Kohler courage 25 hp will only start with a jump

[funonahonda]

My tractor will only start with a jump, and the tractor will not charge the battery, checked the seloinoid and it is good, what could be the problem. Thanks

 

[reynoldston]

My tractor will only start with a jump, and the tractor will not charge the battery, checked the seloinoid and it is good, what could be the problem. Thanks

So you are saying the battery is dead is the reason you need to jump start it? The solenoid has nothing to with the charging system. There a number of reasons for a battery not charging. Bad Battery, wiring, voltage regulator, stator, just to name a few. You will need a volt meter to test the system, they are free at Harbor Freight right now. If you already own a volt meter you will need 28 AC volage to the regulator and 14.5 DC volage to the battery at WOT (wide open throttle)

 

[funonahonda]

well I have bought a new battery early this year and even when the battery was new I always had to jump the battery to get it started, so when I put my Fluke on the battery when the engine is running the volts stay at like 12.45 and don't jump around so does that mean a good voltage regulator but a bad stator?

 

[bertsmobile1]

No it means that the battery voltage is 12 .45 V, nothing more , nothing less.
Now you have 2 problems
1) the engine is not starting
2) the engine is not charging

There is a small chance that they are connected but usually not.

You are there & we are here you are ours eyes, ears & noses
So you need to be far more specific about what it does when you try to start it, what you see what you hear and what you smell.


Now for the charging.
Start your engine.
Take your Fluke around to the regulator
Check the AC Voltage between the two outside wires which is your AC feed directly from the stator.
At full speed you should see something between 26 and 45 V AC
Next Switch to DC and measure from the center terminal and ground.
You should see better than 12.45 V ( battery voltage ).
If not check the ground strap to the rectifryer.
On Kohler rectifryers the body of the rectifryers is the ground terminal so needs to be grounded to the engine by a strap as it is mounted in the plastic blower housing.
I make up a second wire so both mounting bolts are grounded ( belts & braces ).

If all that is good follow the middle wire, usually purple.

You can not be bothered to tell us what we are dealing with so I have no idea of how it is wired into the mower.
So you now will have to follow this power feed all the way back to the battery looking for the broken link.

 

[reynoldston]

well I have bought a new battery early this year and even when the battery was new I always had to jump the battery to get it started, so when I put my Fluke on the battery when the engine is running the volts stay at like 12.45 and don't jump around so does that mean a good voltage regulator but a bad stator?

I don't know what you mean by don't jump around because you gave very little information. Seeing you installed a new battery and can start the mower with a jump it tells me bad connections at the battery cables to the battery. Now you aren't telling how you are jumping the battery also??? Bert also gave you some very good information.

 

[funonahonda]

Ok, I did what Berts said to do, and when I put my meter to D/C from the center wire to ground it reads 12.61 and when I put my meter on A/C it starts on .22 without touching anything so when I touch the two outer terminals on A/C it reads 22.92 and that does include misusing the false reading from my meter before touching anything.

 

[bertsmobile1]

There is your problem.
The stator is not producing the volts.
22.6 / 2 = 11.6 V before you get electrical losses in the rectifier and mower wiring.
So over time it will slowly run down the battery.
Off with the blower housing
Off with the flywheel
Check the stator there will be an earth strap to one of the mounting bolts, these work harden & break so you get a bad earth ( ground to some ) so diminished output from the stator.
Individual coils can short again diminishing the output.
The magnets can come loose and stick together which also diminishes the out put.

Go to the Kohler web site and down load the service manual for your engine, it is there for free.
While there download the parts manual as well so you can order your parts.

 

[funonahonda]

Thank you Berts, I will tear down today and check things out and let you know.