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I have a craftsman riding mower with the twin engine two spark plugs. I changed the deck belt now it won't start it turns over fine I have never had any problems with it starting. I pulled the plug and tried to start with it grounded no spark. I am afraid it's a safety feature not letting it start any suggestions.

Safety switches are located on the Brake Pedal (must be fully depressed); Seat (must be occupied), Deck/Blade/PTO (blades must not be engaged), Transmission (prevents operation when blades engaged and trans in reverse).

Since you just worked on the deck belt, I'd look to the Deck/Blade safety switch first. You may have changed the position of the switch or disconnected the molex connector or damaged the wiring. The switch will be located near the "arm" that is moved by the blade engagement cable to tension the blade belt for engagement. When moved to the blades engaged position, the plunger/button on the switch is fully depressed. When Blades are disengaged, that arm moves away, and allows the plunger/button to extend back out. The plunger may be stuck. The connector may have become loosened or dislodged. The wire may have been damaged/crimped/severed.

Thanks a lot I was able to find the switches and they seemed to be functioning properly. I also look at my ground wires coming from the coil and where ever else I seem them they all seemed tight. I noticed the engagement rod had worked its way loose i hope that was it. So I removed the deck again, I didn't get it back on to try it out I hope when I do it works. Do you know how the brake on the double pulley works I don't quite understand it I think I had it goin over the belt when it should have went under it seemed to be in a bind when I removed it. Thanks again

Don't know what model mower you've got.

Do you have the belt routing diagram? Some machines have a decal showing the belt routing attached to the chassis or hood. If not, it should be in your manual. If you don't have the manual, we can find it on the Sears websites in PDF format. If this is a recent model with a V-Twin, it is a Husqvarna, and they place a decal with the routing on the chassis.

Col F said:

Don't know what model mower you've got.

Do you have the belt routing diagram? Some machines have a decal showing the belt routing attached to the chassis or hood. If not, it should be in your manual. If you don't have the manual, we can find it on the Sears websites in PDF format. If this is a recent model with a V-Twin, it is a Husqvarna, and they place a decal with the routing on the chassis.

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It is a craftsman yard machine with a 46'' cut the engine is briggs and stratton with 20hp. I do have a diagram and it is routed correctly. I check the safety switches the brake and the blade disengagement will not crank unless they are pressed the switch on the seat cranks regardless if you are on it or not. But it use to quit if you got off it regardless if the blades were engaged or not. I removed the deck and then replaced it. There really isn't any wires around the deck to mess with. Could it be the magneto and is there a way to test it with having to buy a new one. Any suggestions are great thanks.

Are you sure you installed the right belt?

reynoldston said:

Are you sure you installed the right belt?

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I assume so I gave them the old belt. It being the deck belt (serpentine belt) does it affect starting

Wilder1114 said:

I assume so I gave them the old belt. It being the deck belt (serpentine belt) does it affect starting

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The belt does not have anything to do with the starting and or running of the engine.

I am joining this a little late so let's start over.

Does it do anything when you turn the key?

If not then let's start with the battery. Hook up some jumper cables from your car battery to the mower battery. With the car NOT running

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

Carscw said:

The belt does not have anything to do with the starting and or running of the engine.

I am joining this a little late so let's start over.

Does it do anything when you turn the key?

If not then let's start with the battery. Hook up some jumper cables from your car battery to the mower battery. With the car NOT running

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

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It cranks great but no spark in spark plugs.

Carscw said:

The belt does not have anything to do with the starting and or running of the engine.

I am joining this a little late so let's start over.

Does it do anything when you turn the key?

If not then let's start with the battery. Hook up some jumper cables from your car battery to the mower battery. With the car NOT running

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

Click to expand...

Seeing I don't know the mower or tractor but I was thinking? just maybe if it was the wrong belt the throw would be off to operate a safety switch ??? Just a though but as I can see I am wrong sorry. Without seeing a repair I don't care who you are it just a guess. Loose wires maybe??

Wilder1114 said:

It cranks great but no spark in spark plugs.

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Ok on most mowers but not on all if it is a safety switch the engine won't even crank over.

I will assume you have pulled a spark plug and looked for spark.

I would unhook the kill wire going to the coil and give it a try

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

reynoldston said:

Seeing I don't know the mower or tractor but I was thinking? just maybe if it was the wrong belt the throw would be off to operate a safety switch ??? Just a though but as I can see I am wrong sorry. Without seeing a repair I don't care who you are it just a guess. Loose wires maybe??

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I appreciate anything I can get I am stumped and its driving me crazy. Thanks to everyone

I would unhook the kill wire from the coils, then turn it over. If it starts, hook wire up again to kill it and that will tell u that its a safety switch. You can go from there by moving all the safety switch buttons to different positions.

This just actually happened to me for the past month. I bought a replacement belt from Amazon. The tractor would not start with no spark. Issue was that the belt was too tight. While it claimed to be an exact replacement, it wasn't. I bought the OEM belt and the tractor started. Amazon replacement belt was 2 inches shorter and produced too much stress on the engine to turnover. Always spend the money to avoid a headache

chuknchez said:

This just actually happened to me for the past month. I bought a replacement belt from Amazon. The tractor would not start with no spark. Issue was that the belt was too tight. While it claimed to be an exact replacement, it wasn't. I bought the OEM belt and the tractor started. Amazon replacement belt was 2 inches shorter and produced too much stress on the engine to turnover. Always spend the money to avoid a headache

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Belts have microchips in them to prevent mower theft. Not really but coming to a mower near you LOL. Some super genius will add this great new feature to sell more mowers. Those 0-turns are not cheap.

If I had a 0-turn, I would hide a GPS tracker on it. I sold a push mower to a nice fella'. He said his new Ferris 72" 0-turn and trailer was stolen from his house. They drug the mower across the yard and loaded it on his now gone trailer. I HATE THIEVES.