Battery is good - nothing happens when turning key to start

[pajohn]

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

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?

 

[Blade Runner]

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.

 

[johnboy22]

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!!

 

[pajohn]

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!!

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.

 

[pajohn]

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.

 

[pajohn]

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.