Ariens lawn tractor dies when engaging blades

[Firescooby]

Trying to figure this out for a friend.

It is an Ariens I think made by Husqvarna. It lists the product number as 960460054 01, "A21A42". Mower ran fine last season. He had me change the oil. filters, and spark plug last week. Blades haven't been engaged since last season. Now when you engage the blades the mower dies, like a safety switch is shutting it off.

The seat switch is working.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

 

[StarTech]

First the seat switch connector does has a shorting strip so a loose or damaged connector can be a source of a problem. And I have seen these shorting strips to be damaged.

Second a reverse inhibit switch could be a problem. Have you tried the mow in reverse switch mode?

And of course mice may had a lunch of wiring harness.