Husqvarna zero-turn not starting after hitting root

[burgessboysplus2]

Hey everyone. This is my first post and I'd like to thank the moderators for having such an outstanding resource at our fingertips. I hope to be able to both gain some answers to my questions and answer some questions from others.

My problem seems fairly severe but man I'm hoping it's easy.

I have a Husqvarna RZ5426. I hit a very low to the ground root left over from some tree cutters who came through savagely chopping at nature a few weeks ago. It was about 3-in in diameter. Anyway, when I hit the root it stopped the mower dead in its tracks. After I figured out what happened, pulled the root from the blade and pushed the mower back a few feet I attempted to start it again and it wouldn't make a sound. I eventually heard some very faint clicking and ticking but it's intermittent. A neighbor helped me push it back to my garage and I attempted to troubleshoot the issue.

0) checked all the fuses I could find and could only find two under the seat. They were good.
1) checked if the engine turned by manually turning it from on top of the motor and it did
2) checked to see if there was any signs of damage under the mower or anything bent and there wasn't
3) checked the battery charge level and it was at about 10% so I left it on a charger until it hit 100% and all I got was the ticking again when I attempted to crank it
4) connected the battery to my truck to see if the extra juice would help it crank and got nothing
5) checked the starter to see if the gears were stuck or not moving but they moved freely when I pushed on them with a screwdriver
6) bridged the solenoid directly behind the battery and under the seat with a screwdriver to see if it was bad and when I made the connection I heard a clear click each time I did that but nothing but a click ... the clicking sound I traced back to what looks like another solenoid directly under the air filter on the engine itself
7) on the recommendation of a Husqvarna parts shop I frequent I bypassed the entire ignition system and connected another battery directly to the starter positive terminal and negative terminal and she cranked!

On number 7 I got her to crank and stay on for about 45 seconds until she died. She cranked again the same way and stayed on for about 30 seconds and then once more before she died. I haven't been able to get her to crank with a direct jump to the starter since. My first thought was that I flooded the engine but I've let her sit for days and tried again with nothing but the engine turning over and over and over.

8) checked the fuel filter for flow from the gas tank and pulled a couple hoses on and around the tank and carburetor but there was gas flowing. I have not replaced the fuel filter this season yet but I don't think it's a fuel problem from the tank at least. Gas is good.
9) checked condition of air filter and blew it out thoroughly with air compressor
10 ) checked to see if safety kill switches were working and the swing arms are in the correct position, the parking brake is enabled and even though I've started the mower with and without the seat down I tried both again with and without weight added to the seat just to make sure

Here is what bothers me. When I pushed the mower back to my garage I found the parking brake kill switch had fallen or broken off where it had been. I figured this was the problem initially so I wrapped it in electrical tape and depressed the switch with a c-clamp just to be sure. I wonder if there is another kill switch preventing it from starting. I don't know where they all are honestly but I know the swing arms, parking brake and seat all have them. Are there any others and is there a way to test them to see if they're bad other than parking the mower, swinging out the arms, enabling the brake and sitting on the seat?

When I checked the fuses I could only find two. Are there others I should check? I tend to believe she wouldn't have cranked at all the first couple of times if there were fuses bad anyway, correct?

I'm stumped guys. If the engine is getting fuel (which I'm pretty sure it is) and the engine is getting air and power why in the world won't she start and stay started you think?

Thanks for any suggestions and/or comments. I hope I was thorough enough haha. I wanted to try here before I dropped it off at a shop and waited for a call with a price.

Jay

 

[bertsmobile1]

:welcome:

Thank you for the well written comprehansive post, it really makes things a lot easier at this end.
When I chased up the wiring diagram for your mower I get 3 different diagrams which makes things a bit difficult.
So to be specific we will need the model number off the mower and the make & model number of the engine.

If you still have your owners manual, it should have a wiring diagram in the back.
If it is the same one I am looking at follow the wire ( yellow) that is attached to the S = START terminal on the ignition switch.
It daisy chains so if any one switch is faulty, then you get nothing at the other end.

First test is to check you get 12V to the S terminal with the key in the start position.
The 12V goes through both motion control switches then the brake switch then to the starter solenoid.
Even better it stays a yellow wire all the way through.
So you can check it at the solenoid with the key in the start position .
From what you have described I suspect you will get 0 volts there.
If you run a jumper from the battery + to the terminal that the yellow wire plugs into the starter solenoid should click loudly and the engine should crank.
This solenoid ground out through the mounting bolts so if there is corrosion there, it might not be getting a proper ground.
ZTR's wiring is very exposed so suffers badly from corrosion.

The click you heard was from the fuel solenoid that lives under the carb and shuts off the fuel to the engine when you turn it off.
This is a different circuit to the one that cranks the engine.

From what you have said I would suspect the brake switch.
make up a short patch cable ( light jumper )about 4" to 6" long with a spade terminal on each end,
Use it to jump the yellow wires at the brake switch plug.
Be very carefull that you do not send battey power to the ignition coils which are also connected to the brake switch or you will fry them.
You will not be able to run or start the engine because the other wires are all connected to the kill switch, you are just trying to confirm the brake switch is broken.

I use a lot of these patch cords on ZTR's because the wiring at the plugs is difficult to access with a test meter or test lamp.
SO if you made up 4 of these and bypassed each switch and still got 0 V at the starter solenoid then the wires themselves are broken

Now for the bad news.
Blowing air through the filter destroys the filter unless you have very clean water free air as the high pressure air blows water and tiny dust particles right through the filter paper.

And I know this is embarrassing but turn the PTO switch on and off a couple of time to ensure it is off.
I can not remember how many times an engine has failed, I have pushed it back into the shop, spent the whole day tracing wires only to find the PTO was still engaged:ashamed: