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Had to replace the starter on my DC Silver Eagle 27 HP Kawasaki engine and after changing have a weird safety switch issue. Attached the + red cable to the top bolt and the - black wire and another red wire to the bottom of the solenoid and the spade connector to the side of the solenoid. Prior to changing the starter I could start the mower with the brake on or off and if brake was on moving the sticks would kill the engine.

Now I must set the brake to start the engine and when I release the brake the engine dies. If I keep the brake safety switch pushed in the engine won't start. If I leave it fully extended the engine dies as soon as I move the sticks. If I take the two stick safety switches and force them to stay pushed in the mower will run and move, but if I try to engage the blades the motor dies. I'm sure I've simply attached a wire incorrectly but my son and I are stumped on what needs to be changed.

Anyone with any idea will be listened to since I have no idea of what else to do. Appreciate any ideas.

I‘m guessing you wired it wrong. Normal the large battery cable goes to a large terminal on the solenoid. Attached to this same terminal is a smaller wire which will supply battery voltage to the electrical system through the key switch. If you supplied power in a different way, through the other solenoid terminal it may not work. Before switching wires around make sure you know what you are doing, as electricity has an expensive consequence if hooked up improperly. If you post back please include all unit and engine numbers so we can get a wiring schematic.

Thanks Rivets, the engine is a Kawasaki FX850V 27hp with the original starter being #99996-6121 it is a different number but the same starter. The engine is in a 2015 Silver Eagle 2760 EFI

Here’s a wiring diagram, double check if it’s wired correctly. https://line.17qq.com/articles/ologkldpv.html

Thanks Rivet, the red from the battery terminates on the left bolt that holds the starter to the engine. At the bottom of the solenoid there is black going back to the battery. There is also a red wire that I suspect feeds the system, the red wire is the only one that might be out of place. There is a green wire that goes somewhere, another wire we can see but not sure of the color, and another that ends up connecting by push on connector on the bottom side of the solenoid.

I don't have enough background to look at the schematic and do much with it.

The small red wire you feel feeds the system should go to the same large terminal that the cable from the battery attaches to. It should have a large ring connector same diameter as the large terminal.

The wiring harness at the bottom of the starter has a very short red wire that is connected to the same bottom post as the black (-) wire coming from the battery. This harness will only attach at the bottom of the starter because it is zip tied to that location and has very little play. The main red wire (+) goes from the battery to one of the two bolts that holds the starter in place and is grounded at that point.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, the wire coming from the battery can not go to a starter mounting bolt. It will be a direct short to ground and you could cause major damage. I’m leaving town shortly and won’t be back til tonight. If someone else has replied to the problem I’ll try to get back to you tonight or tomorrow.

Have a good day Rivets, right now you are the only one that has replied so I will wait to hear from you.

Your starter has an integral solenoid on the starter. The large wire from the battery positive goes to the large stud on the solenoid (smaller round thing on top of the big round starter). It does not go to a starter mounting bolt. The same terminal on the the solenoid should have a blue wire and a black wire with a fuse in it connected to it. The small terminal on the solenoid should have a blue and a green wire connected to it. This according to the wiring diagram Rivets linked to.

Thanks, the solenoid has two posts on the bottom. I have the black from the battery and there is a 30A fuse in the taped bundle. The blue wire goes to a push on connect beside the post with the black and red wire. The other post does not have any on it but a very heavy duty uncoated wire leading into the starter. Would that be where I connect the red cable coming off the battery?

No the big wire from the battery positive goes to the other big terminal on the solenoid. Not the one that has a wire going into the starter. The wire with the fuse also goes to the big terminal on the solenoid with the wire from the battery.

That leaves me with the black wire from the battery unattached. Where would it go?

The black wire from the battery is it going to the + or the - terminal of the battery? Thick or thin wire and what kind of terminal on the end?

Post some pictures if you can. Of the black wire and how you've got the wires hooked up.

I’ve reread this thread a dozen times and I want to go back to the beginning and start over. After everything that is posted Hammer and I are on the right track, but we must ask a couple of questions and need you to not assume any wire goes anywhere. First, from what JB is posting I’m seeing fI’ve wires going to the solenoid AREA. One red wire coming from the + terminal of the battery, one black wire coming from the - terminal of the battery, a small red wire zip tied to the black wire, one small wire with a female spade connector And a green wire which I suspect has a large ring (circle) connector on it. If this is wrong, STOP, and don’t do anything until you can tell us where I am wrong. I’m also assuming that the battery terminals have the red cable attached to the positive and black cable attached to the negative. Second assumption is that no one has messed with the wiring, but from what I’m reading I think someone has.

If I’m right, this is what I’m seeing. Large red wire + is know as battery positive cable, large black wire is know as battery negative cable, small red wire is known as system supply wire, (this wire will provide 12VDC to all electri systems except ignition), spade wire is used to energize the starter solenoid And a green ground wire. Also, JB you say you have a large terminal on the solenoid that has a large braided wire going straight to the starter. NOTHING GETS CONNECTED TO THIS TERMINAL.

If everything I’ve said is correct and I was standing there with a very strong drink in hand this is what I would do, in this order.
1. Disconnect the ground - cable at the battery.
2. Trace the small red wire and green wire from the solenoid to find out where they go. I’m figuring that the red wire will end up at the key switch and the green wire will go either to a safety switch or key switch also.
3. If I’m right make the following connections.
4. Battery + cable to large terminal on solenoid.
5. Small red wire to the same terminal. Might have to cut the zip tie.
6. Wire with the female connector get pushed on the male spade on the solenoid
7. Battery - cable to an engine ground, this could be a starter mounting bolt.
8. Green wire to an engine ground.
9. Reconnect battery ground cable, any sparks, STOP STOP STOP DO NOT CONNECT.
10. Try starting unit.

If you feel uncomfortable in attempting this, you could do this first. First, contact your Dixie dealer and get us a wiring diagram for your exact unit. The one I’ve posted could easily be wrong. Second, which would greatly help us all, post pictures of the wires and solenoid/starter. Third, ask more questions using the terms I’ve posted so we all understand. Fourth, still uncomfortable, take it to the dealer, as it may be cheaper than one of us making a mistake. If we were there, with that strong drink in hand, This would probably be a 30 fix, but trying to solve electrical problems through threads can be both frustrating and overwhelming to the person with the problem. Post back with your thoughts before starting. Hammer, Star, IL any thoughts

I will go to the mower and take pictures for you to view. But the battery - wire is very short would not reach the top of the starter for grounding. The red battery + is quite long 18 to 24". Both of these have large circle connectors. The red + wire to supply the system with juice also has a round circle connector. The green wire has a small male/female push connect. The other wire that is possibly blue has the female spade connector.

So in total there are four wires, two from the battery and the two (red & blue) bundled with many other wires at the near the bottom of the starter solenoid. But I will photo and post when the rain lets up.

Couple more questions before you post back. Did you replace the starter by yourself and why did you replace it? Please provide us with the part number of the new starter, where you purchased it and a picture of the old starter. On the battery, what color cable is on the positive and negative terminals? I count 5 wires, + & - cables, small red, small green and small blue. Is this correct? For now don’t worry about the cable lengths. Has anyone else worked on this unit?

Rivets said:

Has anyone else worked on this unit?

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Wilbur?

If you have connected the red wire from the battery positive to a grounded terminal you should have seen smoke by now. The only thing saving you might be that you have not connected the negative cable to ground, or the battery is completely dead. Get someone that can read a schematic to help you or maybe post some pictures.

Hey guys,

Decided to call Dixie Chopper company on Monday and an engineer looked at my schematic and told me how to fix. I appreciate all your help on this and now the rain has stopped plan on applying the information from you and the engineer and hope that resolves the problem. Otherwise I will have to bush hog before mowing again.

Rivets you and Hammermechanic man were on the right track but the engineer had the exact schematic which made it easy for him to tell me what was needed.

Anyway, it's great to know this kind of support exists.

All of these problems lead me to believe maybe the original starter was OK and another wiring problem caused it not to crank. If you still have the original starter test it off of the mower. If it works you should just put the old one back and rediagnose the system.

jbeane said:

Had to replace the starter on my DC Silver Eagle 27 HP Kawasaki engine and after changing have a weird safety switch issue. Attached the + red cable to the top bolt and the - black wire and another red wire to the bottom of the solenoid and the spade connector to the side of the solenoid. Prior to changing the starter I could start the mower with the brake on or off and if brake was on moving the sticks would kill the engine.

Now I must set the brake to start the engine and when I release the brake the engine dies. If I keep the brake safety switch pushed in the engine won't start. If I leave it fully extended the engine dies as soon as I move the sticks. If I take the two stick safety switches and force them to stay pushed in the mower will run and move, but if I try to engage the blades the motor dies. I'm sure I've simply attached a wire incorrectly but my son and I are stumped on what needs to be changed.

Anyone with any idea will be listened to since I have no idea of what else to do. Appreciate any ideas.

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You may have more that one problem. Brake lever should be On and both tiller handles spread out to start if it is wired correctly and similar to Ferris zero turn. Red rarely connects to Black wire. + cable from battery goes to solenoid IN. Another cable goes from the other post of Solenoid to Starter. The small red likely goes to side of soleniod from key ON. Release the Brake to operate blades after engine is running.

jbeane said:

Had to replace the starter on my DC Silver Eagle 27 HP Kawasaki engine and after changing have a weird safety switch issue. Attached the + red cable to the top bolt and the - black wire and another red wire to the bottom of the solenoid and the spade connector to the side of the solenoid. Prior to changing the starter I could start the mower with the brake on or off and if brake was on moving the sticks would kill the engine.

Now I must set the brake to start the engine and when I release the brake the engine dies. If I keep the brake safety switch pushed in the engine won't start. If I leave it fully extended the engine dies as soon as I move the sticks. If I take the two stick safety switches and force them to stay pushed in the mower will run and move, but if I try to engage the blades the motor dies. I'm sure I've simply attached a wire incorrectly but my son and I are stumped on what needs to be changed.

Anyone with any idea will be listened to since I have no idea of what else to do. Appreciate any ideas.

Click to expand...

check your seat switch