Craftsman 917272011 blades not engaging and kills engine

TobyU

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2014
Threads
0
Messages
430
  • / Craftsman 917272011 blades not engaging and kills engine
Oh on the pressure washer Brigg only wants $375 for the pump which more than the whole pressure cost the customer. I seeing if he will go for a $150 repair with an after market Himore or FAIP pump. I believe from the images the Briggs pump is the FAIP pump just rebranded.

And yes I can still get a $85 pump for the unit if we want go el cheapo route. I might even just suggest he order the pump and install it himself.
Like I said, that's what I've done a lot because I just don't want to take the time to mess with them and I really don't like to hose people on the labor for just an install but you know time is time.
As far as El cheapo, I don't know what model pump you're dealing with or unit but pretty much all of the ones or at least 98% of the ones I see and have seen for 10 years and 100% all of the ones that have the vertical crankshaft engine on top of the cart frame with the pump mounted underneath are ALL El cheapos! Even the people who would buy a replacement for a Troy-Bilt from troy-bilt.. it's still just a generic one manufacturer by some Chinese company so I don't think it matters what brand you buy or where you get it from.
Now the more commercial grade ones will have that larger rectangular pump often with a sight glass for the oil or at least a dipstick and a drain plug because the owner's manual actually tells you to change the crankcase oil at a certain number of hours consistently.
Now, these are still probably made in Japan at least most of them but it's a more robust design and those pumps do cost a little more.
The problem is some of these companies are still ridiculously capitalizing on their markup.
If you buy a carburetor for a generac generator from generac you can pay over $100 for it!
It's a Chinese carburetor probably not even Huayi which I find are actually very good. They are kind of like the high-end brand name of Chinese carbs.
But you can get this car or one just like it from eBay or Amazon for under $15 shipped to your door!
Troy-Bilt (MTD) does the same thing.
I understand using quality Parts when you know their quality and they stay quality and there's an obvious known difference between those and cheap ones but today the differences are few and far between.
Every local shop in a 50 mi radius of me still does everything the old fashioned way.
They order everything for the local distributors paying good money for it and they only mark it up a slight little amount. No shop is making a killing on their parts!
When they need that Troy-Bilt snowblower carburetor they end up with one from a Troy-Bilt box and it cost them between 45 and 60 bucks so they add another 8 or $12 on it when they sell it to the customer.
I guess in some ways this is good because if Troy-Bilt wasn't making such a killing on Parts they would have to raise the price of their new machines but I just can't do this.
Eventually these shops are going to have to start sourcing better prices for their parts. Hopefully.
 

Glenn Yee

Forum Newbie
Joined
Mar 15, 2022
Threads
2
Messages
7
  • / Craftsman 917272011 blades not engaging and kills engine
I'm sorry to hear that you are having issues with your Craftsman mower. Based on your description, it sounds like there might be an issue with the blade engagement switch or the safety switch that is preventing the engine from starting when the blades are engaged.

To confirm this, you could try bypassing the safety switches temporarily and see if that allows the blades to engage without killing the engine. However, please note that this is not a long-term solution and you should not operate the mower without the safety switches in place.

Another possibility is that there could be a problem with the electric clutch that engages the blades. You could test this by checking the voltage at the clutch when you try to engage the blades. If there is no voltage, then the issue might be with the switch or wiring.

Finally, it's possible that the engine is not generating enough power to engage the blades. You could check the battery and charging system to make sure they are functioning properly.

I hope this helps, and please let us know if you find a solution to the problem.
 
Top