John Deere LX188 won't start

[Briz]

Hello All,

Please go easy on me as I am a total novice when it comes to lawn mowers and repairs in general. Anyway, I inheirited a JD LX188 from my new homes previous owner. He warned me the starter was going on it and you had to hit it to get it going. I was able to do this all last summer and one time this spring with no issue. However, the last time I hit it all the lights stopped coming up and it would not turn over, I hit it again and they would sort of come on and it would crank once then back to nothing.

Since I knew the starter was bad, I went out and got a new one. Had no trouble installing the new starter and carefully put everything back to the way it was before, I even replaced the positive battery cable with a new one since it showed a lot of wear at the connectors. I then tried to crank it up and I got nothing, no dash lights no clicking etc... All the connections seem correct, battery has power, Saftey stuff was all engaged, so now I am here.

I plan to get a multi meter but need some details on what to check. Also, is there anything I could have knocked loose that may have caused this. Any and all help would be most appreciated!

Cheers
Briz

 

[jteuban]

did you check the solenoid. This seems to be the problem, and the most anoying one at that. this has happened to me a long time ago when I knew nothing, so I replaced the battery with no luck knowing nothing about lawn mower electrical systems. You need to stick a screw driver in between the contacts on the switch with the key turned to the "on" position and see what happens. If nothing happens you need to proceed to the next step which is checking ALL contact points to/from battery, to the starter motor, and also through any switches and cables. If all this comes up good than it should turn over idk anything else that could stop it unless a bad battery or a froze engine. I do not think that you have these problems. Cheers.

 

[BKBrown]

Don't forget to check the fuses.

If you don't know what you are shorting out with a screw driver -- don't do it !