Hello:
Quite the newbie and not at all a ridingMower efficienado like many on this site...in fact can't even play along with most of these posts. Long and short of it is this:
I am moving shortly and got my Craftsman LT2000 up on eBay cause I need the cash. Anyway, when I went to start the darn thing, it didn't turn over. I was however able to jump start it easily with my car battery. I figured I needed a new battery and bought one (albeit slightly less power than original) but the darn thing just clicks now...click click click. Now for the question:
Would this be the starter, solenoid etc? i was hoping that with the clues I provided (ie starts right up when attatched to the car) that someone would be able to troubleshoot a bit for me...at least narrow down the field a little bit. I have a guy from Sears coming out in a few weeks, and it will cost me about 100 bucks just for him to take a look. Anyway, there's nothing I'd like more for Fathers Day than to have someone hook me up so i can call Sears and cancel the appointment : )))
thank you!!!!!!!
#2
BKBrown
Have you taken off all your battery connections and cleaned them (at both ends) Plus the wire to the starter??? I know if you put in a new battery that you had the connections apart, but did you clean the connectors ? If you have a pull cord also try turning the engine a few degrees and try the starter again.
hmm....not really, although they didn't look like they needed cleaning...but will give it a shot. Do you think there's a chance that the battery i bougt was too weak? I assume it would at least try to turn the darn thing over...
thank you and God Bless!
Yes...i have jumped it with the new battery and it starts right up. Would this in any way rule out [bad starter] [bad solenoid] etc...?
thanks again!
#6
BKBrown
It sounds like either The new battery also has a bad cell or you have dirty connections or your starter/solenoid needs more voltage/amperage than it should.
Let us know after you have tried cleaning all the connections.
Does it continue to run when you take the jumpers off ?
If the battery has been sitting on a shelf somewhere for a long period it may need charging. If you don't have a charger you can try jump starting again and leave the tractor runing for a while like a half hour to an hour and see if that works. Good luck.
Guess I didn't think to mention charging the battery because it is always one of the first things I do with a new battery unless I can see that the seller has had them all connected to maintainer/charger.
Had the same thing happen 'bout 2 years ago. After cursing the 'cheap' batteries, buying a new starter, and cursing some more, I decided to check ALL the contacts from the battery to the starter, including the ground wire....... and that was where my problem was..... the ground wire on the battery is bolted to the frame under the rear fender. Even though the bolt was tight to the frame, there was corrosion and it had insulated the wire from having good continuity..... that simple..... easy to fix..... hard to find.
I have had an on going problem with my 96 18.5 Kohler Magnum. The starter drags, the quick fix is to use a spray lub. on the starter drive and shaft. I have to do this twice per season or so. At one point I turned new bushings for the starter and that worked for a couple of years. When you try to start the motor the starter spins but its not fast enough to engage the drive. If you jump it, it works Ok. BTW, when I buy batteries I always get 330 CCA or better they put out more amps and last longer. I usually get between 4 and 5 years on a bat.
