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I'm new to the forum and will try my best to follow the guidelines and state my question clearly.

Husqvarna yth2454

I was given a mower by neighbor and he said all it needed was a new battery. The mower ran fine with the old battery but I decided to buy one to keep on standby.

I mowed all day with no problems and the next morning I went out to start the mower and forgot to push the brake in so my first thought was "welp time to change that battery".

I put in the new battery and everything seemed fine except for when I would try to engage the blades. At first they would go but then they started acting like they weren't getting enough power and the hour gauge would turn off too so I thought maybe the new battery was the problem. I put the old battery back in and the mower was completely dead. The hour guage won't event turn on. Checked the new battery and put it back in. Still dead.

I've done multitude of different checks over the last week but cant get anything going.

I used a multimeter to check the battery and the ignition switch and they seem good. Replaced the fuse, cleaned all corrosion from positive and negative wires from battery to solenoid.

The solenoid was getting 12.5V on both sides so I hesitantly tried the screwdriver arc trick and got nothing. I also want sure if I rewired the solenoid wrong so I've tried the black and white wires on both sides.

I still need to check the connection to the starter motor and a few other things but it has been difficult because I'm still learning how to check it using the multimeter and only have internet while I'm at work.

There is white male quick disconnect that come out beside the small live/ground wires that go to the solenoid and I cant for the life of me figure out where it goes. I've looked at the diagrams for my mower but cant figure it out. I'll try to post some pictures.

I'm pretty baffled by it. Even if the solenoid or starter are bad I would expect the hour gauge to get power.

Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to add as many details as possible.

Anyone know what this wire does? It had a plastic casing over it that broke.

Post the numbers off of the tag under/behind the seat.

Check and clean the ground wire/cable where it bolts to the frame.

​http://service.webec.husqvarna.net/documents/HUSI/HUSI2010_USen/HUSI2010_USen__532436284.pdf

make sure your new battery has enough cca's to start engine

1) are you 100% sure the battery polarity is correct ?
Very easy & common to hook them up backwards.
2) are you sure that the power feed wire is actually connected to the solenoid , unless it is under the terminal in the photo it is not connected.

Thanks for the responses. I had a break through this morning when I found that power wasn't getting from the ignition switch to the solenoid. This little black connection was the problem.

After I cleaned the connector and showed 0 resistance I tried the mower and got it to start but only with the help of a battery charger. It acted really sluggish and the blades wouldnt engage.

After turning it off the battery was completely dead. I'm going to try giving the battery a complete charge and if that doesnt work then I'll be back to researching.

Update:

So I took the advice about my battery not being a high enough cca. I believe the mower calls for 280 and I had been using a 230. I didn't think it would make much difference but I put a 300 in and the mower wouldnt start but then just a minute later it would.

Once it was running I tried the blades and they actually engaged. I mowed for about 10 or 15 minutes before the blades died. I eventually got them to engage again but I'm not sure what the problem is. I turned the mower off and it was completely dead... no click or any sign of life. I walked In the house grabbed my multimeter and checked the battery and showed 13ish V. I immediately tried the key and it was clicking again.

It would seem that it will seem to not get any power and then without really doing anything it'll be fine all of a sudden. Same with the blades.

Any ideas where to look from here? Wiring, blade clutch?

If the alternator is working then once started the mower will run till the tank is empty.
If the alternator is not working or the charging circuit is open then once started the mower will run till the battery is dead flat ( some can not be recharged )
If the rectifier has gone open circuit then the AC being pumped into the battery will kill the battery and if the battery vent is not working properly can cause the case to rupture.

SO it is out with the multi meter and do some testing.
Voltage across the battery terminal
1) everything off
2) ignition turned on
3) engine running full speed
4) engine running full speed & blades on.

Next locate the rectifier on the mower.
It will have 2 wires the same colour and one a different colour
The two same colour wires are the AC feed directly from the alternator.
The fourth connection ( ground) is via the mounting bolts so the first thing is to check the rectifier has a ground.
After that you check the AC output betwwen the t same coloured wires and between each one and ground
Engine running they should read around 30 V AC between each other and roughly 1/2 that between either and ground
Now back to DC Volts and measure the other wire to ground. It should read between battery voltage & 15 V with the engine running & battery voltage engine off & ignition on.
IF you don't see battery voltage then there is a break in that wire somewhere between the rectifier & the battery.

have a fiddle & let us know what you find

In a separate post below I will put the full cranking testing proceedure.
I feel you might have several problems and right now what you are seeing are the symptoms .

Before you start, pull the spark plug & try to rotate the engine by hand.
No use checking the electrics if you have a hydraulic lock, seized engine or jambed belt overloading the stater motor.
Assuming the engine turns freely.

I like to start from the starter motor and go backwards .
Do the following 5 tests, regardless of the results from an or all of them as there can be more than one problem and you want to isolate where the problem lies.
Elimination of individual parts is important so you know by the end, the battery, solenoid & heavy power circuits are all in good order.

1) try to jump the starter motor directly from your car or truck.
+ on the starter first then - to a good ground near the starter ( drain plug of lift hook are good )
Starter turns = starter good

2) do the same directly from the mowers battery
Starter turns = mower battery good
No turn = duff battery, recharge it & try again.

3) check for voltage ( + 12V ) at the solenoid trigger wire with the key in start position
3a) same with ground trigger wire ( 4 wire solenoid ) or body of solenoid ( 3 wire solenoid)
( I like to test V from the battery hot terminal to ground terminal rather than ohms as they give funny readings )

4) leave ground jumper in place ( from step 2 ) & try key start.
Starter turns = power connection good but ground connection suspect ( most common )
Confirm it by trying again, extra ground removed

5) Remove the trigger ( thin ) wire / wires from the solenoid.
Ground one on a 4 wire solenoid & bridge from the hot terminal to the other.
Starter cranks = solenoid good.
Solenoid is not polarity sensitive, BUT THE WIRING IS so make sure you remove the thin control wires.
Note a thinner wire on the hot terminal is not a control wire. It is the main power feed to the mower.


From here on things become very mower dependant as starting circuits are getting changed all the time.
Basically the power goes in a loop from the hot side of the solenoid ( saves wire, no other reason ) through the fuse to the B terminal on the key switch then to the PTO switch then to the parking brake switch then to the solenoid trigger switch , easy peasy after you grow the 3rd arm. Use a test lamp and follow the power.
However a lot of mowers with a 4 pole solenoid, run a secondary ground control circuit to the ground solenoid wire through the lap bars.
Then to stop this interfearing with the normal safety function of the ground kill, it goes to a relay with the ground as the switched connection.
These are a PIA as the + control wire to the relay comes from the power loop above and the ground side of the control comes via the normal cut out functions of the lap bars.
Be very careful because if you have a system like this and accidentally send 12V down the ground loop you can fry the magnetos on some circuits.nd from the grounding bolt to one of the starter mounting bolts & paint over both with liquid electrical tape.

Found out today that I have a faulty solenoid. It had passed the screw driver test many times but I guess it was functioning properly at those times.

Can a bad solenoid keep the blades from engaging?

Check fuse

Chattymonk said:

Found out today that I have a faulty solenoid. It had passed the screw driver test many times but I guess it was functioning properly at those times.

Can a bad solenoid keep the blades from engaging?

Click to expand...

I don't know what screw driver test you used but only one I know of using a screw driver eliminates the solenoid, good or bad.

No, faulty starter solenoid would not affect blades engaging.

Walt Conner

Are you sure ?
How did you test it ?
I had 8 solenoids in stock when I bought the repair run 6 years ago and with 300 regular customers most with mowers that are better than 10 years old, still have 6 brand new ones and a dozen 2nd hand ones I flog to the racers who are the only people who seem to burn them out.

Thanks for the replies yall. My internet is horrible and I'm just seeing what you all said. The fuse was the first thing I checked and changed a couple weeks ago.

I've still got to read over those two longer replies but I'll holler back asap.

Bertsmobile1, thanks for the detailed instructions. I'll do that later today after I get home from work.

Tinkerer200, I had read that if you press a screwdriver to both terminals on the solenoid and your engine turns over then you've got a bad solenoid. I was a bit sceptical but everything you read on the internet is true right?

I can get a different reaction from the mower from one second to the next. I can turn the key and hear a click and it from the solenoid and everything seems normal and then literally 2 seconds later try the key again and everything is dead, and then a minute later it will be fine again... or not.

Looks like I've got a lot left to troubleshoot.

"Check and clean the ground wire/cable where it bolts to the frame"

It is well worth a look, it may even just be loose.

No power at all from the key or you have battery power just will not start? If have power and will not start with the key could be safety switches or solenoid or other things. Take you a test meter put it on the battery on the ground and take the other side while turning the key to the start wire on the solenoid. It should be 0 because your not starting. Now take that off and put start wire back on. Then run a ground wire from good ground battery to the ground side of the solenoid if it starts you know where your issues lie.

Also want to make sure the battery is installed correctly.