Craftsman 917272011 blades not engaging and kills engine

[2sellallcars]

No sorry, when the motor running, and wether the clutch is in or out and then I pull engage knob out the motor dies.
And this is also with the deck belt disconnected

 

[StarTech]

Hmmm. I assume that someone was able to read a simple electrical schematic. Apparently not.

That like the Cub Cadet that I am now repairing where the OM fried the connector at the brake switch. If weren't for my knowledge the customer would be replacing the $150 wiring harness along with several hours of labor disassembling and reassembling the mower. This is because most OEM will not sale the connectors only but insist on selling complete harnesses.

On the this Craftsman all the connectors and housings are available via alternate sources so it can be repair back to way the OEM had the harness.

 

[smalltimerpm]

Is there 2 or 3 wires at the plug end that goes into the clutch? Some clutch wire harnesses have a resistor installed into them. The resistor creates voltage spikes from coming back into wire harness due to the clutch being magnetic. If the resistor is bad. Well... you have the result.

 

[riceski@gmail.com]

new here, so have a craftsman 917272011 mower. runs like a champ. when running, i pull the knob for the blades to engage and it kills the motor. There is a wire set up that goes down to the bottom of the mower for i am assuming the clutch set up that makes the belt go around and shows continuity when the knob is pulled on. Not sure what else to do or look for. Any and all help is much appreciated. Thank you

FROM MY EXPERIENCE SOME KRAFTSMAN MOWERS HAVE A LITTLE PIECE UNDER THE SEAT. I HAD A PRO WHO KNEW DUG IT OUT AND IT NEVER GAVE ME A PROBLEM AFTER THAN.
SLOW DOWN OK -- - GO TO YOUTUBE AND SPEND SOME TIME THERE.

 

[detel]

Are you sure that it is in neutral and not reverse?

 

[StarTech]

Are you sure that it is in neutral and not reverse?

According to the schematic there is no reverse inhibit.

OP, Find the operator present relay and remove it then test. It is located in the operator steering tower.

 

[Bertrrr]

check the wires at the clutch for short to ground when you pull your clutch switch. If there is no reading to ground , it aint your switch , clutch or those wires. There are several safety relays that all tie in to the same circuit
I would hop 12 volts to the " clutch " wire + with engine running and see where that takes you.
You never said that the clutch is actually engaging and stopping the engine but with the belt off it's unlikely so probably the circuit for the safetys.

 

[StarTech]

Personally I no longer solder wires together on mower but instead use terminal slices and heat shrink. The terminal splices takes less space than butt connectors. But of course I deal with terminal fuses that require the terminal splices as you can't solder these.

 

[TobyU]

Typically, in that situation, it is the clutch switch. I'm not really a fan of bypassing that switch even for test purposes because it just usually doesn't go bad that often. Normally it's on an MTD especially bolens or yard machines or a John Deere where the plunger isn't getting pushed in enough or the switch is little barbed fingers have popped out of the metal hole so it's not getting pushed in because of that but the switch itself is usually good and you can push it with your finger and hold it to check.
The way that system is supposed to work is it should crank and run even if you are not on the seat as long as the clutch is locked down in the parking brake position and the blades are turned off.
When it's running that way it will die as soon as you turn on the blades because there's nothing on the seat.
It's also worth mentioning I've seen some of these seat switches that have a small tab right in the middle of the wire connector that plugs onto the seat switch that is spring loaded that you can press in that stays pressed wants the connector is pressed on to the seat switch. It's important for this to be pressed into even if your bypassing it but that wouldn't give your symptoms.
I have used and I'll meet her on a couple of clutch switches but more commonly on the ones on the handles for zero turn that turn off the blades when you go into reverse because those have four wire connectors if I remember correctly and can be flaky and not changing the continuity back and forth the way it should if you compare it to a new switch even though it is doing something it's just not doing it right.
My guess on yours is a rubbed or bare wire somewhere in that kill switch wiring involving the seat or clutch but more than likely in the clutch area before it heads to the seat to end.
This whole system is about like any other riding mower that ends up going back to your coil and it simply grounds that coil tab wire to the frame to kill the ignition so if any part of that wire gets shorted to ground it's not going to have spark.
It is possible that it's your PTO switch because they do fail but I find weird problems like that more often on the commercial walk behind Toro's that have that plastic module box right near the PTO switch.

 

[kjonxx]

Do you hear the clutch click if not try unplugging it then turn on. Could be shot. or pto switch is bad.