Lt1042 has me baffled...

Cub Wanter

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Joined
Sep 1, 2021
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Okay from the beginning... 2006 (I think) Lt1042, Kohler Courage 19 that I have had zero problems with the one year I've had it, the owner before me I know had 3 trouble free years...

Mowed beautifully and flawlessly 2 weeks ago, I got to start it for the biweekly mow and the battery is flat, nothing...

Common sense kicks in and I just get the new battery, pop it in and just get cranking, cranking, cranking with no signs of life...

I start basic diagnostics, gas spits out of the open cylinder with spark plug removed, I then check for spark, have none... I change spark plug, still no spark... I I do some googling and see the white kill wire removal from the coil to isolate problems, the engine still doesn't start or spark with the wire off, yet the wire is continuity grounded to the engine (if that means anything) according to my multimeter...

I went ahead and "youtube how to'ed" to check the pto switch, keyswitch, and coil... all of which check out... I still just have this feeling that a wire or switch somewhere is shot, while I think I'm out of switches, there is no shortage of wires...

If anyone has any suggestions with this kohler mess, I'm open to all suggestions at this point... except buying new lol, even $2000 don't even get anything of actual quality these days

Thank you
 

Bertrrr

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Mar 11, 2021
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570
Sounds like fuel spitting out of the combustion chamber is the first issue - Carburator flooding ? needle valve stuck etc. I'd start there, then chase down your ignition problem-
If it was a safety relay , the starter wouldn't engage at all so that's probably not where your problem is
Not firing is a grounding problem , your ignition wire is shorted to ground somewhere.
follow your kill solenoid wire and make sure it's not giving you problems too.
 
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