You're welcome. Anytime I think I can help I will. And just for the record Rivet's procedure is one to remember.
I'm lazy by nature :laughing: and in this instance I could see a shortcut and took it.
Laziness is the Mother of invention. Many, many things wouldn't exist without it. This website for example !7:^)
I also have a Husqvarna YTH21K46 now going on 5 yrs. It has worked like a champ with exception of the last year. I can often get away without mowing for a couple months at a time, due to weather here, and extended family living with us who like to mow, and use their own mower.
So now when I do get the chance to use mine, it wont start, and needs a jump. Actually, a recharge. I put it on a battery charger for an hour or two and it would start right up, and even allow me to shut down and restart next day even. Until about 6 months ago. Starting it is a major pain in the tookis.
Battery seems completely dead, as in trying to start it does nothing, not even a click. BUT.. the headlights come on and do not dim when trying to start. Connecting the charger to it on FAST charge and letting battery get to a full charge will give me a slight moan as I turn the key. Leaving the charger on when I do this and i get one complete revolution of the engine (based on watching the flywheel, assuming its one to one with the engine).
Now here's the curious thing, If I try to crank it again, I get a click, but no movement. Watching the flywheel as I do this I see it attempt to turn, but its only a very slight movement, less than 1 degree, if even that much. So I figured, why not just give it a slight turn by hand? Maybe compression is a problem for some reason. And I was right, evidently the engine was at the point of maximum compression and the starter wasnt getting it over the hump. I could feel the compression release (and hear it) as I turned it by hand. This had me worried as I really dont need engine problems.
Next crank attempt worked! The engine cranked right up without a hitch. Until I stood up to remove the battery charger. Forgot about the seat switch. It shut off, and I had to go through thte entire routine again to get it to start.
FYI: Despite what you are going to read next, I really am a professional troubleshooter. I've worked on fighter aircraft weapons systems, nuclear and non nuclear, as well as a copier technician for Xerox for a few years afterwards where safety is number one concern (the laser in some of those office copiers is powerful enough to blind you in an instant, as well as give you a third degree burn. To make it worse, its an invisible IR beam so you wont even know it was on until it was too late! So you NEVER bypass the safeties). Which is where Im going with this... I disconnected the safeties so I could get this thing started and get off it to remove the charging equipment. DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME. I'm a professional troubleshooter, I have many many years of experience and training of/on Risk Management. Non of which can keep you safe. I have the scars to prove it. Safeties are there for good reason. Think LONG and HARD before disabling them for even one second.
Anyway.. where was I.. Oh yeah, got it running with seat safety removed (and no mishaps im glad to report). Mowed half my lawn, grass bags fell off. Had to dismount to put them back on, which really tested my steel. I knew with safety off it would keep running, but all went well, and I got back on. Side catcher for the grass bags popped loose, so I had to get off again. I risked a slight shock by connecting the seat switch back up so that I don't keep doing these stupid people tricks. I do know the risks, and I don't take them lightly. Something that surprised me was that the engine didn't shut off when I reconnected the switch. I was sure it should have. Must not work the way I expected it to. Again, event free. Until the next time I needed to dismount. Kids left some fast food trash on the lawn. So I stopped, got off, engine died (big sigh) got the trash, tried to start it again. It had been about an hour into my mowing when this happened. The battery seemed to have a pretty good charge. But it simply refused to try to start. It actually turned over several times. Didnt even try to fire. Still have over a gallon of gas in the tank, but not a single burst of spark that I could hear.
I havnt gone as far yet as to pulling the plug wire and watching for a spark. But with all the issues I had getting it to start I figured spark was low on the list. Im sure something I did during all of this may have screwed the pooch. Im thinking possibly a worn out battery. Im pretty sure its sealed, so I cant check the specific gravity and add water. And I'm sure connecting the seat switch while it was running wasnt a good move either.
So if anyone had the fortitude to read through my wall of text and has any light to shed, I'm open to all suggestions. The fact that I hyped up my troubleshooting skills not withstanding, I'm open to anything that can be overlooked. One thing I learned is the more you know about something, the more you realize you don't know enough. And to never dismiss an others insights.
