GX85 turns over, but won't start ... neutral safety switch ... & bunch of questions --- Please Help Me.

[Adevo]

I'm shooting in the dark here ... learning as I'm going ... watching hours of you tube videos.

Neutral safety switch wires were cut when ran over a tarp ... since spliced, but it won't start ... just turns over. To access the wiring to the switch we put the tractor basically on its side ... major oops. After righting it I discovered oil the air filter compartment and oily spark plug.

Replaced the spark plug, changed the oil, fuel filter, air filter, new battery, new ignition switch, new solenoid [those last two were the original tosses at the dart board in trying to get it to start) ... since discovered slice in neutral safety connections... took carburetor apart to clean ... without removing any jets since I haven't researched how to readjust them.

After reassembly It began to start once, but quickly died, shooting a puff of oily smoke followed by a whining (strange) sound. Now only turns over, doesn't engage/start.

Questions:
What am I missing here?

With two wires going to the neutral safety switch are the wires interchangeable the posts on top of the switch ... or are they post specific?
I used a crimper to splice the wires, but how can I test to make sure there's no short in that new connection?

If oil got behind the breather cover is that ok? (I think I saw a pic that's where valve springs located)

Could I have messed up the valves and now they need readjusting ... could that be the whining noise I heard?

Is a battery considered good at 12.34 volts if it can be recharged but dies again after a few attempts to start? (trying to figure out if the one I replaced is still good)

Answering one or all questions would be much appreciated ... I have many hours into this without results.

Thanks in advance!

John Deere GX85,13 horse power Briggs and Stratton motor, model 28M707-1161-E1

 

[Richie F]

Neutral safety switch wires were cut when ran over a tarp ... since spliced, but it won't start ... just turns over.
After reassembly It began to start once, but quickly died, shooting a puff of oily smoke followed by a whining (strange) sound. Now only turns over, doesn't engage/start.

Questions:


1) With two wires going to the neutral safety switch are the wires interchangeable the posts on top of the switch ... or are they post specific?
I used a crimper to splice the wires, but how can I test to make sure there's no short in that new connection?
1) Wires are not post specific, so it doesn't matter.
If done properly no short was made.

2) If oil got behind the breather cover is that ok?
2) If you mean the breather cover bolted to engine, that's OK.

3) Could I have messed up the valves and now they need readjusting ... could that be the whining noise I heard?
3) No valves are OK.
Still don't know what is meant by "whining noise".
"Now only turns over, doesn't engage/start."
Are you saying the starter works and spins the engine over ? If the starter motor itself spins but doesn't turn over the engine by engaging the flywheel you can have a "whining noise".

Does the engine have compression and spark ?


4) Is a battery considered good at 12.34 volts if it can be recharged but dies again after a few attempts to start?
4) 12.3 is a good value.
You said you replaced the battery, which is new.
Did you use a 2 to 10 amp charger on it ?
A battery can be load tested to check out its condition.


John Deere GX85,13 horse power Briggs and Stratton motor, model 28M707-1161-E1

 

[bertsmobile1]

In place of wasting hours watching U-Tube idiots 90% of which have less than no idea about the garbage spewing forth from their mouths, your time would have been much better spent buying the JD Technical manual fr your mower and following the set by step clearly written & easy for a lay person to understand testing proceedures .
So by now you would be mowing in place of being here confused . and of course you would not have tipped the mower on it's side like the dim wits on U-boob tell you to .
The neutral switch is in a daisy chain so it does not matter which way the wires go.
It is also part of the cranking circuit so if the starter motor is spinning then all of the switches on the blue loop are fine,

The oil is no problem but if you did not remove the spark plug before you attempted to crank the engine then there is a better than average chance that you have blown your head gasket
A blown head gasket can make a wheesing sort of sound and can also allow the engine to spin a bit faster because there is less compression to fight against.

If the battery goes flat after a few attampts to start the engine ( assuming you are cranking for 1 minute or less ) then the battery is toast.

If you have blown oil all over the spark plug , clean it with carburettor cleaner then allow to dry fully before attempting to use it again.

 

[Adevo]

Thanks Richie ... definitely helpful ... sprayed some carb cleaner into spark plug hole ... turned over & finally on!

It is totally blowing smoke at the moment ... hopefully that simply means I have to burn off the oil that got inside.

 

[Adevo]

In place of wasting hours watching U-Tube idiots 90% of which have less than no idea about the garbage spewing forth from their mouths, your time would have been much better spent buying the JD Technical manual fr your mower and following the set by step clearly written & easy for a lay person to understand testing proceedures .
So by now you would be mowing in place of being here confused . and of course you would not have tipped the mower on it's side like the dim wits on U-boob tell you to .
The neutral switch is in a daisy chain so it does not matter which way the wires go.
It is also part of the cranking circuit so if the starter motor is spinning then all of the switches on the blue loop are fine,

The oil is no problem but if you did not remove the spark plug before you attempted to crank the engine then there is a better than average chance that you have blown your head gasket
A blown head gasket can make a wheesing sort of sound and can also allow the engine to spin a bit faster because there is less compression to fight against.

If the battery goes flat after a few attampts to start the engine ( assuming you are cranking for 1 minute or less ) then the battery is toast.

If you have blown oil all over the spark plug , clean it with carburettor cleaner then allow to dry fully before attempting to use it again.

Thanks Bert ... little edgy response, but guess I'll take it. As you can see from attachment ... I do have the tech manual and have been referencing it.

Word to the wise ... YouTube is full of great info ... that's how I've gotten to this point in understanding dismantling and reassembly of various parts. Just an FYI ... woman here, with no mechanical buddies to bounce things off of or teach me the first thing about mechanics/engines ... so I'm pretty damn proud of myself getting to this point.

 

[Mower King]

Thanks Bert ... little edgy response, but guess I'll take it. As you can see from attachment ... I do have the tech manual and have been referencing it.

Word to the wise ... YouTube is full of great info ... that's how I've gotten to this point in understanding dismantling and reassembly of various parts. Just an FYI ... woman here, with no mechanical buddies to bounce things off of or teach me the first thing about mechanics/engines ... so I'm pretty damn proud of myself getting to this point.

I post this at least a few times a week.....when the shoe fits!

 

[bertsmobile1]

I post this at least a few times a week.....when the shoe fits!

And I will post under it every time that there are so many idiot morons who post total garbage on You tube that if you do not know anything at all you are more likely to destroy what ever it is you are trying to fix than fix it.
I bough the repair run 7 years ago and have been playing with vintage motorcycles all my life so was a reasonable mechanic.
However the actual mower & tranny repairs were all new to me so I did what you expouse, watched a lot of You tube
Even then it became apparent that I knew more than 90% of the clowns who post
As such the only You-Tube "EXPERTS" I trust & would advise others to watch are Taryl & Donny Boy and since being on here Steve's Small engine Saloon ( although drinking while working on mowers is 100% lunacy )
If You Boob was such an unbeatable resource , the be all & end all of mower repair then Adevo's mower would be making clippings by now, not sitting in her shop dripping oil.

As for Adevo, what she got from me was the plain answers to her specific questions .
I am mythed to understand why if she followed the testing proceedures exactly as laid out i the technical manual the problems were not resolved .
I have bought 7 JD technical manuals and will continue to buy them for each customers mower because they can not be beat.
They also caused me to revise my diagnostic proceedures .

Standing down from the soapbox & returning to planet earth.
I care not if you are a woman, man or child.
All get treated equally from this little black duck.

So your cranking circuit is fine because the engine is revolving and if it was revolving then there was no reason to touch the starter solenoid.
Your next step is to put a SMALL amount of fuel directly into the spark plug hole then replace the spark plug & crank the engine with the throttle fully open but not choked.
This is assuming that the spark plug is clean & dry
I use carb cleaner for this , not starter fluid like 99.9999% of You -Boob experts tell you to do because it can preignite and blow a hole in your piston or bend a con rod
Crank the engine for a good minute .
If it starts and runs till the fuel is all burned up then you know the ignition timing is good .
Next step is to spray a SHORT SHOT of carb cleaner down the carb while cranking the engine
If it starts and you can keep it running by spraying VERY SHORT shots of carb cleaner down the carb then your valves are good and you have fuel supply problem .

I will leave thing here to keep things simple , clear & concise thus avoiding confusion.
If you want help then please do this and post the results.

If you need to, use jumpers from your car to do this.
We can sort out the battery problems a bit latter on once we have your mower running.

And I am Australian so I talk plain & direct , no pussyfooting around .
Many Americans consider this abrupt or rude .
That is your choice.

 

[NorthBama]

i like the tube some good useful help and they don't bad mouth people

 

[bertsmobile1]

i like the tube some good useful help and they don't bad mouth people

They don't need to, that is what face book is for
You tube for idiot ego maniacs
Face book for cowardly bullies.

You tube used to be reasonable when it was difficult to make & post videos
However now you can do it with almost every mobile phone it is a dissaster .

If you want to see a typical example of this, try LawnMowerRepair,com
a place where they tell you to fix a lean running engine by stuffing foam in the air intake, or to mutilate a 1/2 nut by gripping it with mole grips which deform the nut preventing it being used again or to fit a toggle on off switch because the poster does not understand how a the rubber boot switch fitted to the carb works .

Then there was the "expert JD site " where they tell you to bend the rear guard to get the fuel tank out.
ll the hydro repair videos where the strip down & rebuild is done on filthy benches so the repaired tranny will die from ingested dirt in no time flat .

Now I agree that there is some good stuff there but unless you know how to sort the good from the fools you are stuffed.

 

[Richie F]

Thanks Richie ... definitely helpful ... sprayed some carb cleaner into spark plug hole ... turned over & finally on!

It is totally blowing smoke at the moment ... hopefully that simply means I have to burn off the oil that got inside.

So what I get is the engine is now running and doesn't stall out.
The oil from the muffler will burn off in time.