rider mower 16 hp ohv hard to start

[corvairbob]

ihave this craftsman rider the 917.273350 with the 16 hp ohv engine. it is hard to crank over. once it starts cranking it will start hot of cold but it just does not want to start to crank. i load tested the battery it is a 200cca battery and i let the test run for 30 seconds and it did not drop on to the ?? area it held steady ar 200 cca on the tester. so i started it and the tester shows it is charging even though the onboard meter fails to show that. plus i have another meter tha tyou put on the cables and it tells if it is charging or discharging it is charging. and it draws maybe 25 amps during cranking.

i did adjust the valves but they were not out of speck. i did it cold and they were at .004 on both sides. so for the time being i'm out of ideas. it could be the starter motor but it does not get hot or even to warm during cranking. about the only thing left may be the solenoid may be getting bad and will not pass the battery current. even when it is setting ther trying to crank the crank amps sets at 25 amps it sounds like it is compression locked. s it could be the cam compression release is failing so if that is the case is that some type of decompression valve that can be installed instead of taking the engine off and apart for that? thanks

 

[Rivets]

Couple of things I would check. Remove the negative battery cable from the chassis and give it a good cleaning. Second, check battery voltage while cranking the engine over. It wouldn’t surprise me if it drops below 10VDC, which would indicate a bad battery. Finally, I’ve always recommended using a battery which a minimum of 250 CCA on single cylinder engines a d 325 CCA on twin cylinder engines.

 

[corvairbob]

thanks i did not think of taking a reading on the battery as it cranks. i figured if the load test show the battery tested good that would be plenty and it's not that high for cranking amps. i did check the ground and it tight but i will just take it off and make sure it is not rusted and i think i will do the solenoid and the starter motor as long as i'm messing with it i will let you know what i find out

 

[corvairbob]

ok i do not think the 10 volt drop is accurate because my other mower a twin with the same size battery drops to under 10 volts and that starts perfectly. anyway i took the ground and it was good and the solenoid and starter wires off and they looked good but i cleaned them and tightened them and now to see. at this time it seems to be stating good both before and after this work. but if it sets over night then it struggles to start. it still could be a failing solenoid or the start motor. but i will see how what i did now works in the morning. also it does have proper weight oil in it. thanks

 

[Rivets]

If it drops to 10VDC, you are losing over 20% of available battery voltage, which will equate to over 25% of available CCA. This would indicate a 200 CCA battery will be down to 150 CCA when you turn the key and drop from there. Just because a battery will drop that far, but still work, does not mean both batteries are good. Just means the electrical systems are different in the amount of current draw they use. If I was standing next to you, I would disconnect the battery and try to start the unit with a known good battery, not the other one use mentioned. If you leave the battery in the unit while jumping will defeat the purpose of jumping, as a bad battery will draw current before it call go to the starter. It could still be a bad solenoid or starter, but at this point I’m not throwing parts at it unit I find the problem. If you want I have a procedure I use to pin point electrical problems.

 

[corvairbob]

\[ i will see tomorrow. it is possible the battery i think i miss stated the battery size it is a 230 cca battery i guess i can get a 340 cca for it that should do a much better job of it. tomorrow morning i will try it again and see if it cranks over hard. it is possible it was discharged a bit. i put it on the charger for a few hours and it seems to be doing a better job. thanks

 

[Bluedog]

\[ i will see tomorrow. it is possible the battery i think i miss stated the battery size it is a 230 cca battery i guess i can get a 340 cca for it that should do a much better job of it. tomorrow morning i will try it again and see if it cranks over hard. it is possible it was discharged a bit. i put it on the charger for a few hours and it seems to be doing a better job. thanks

Did you ever find the problem? I have same problem sometimes with my Kohler 26 with a new battery and valves have been adjusted to specs.