy of your electrical schematic? Bet StarTech has one.

Slomo, You lose that bet but I do know where to find the lousy BB schematics. It is in the owners manual.


And for engine.

Get a good jumper ( not from HF or Wallys ) and run it from the battery- to a good ground near the starter, lifting hook or drain plugs are ideal

Let us know if it makes a difference .

Also try powering the starter directly from the battery + using a good quality jumper
The wires used on most mowers are barely up to the job and as copper becomes more expensive I expect to see copper coated steel wire ( as found in cheap jumper leads ) or even copper coated aluminum wire .
Copper prices are going through the roof because of the idiots who think buying electric cars will save the planet so copper prices increase between the time I type an order & hit the send key .
I now go to auto wreckers to get old car & truck battery cables & make my own becaus I can not get proper ones from any where
JD still use platted ground straps on some of their mowers ( other than the 100 series ) but even their power cables are a bit thin

StarTech said:

Slomo, You lose that bet but I do know where to find the lousy BB schematics. It is in the owners manual.

View attachment 61565
And for engine.
View attachment 61566

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Ask and you shall receive. I knew you would come through.

bertsmobile1 said:

Get a good jumper ( not from HF or Wallys ) and run it from the battery- to a good ground near the starter, lifting hook or drain plugs are ideal

Let us know if it makes a difference .

Also try powering the starter directly from the battery + using a good quality jumper
The wires used on most mowers are barely up to the job and as copper becomes more expensive I expect to see copper coated steel wire ( as found in cheap jumper leads ) or even copper coated aluminum wire .
Copper prices are going through the roof because of the idiots who think buying electric cars will save the planet so copper prices increase between the time I type an order & hit the send key .
I now go to auto wreckers to get old car & truck battery cables & make my own because I can not get proper ones from any where
JD still use platted ground straps on some of their mowers ( other than the 100 series ) but even their power cables are a bit thin

Click to expand...

MTD has been using Copper coated aluminum battery cables for years. And they are definitely a problem area. I always replace them with copper cables with I find them broken. Of course they are also barely 8 gauge and the ones I install are 6 gauge, supposedly. It is funny that 8 gauge cable lugs I use fits tightly on those cables. I also use a hydraulic crimper to install the terminals. Beside those aluminum cable have one heck of a voltage drop on long runs with you are 80-200 amps through them.

As you said prices have gone through the roof for new cables that why I save every piece of wiring I can to be repurposed later.

Thank you Gentlemen for the advice. I cleaned battery cables at both ends. not sure where to find the ground strap. Checked owners manual no luck. Should that be running from the starter? Perhaps I need to just start replacing wires. before do that I'm going to have a buddy load test the Battey "again".

Usually you want to ground the highest amp draw device (starter), directly to the frame.

Engine, frame and battery, all tested against one another, should be at 0 voltage drop under FULL load. As in cranking the engine and testing for voltage drops at every terminal slash connection.

Something else that wouldn't hurt would be a stout ground from the instrument panel to the frame. That is an old Jeep CJ-7 trick LOL. Lights work better, gas gauge is proper again.....

The negative battery post is the best ground on any vehicle with a battery. If you want to learn more check out the big 3 and 4 upgrade on youtube.

Grounding is an artform if done correctly. Star grounding washers, buss bars and so on. Pure copper wire and connectors all around.

Please do what I asked you to do using jumper leads so we can cary on with the diagnosis
I have found battery cables on ZTR's that looked perfect at both ends but were corroded through in the middle from moisture wicking down the cable

And the ground is the common term for which ever lead is connected to the frame , usually the negative wire .

It actually can happen with any lead. This why point to point voltage drop tests with the wiring under actual load are important in finding these problems. I have seen a single strand of wire on multiple stranded wire to be the only voltage path therefore a cable will pass an ohms test or a no load voltage test but fail a load test.

Also the F56 (Packard, GM, Aptiv) terminals can develop loose contact strength as the spring hinge cracks. These can make good enough contact to pass ohms test but loose contact under load.

So it comes down having someone that is experience in troubleshooting these kinds of problems. A lot time the problem areas is oblivious but there are times they are found in unexpected places too.

It sorta like my well pump electrical problem here. I called myself looking over the wiring and everything appeared find. No oblivious breaks. It wasn't until I was installing the upgrade pump that I found the real problem. The way we seal the underwater connection hide the problem. I did a bend and tug test without removing the insulation. When I cut open the connection so I could install the new pump wires I found that the stranded wires had broken off right at the crimp connector. Even if I did an ohms test it probably would been making enough contact that it wouold have passed the test.

IF I had known this that I might had foregone the 3/4 hp replacement of the 1/2 hp pump. Oh well I just check the old pump and if working fine sell it.

And yes most our DC electrical systems are negative grounded but there are still a few older systems out there that are positive grounded. And my wire welder currently uses positive ground (Reverse Ground mode as they call it) to provide better penetration of the welds. There is still a fight over which way the electrons actually flow. Some says Positive to Negative and others say Negative to Positive. I don't care much, I just care that things works.

In AC they go both ways
Having a charge of -1eV by definition they have to go from negative to positive
But saying some thing goes from what we designate as being 0 to some thing that we designate as being more than 0 contravines the laws of thermodynamics
So to make things right with our feebel little brains we defined Current ( amps ) to travel in the opposite direction + to -.

Bbbaker said:

Thank you Gentlemen for the advice. I cleaned battery cables at both ends. not sure where to find the ground strap. Checked owners manual no luck. Should that be running from the starter? Perhaps I need to just start replacing wires. before do that I'm going to have a buddy load test the Battey "again".

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A lot of mowers do not have a ground strap. They just ground through the engine mounting bolts and ground the negative cable to the frame. That would be a good reason to run a ground strap from the engine to the negative battery post and make sure the ground from the negative battery post to the frame makes a good connection.

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