Repairs Engine cranking intermittently

[Mad Mackie]

Hi Troops,
Lately my 2008 Scag Tiger Cub/26B&S has been cranking intermittently. I disconnected the battery after charging it, cleaned all the electrical connections both high and low amperage, replaced the starter solenoid, but still intermittent cranking. I installed a second battery ground, #4 cable, from the battery to a good frame ground and this has corrected the cranking problem.
These mowers don't tow or push very easily so having the engine cranking for starting is paramount. I've never been crazy with all the ground wires being connected to a single engine mounting bolt and most times move them around and/or add another ground bonding cable to the tractor frame. some engines have unused bolt holes and I sometimes add another ground cable there and to the tractor frame. While I had the control panel out I noticed that both the choke and throttle levers had a nut missing from one of the two screws. I installed nylock nuts and flat washers to all four of the screws.
And now with a new hose on the collection system, this machine is up to 100%!!!!
Mad Mackie in CT:biggrin:

 

[KennyV]

You are right about grounds... very little resistance will cause a lot of intermittent problems... any grounding point on the frame or sheet metal should be cleaned to bare metal securely mounted and then painted to seal out any moisture or contaminate... if not painted, then at least coated with a good silicon dielectric grease... :smile:KennyV

 

[Mad Mackie]

Adding to the ground problems on a mower. Any mower that has electrical grounding problems may experience electric clutch problems. A slipping clutch will get very hot and the excessive heat will eventually destroy the clutch. If the electrical coil in a clutch shorts to ground, the path of least resistance is thru the crankshaft and the bearings to ground. When this happens, the engine will suffer major internal damage. This is a rare problem, but I have seen an engine torn down that had this problem. I have not as yet installed a clutch bonding wire on my Scag Tiger Cub, But I have installed them on my Ingersoll GTs that I have used for commercial mowing and snow removal.
Mad Mackie in CT:biggrin:

 

[driver]

Hi Troops,
Lately my 2008 Scag Tiger Cub/26B&S has been cranking intermittently. I disconnected the battery after charging it, cleaned all the electrical connections both high and low amperage, replaced the starter solenoid, but still intermittent cranking. I installed a second battery ground, #4 cable, from the battery to a good frame ground and this has corrected the cranking problem.
These mowers don't tow or push very easily so having the engine cranking for starting is paramount. I've never been crazy with all the ground wires being connected to a single engine mounting bolt and most times move them around and/or add another ground bonding cable to the tractor paint. some engines have unused bolt holes and I sometimes add another ground cable there and to the tractor frame. While I had the control panel out I noticed that both the choke and throttle levers had a nut missing from one of the two screws. I installed nylock nuts and flat washers to all four of the screws.
And now with a new hose on the collection system, this machine is up to 100%!!!!
Mad Mackie in CT:biggrin:

good job getting back up to full working status!

 

[jmurray01]

Glad you got it going :smile: