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Hi all and thank you for any assistance that may be provided.

I have a weed eater VIP riding lawn mower with a B & S 12.5 HP engine.

To begin with, for over a year now the mower will not shut off unless you stall the engine (none of the safety features stop the engine - you can even get off of the seat and it will still run). The switch has been replaced and it still will not turn off even with turning the key. Normally when I want to stop the engine I will turn down the throttle as low as I can and then set the blades to spin and the engine will not have enough power to do this and it will stall.

A little over a week ago I was preparing to mow (after not mowing for a month or longer) and I had to fix a couple of deflated tires. Once I had the tires ready, I tested the engine to see if it would run. It started fine (which is exciting because half of the time it doesn't and we have to buy or jump the battery to run it). I could not use my normal method to cut the engine off because the mower was on a slight incline and I didn't want to spin the blades into gravel; instead I did as instructed by my mechanic who replaced the switch which was to disconnect the spark plug wire to turn off the engine. When I did this, I received a small shock (not very intense but bigger than a static shock). When it came time to start mowing, the mower no longer would start.

I took the battery into an auto parts store and they tested it before having me buy a new one. It tested fine and they recommended checking the fuse when I told them what had happened. They said the shock from the spark plug wire could have blown a fuse.

Today I finally located the fuse and pulled it out. To me it looks fine (the little u shape connector between the two metal bars is not broken).

Any clues on to what else could have stopped the mower from starting when it had just started and run fine 20 minutes before?

Upon turning the key there is no response. No click, no turning of the starter, just silence (as if the battery had absolutely no juice).

you have alot of problems it sounds like....and they may all be caused by the same thing.....you need to get a wiring diagram to start....then well go from there......... weed eater manuals - Google Search

Thank you for your response. I will do some serious research in hopes I can find a manual online. Because this lawn mower is pretty old (15 years or so) I have had no luck in the past when finding the manual. I did notice today that there was a parts number on the B & S engine for a manual (272697) but I had no success when searching those numbers in google. Following your link with out delving too deep it did not look very promising, but I will give it a better try when I get a chance.

I will let you know if I have any luck.

Also, for future reference, the model number is HD2G4E8 and weed eater is owned by Poulan as far as I know (I may be wrong).

here is alink for parts manual that includes a wiring diagram about 1/2 way thru

http://www.outdoordistributors.com/pdf/AYP/AYP-MODEL-HD2G4E8A-PARTS-LIST.pdf

Sounds like mice damage

in general.....all your problems could be the ignition switch......switches of that era are usually cheap....$8-14....might be a start in the right direction for you

Thank you very much for posting the manual.

My mechanic replaced the switch this spring in an attempt to fix the problem with the mower not shutting off when the switch is turned off. He said it made no difference, and after some hours going over it he was unable to figure out why it was happening.

I believe it is very possible that there is mice damage, as this has been a problem a few times in the past. Isnt it strange that it ran fine and then it wouldn't start 20 minutes later? Is it possible the shock from the spark plug is to blame? Generally in the past mice damage wouldn't let the mower run at all.

I could buy and install a new switch if it is advisable to do so, but because the mechanic has tried that I am somewhat reluctant to do so.

the motor turns off by grounding the magneto..there by shutting off the ignition....trace your wires from your engine back....and see if any are disconnected

If anyone knows?

Hi there,

In case anyone is curious, I was able to get the mower started after fiddling with the wiring to the starter that was installed last year. I don't know what I connected or did, but I finally managed to get it started.

Now, I have a new issue that I would like to ask anyone who is willing to answer about. I was mowing some tall grass last month, and accidently mowed over a branch that was cut the year before and laying in the field. The branch got caught in one of the blades and stopped the blade from turning. Within seconds the engine shut off. Since then, if I turn the key to start nothing happens at all.

Is there some kind of safety feature that would shut down the mower like this, or does it mean that something might be broken and needs fixing? I have read that in cases like this, the key attached to the flywheel needs to be replaced. I have yet to take the cover off of the flywheel to look for a broken key, mainly because I would assume the starter would at least spin a little if it was just the broken key. Am I wrong in making this assumption? Will it react as if there is no power going to the starter if the key is broken?

Thank you to anyone who reads and/or responds to this message for your time.

with a belt driven deck...i doubt a crank key was sheared...with all the electrical gremlins you've had....id look there again...

reddragon said:

with a belt driven deck...i doubt a crank key was sheared...with all the electrical gremlins you've had....id look there again...

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That was my gut feeling. I've been fiddling with the wiring off and on, but most if it is not really accessable. If the magneto is not grounded as you have mentioned earlier in this thread, would that cause issues with starting?

Also, I wonder what the chances are of the starting being bad and not the wiring? Any thoughts?

Wow, you go through a lot to mow your grass. I feel your pain as I have been there many times in the past.
If it was me and I had no choice but to use that mower, I would find ANOTHER small engines mechanic (experienced) and make a deal (cash, or trade/barter) to let him inspect and or repair ALL your wiring and electronics or you are going to have one frustrating mowing season or try to start the engine while someone eles "wiggles" the wires all over the mower (I think you may have a bad ground or bad connection or bad safety switch somewhere in the wiring) ....or is your clutch working correctly or try craigslist for new mechanic or another mower or maybe trade "even" for a walk behind mower to get you through this season?

....also see the "How Old is it?" thread in this section. He has a rear engine snapper rider (great mower) he may sell at a low price and I think he is in the same state as you. Good Luck.

Hey, did you ever figure out what the problem was with your mower, i just had the same thing happen to me with my "weedeater" mower.. it would be nice to no where to start when i get home without tearing it apart. thanks!!

johnboy22 said:

Hey, did you ever figure out what the problem was with your mower, i just had the same thing happen to me with my "weedeater" mower.. it would be nice to no where to start when i get home without tearing it apart. thanks!!

Click to expand...

It's a little late, but an answer to this question is no. I did not find out what was wrong with the wiring, but I did find out that you can start the mower with jumper cables on a car (Jeep in my case) battery.

With the Jeep turned off, hook up the positive and negative to the battery, and the other negative you want to ground to a metal object (I use the exhaust pipe) and the positive (red/orange) cable you can put onto the nut on the starter where the red lawn mower battery cable connects to the starter. It will spark as it makes a connection, but this will turn the starter to start the lawn mower.

The bad part is you cannot turn off and restart the mower unless you are near a vehicle. You do not need to turn the vehicle on that you are using the battery of.. there is enough juice in the battery with the engine off to turn the starter.

Engine stalled and won't restart

I wanted to ask if anyone has an idea on a new problem I have this year.

I was mowing the field Sunday, and backed over an old branch while mowing which the blade hit and immediately stalled the engine. Now the engine won't start. The starter spins and spins but no spark.

I would assume it is the spark plug, but the mower was running previously which makes me think it is not. Also there is about 1/3 tank of gas remaining, so it does not seem that the engine would have trouble getting gas.

It is a belt driven riding lawn mower, so I am not quite sure if there is a flywheel key or crank shaft problem possible. Any tips on what to look for would be great. It is difficult to Google this kind of thing since most posts are dealing with push mowers, but I will keep searching.

Thanks in advance for any information you can give!

P.S. Not sure if it makes a difference, but when I first got the mower going after close to a year of sitting, the engine didn't want to run at first. It was rough running and it took a few minutes of running at full throttle before I could turn down the power to normal speed, and after running for a few minutes it was running normal again.

Update

Hi all, just updating progress on the lawn mower:

Since the lawn mower immediately cut off after hitting a hard object, I figured it would be a good idea to check the key on the crank shaft. The cover to the flywheel has been taken off, but the flywheel is on pretty good, and may require a lifter to take it off. The key is visible looking through the center of the flywheel. The key looks to be in place from the top view, and the crank shaft is spinning fine. The bottom pulley is spinning, and if the blades are engaged they will spin while the flywheel is being spun by the starter.

The spark plug is sparking fine, but it seems dry as if no gas is coming through to the spark plug. Gas was poured into the air box while the flywheel was spinning, and there is no sign of combustion, and the spark plug has no gas on it.

Is it possible that the timing could be off? Any ideas or suggestions on what to look for?

Thank you in advance for any information or ideas.