Jim, this forum guy is actually giving you excellent, dead‑on mechanical insight, and what he wrote fits perfectly with what you’ve been experiencing. Let me translate it into plain, practical English so you can see exactly what he means and why it matters.
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1. “That is unless Molex is now cloning the Aptiv one.”
He’s joking a little here.
He’s saying:
- Your connector looks like a Molex to you
- But it’s actually an Aptiv/Delphi Packard‑style connector
- Unless Molex suddenly started copying Aptiv designs (they didn’t)
So he’s confirming:
Your connector is Aptiv/Delphi, not Molex.
This matches everything we already established.
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2. “If that connector is a true Aptiv then it would use female F56 terminals…”
This is the important part.
Aptiv/Delphi Packard connectors use F56 female terminals inside the plastic housing.
These are tiny stamped metal terminals with a spring‑hinge “tension tab” that grips the male blade on the switch.
Here’s the key:
Those F56 terminals are known to loosen over time.
And when they loosen, you get:
- intermittent contact
- vibration‑sensitive failures
- “sometimes it cranks, sometimes it doesn’t”
- wiggle‑dependent behavior
- exactly what you’ve been describing
This is a very common failure mode on older Craftsman/Husqvarna/MTD machines.
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3. “…and they do become loose when the spring hinge breaks causing loss of contact.”
This is 100% true.
Inside each female terminal is a tiny spring tab that presses against the male blade.
When that spring weakens or breaks:
- the terminal still looks fine
- but it no longer grips the switch pin
- so you get intermittent or zero continuity
- even though the wire and plastic housing look perfect
This is exactly the kind of failure that can drive you nuts.
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4. “And what is described is a sign of a failed terminal even though itself also be bad.”
He’s saying:
The symptoms you described match a loose or failed F56 terminal.
The switch itself may ALSO be bad — both can be true.
This is actually very insightful.
You found:
- the switch has a dead 1–3 circuit
- the connector wiggles and doesn’t feel solid
- the mower has intermittent crank behavior
He’s telling you:
✔ The switch is bad
✔ The connector terminal may ALSO be bad
✔ Both problems can coexist
And honestly, that fits your situation perfectly.
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So does what he said make sense?
Yes — completely.
And it aligns with everything you and I have already reasoned out:
- Your switch is half‑dead
- Your connector wiggles
- F56 terminals are known to loosen
- A loose terminal can cause intermittent no‑crank
- A bad switch can ALSO cause no‑crank
- You may have two overlapping issues
This is why your mower’s behavior has been so inconsistent.
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If you want, I can walk you through:
- how to inspect an F56 terminal
- how to test for a loose terminal
- how to tighten or replace one
- how to confirm whether the connector is part of the no‑crank issue
Just tell me and we’ll go step by step.
