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Tried to start but only got rapid clicking noise. Battery is good but I replaced it along with a solenoid and still only rapid clicking. I left battery connected to mower as usual but connected a jumper cable to the positive battery post and touched the other end to the starter and got nothing....no spark, no start, no nothing. I have checked all wiring and connections and they are good. Any ideas??

Either you have a bad wire connector, most commonly at the battery, but could be were the ground wire connects to the frame, or the battery is quesionable. Something is causing the battery voltage to drop below the level it needs to keep the starter solenoid engaged.

separate the battery and starter connections, clean, coat with dielectric grease and reconnect. Neighbors machine did exactly the same thing, it was simply corrosion on the cables. Components are made if dissimilar metals and are prone to corrode between the layers. Cheers, Ray

RayMcD said:

separate the battery and starter connections, clean, coat with dielectric grease and reconnect. Neighbors machine did exactly the same thing, it was simply corrosion on the cables. Components are made if dissimilar metals and are prone to corrode between the layers. Cheers, Ray

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I just love when people recommend coating electrical connections with non conductive grease.

ILENGINE said:

I just love when people recommend coating electrical connections with non conductive grease.

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That why I use an electrical grease that is suppose prevent oxidation in the household electrical panels. It is conductive.

Hello U,

Do you have a multimeter and understand how to do a voltage drop test on cables and wires?

Try using your jumper cable and go from the battery negative to the engine block. See if it will crank then.

At this age, the ignition key switch is also suspect due to years of use. If you replace it, it has to be an exact match with the correct letter codes next to the each of the terminal pins. There are several switches that "look the same" but are internally different.

You will need your PIN label number information off the white label on the frame (above one of the rear tires usually, or on the side of the front chassis)

Last but not least, do not overlook the 20A main fuse. they get corroded in the pins. Usually, you can pull the fuse and make sure it is good then reinstall it. Do that a couple of times to scrub the pins and make good contact.

StarTech said:

That why I use an electrical grease that is suppose prevent oxidation in the household electrical panels. It is conductive.

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I use NO-Ox myself on some items. Use lots of dielectric grease around the shop, just not on electrical connections

Are you able to turn the starter? May be a bad/stuck starter. I had a starter with a bad top bushing that got hot, blew up the magnet and that was the end of it of course. Sometimes those starters also get stuck in the engaged position. I say next step would be pull the engine shroud, and pull the starter.