4514 mower dies at random times

[Little General]

I have a 4514 mower I have owned since new. In the last few years it will just quit. All lights go out just like the key is turned off. Choke it and it fires right up and off you go until it decides to quit again. I just put new tires on it and want to repair this problem. It happens hot or cold, summer or winter.

 

[Rivets]

I wound check the kill circuit. That would be starting at the coil and working back to the key switch. This means check the connections, to see if they are tight and clean. Check the wires to make sure they are not pinched or rubbed through. The symptoms which you describe, makes me feel that your unit is grounding itself out.

 

[Little General]

I was going to actually start by cleaning all the ground connections and such. Thanks

 

[Little General]

I think its the ignition switch. I had it out and while running the engine, i was tapping it on the pto handle and the engine died. A new switch is over $100 so I might try a generic one from auto store. Also, I may jump a wire to hot wire on switch and see if it happens when it cant loose power.

 

[robert@honda]

There were some running changes to the electrical system on the H4514. If you'll share the frame serial number with me, I can post a few troubleshooting pages that might help. The serial number is in the form of MZAS-9999999.

Generally, you want to check these items:

Parking brake switch
Seat switch
Combination switch
Combination relay
Fuel cut solenoid
Fuel control unit