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When I was servicing my Lawnmower, Stiga Park with 12,5hp Briggs and Stratton, I also replaced an old solenoid for a new one. The mower and engin were not used for several years. So I put a new solenoid on it to be sure it worked. The mower worked perfect and starting the B&S was excellent. When I sold the Lawnmower the new owner called me th same day and told me the engine didn't start with the key, just klicking. I went over and replaced the solenoid and everything was fine again. Two days later the new owner called me again and told me that the mower didn't start again with the key. I told him to shortcut the solenoid till I would come the replace the solenoid.
I like to know if someone can tell me if there is something that can cause the solenoid to burn through, or could it just be a matter off bad quallity? I saw that both replaced solenoid where made in China! Both replaced solenoids were new from the store but I couldn't return them to the shop because there was no quaranty on electric parts.
If someone has an idea, please tell me.

Mc Harley

Had an issue with the briggs and stratton brands universal solenoids last year, where they would start the engine 1-3 times before burning out the engagement coils. I would say it is a quality issue. most places don't allow returns on electric parts purchased over the counter. I think in your case you may have a warranty issue with the solenoids, which a dealer could assist you on.

This is the reason I try to buy OEM. Still not knowing where they are made??

I bought the parts from a Stiga dealer with a sticker on it "made in China" and the brand name Stiga. Now I think that the quality of these China parts is very bad. I still have a used oem part from a Stiga lawnmower. I tested it an it is working. I will use this one to repair the mower and in a few days I'll see if this is still working.
I will post it here.

mc_harley said:

I bought the parts from a Stiga dealer with a sticker on it "made in China" and the brand name Stiga. Now I think that the quality of these China parts is very bad. I still have a used oem part from a Stiga lawnmower. I tested it an it is working. I will use this one to repair the mower and in a few days I'll see if this is still working.
I will post it here.

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Seeing you live in Europe I don't know what is available? If it was me I would get a older 12 volt Ford starter solenoid.

As much as I hate Chinese crap, you likely have something else wrong....

That is what I like to know. What can it be, everything is connected like it should be and there is nothing to do wrong.

mc_harley said:

That is what I like to know. What can it be, everything is connected like it should be and there is nothing to do wrong.

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If every thing is hooked up right the only thing that could be burning out the starter solenoid is high amperage draw. Like a short in the cable from the solenoid to the starter, or the starter itself. If its the starter it could have a short in it or the bushings could be bad. You will need to do amperage draw test to check this not voltage. If you find the starter is bad I don't think parts are available to rebuild them so you will need to replace it.

Oké, thanx I will keep this in mind but today I changed the solenoid for an original Stiga (used) solenoid and the carb. because sometimes it flooded. In a few days I know if it is still working.
Till than, I will be back for info about the result.

Not familiar with your engine but, some have built in compression release to assist in cranking. If the valves aren't adjusted correctly, it will crank hard when it comes up on compression stroke causing stain on the starter and solenoid. Maybe you should check valve clearance. gregjo1948

Thanx Gregjo1948,
I am familiar with that but it is not an OHV engine, the valves cannot be adjusted. This is defenitiv a burned through solenoid. I replaced it today and the mower is running great now. If you like to see what model of mower it is, see my album.

As in my first post we talked about the solenoid. And then other post brought up other things. It just seems to me as I have seen in pass repairs if the engine turns over hard or a bad starter that the starter labors and its very noticeable.

Well, the engine off the Stiga doesn't turn over hard, as soon as I had change the solenoid it turns over fast and start at once. But I can also tell now that I had a phonecall a few hours ago that the third solenoid had burned through within half an hour. Now I am at the end and I have to waint for genius that can help me with an idea.:confused2:

Well, you will have to help us a tad more over here.... Post your engine's and your mower's full set of model numbers, put up some pics of the battery and solenoid, and go back into more detail.

mc_harley said:

Well, the engine off the Stiga doesn't turn over hard, as soon as I had change the solenoid it turns over fast and start at once. But I can also tell now that I had a phonecall a few hours ago that the third solenoid had burned through within half an hour. Now I am at the end and I have to waint for genius that can help me with an idea.:confused2:

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It takes no genius to check your amperage draw. There are a couple of different gages to test this with. One of them clamps over the wire and the other hooks into the battery cable in a series. High Amperage is the only thing that is burning up the solenoid. A solenoid is just a HD switch and if there is too much draw on it will burn up the points in the switch. I would guess if you don't want to test just replace the starter if the cable is OK.. I always like to know what is wrong before I replace parts it can be a lot cheaper. You do have the right battery hooked up right? I just had a customer come in with his battery hooked up backwards and the electrical system was doing a lot of weird things. We are many miles away so it just a guessing thing for me. With very high amperage it also seems like the battery cables would get warm, maybe 8 or 6 gage cables?

Hello,i
I had a bad night, not sleeping just thinking. This morning I think I got the Holy Spirit. I'm going this morning to see if I'm right and than I will tell you.

Maybe your regulator is faulty, allowing too high voltage to battery and then to the solenoid, causing burn out. gregjo1948

Have you checked for voltage at the small terminal on the solenoid, from the key switch, while the engine is running? It should be 0. If you have any voltage it is an indication that the key switch is bad. Voltage going through the solenoid while the engine is running will burn out the engagement coil. The only place you should have voltage on the solenoid while the engine is running, is the large terminal coming from the battery.

Rivets said:

Have you checked for voltage at the small terminal on the solenoid, from the key switch, while the engine is running? It should be 0. If you have any voltage it is an indication that the key switch is bad. Voltage going through the solenoid while the engine is running will burn out the engagement coil. The only place you should have voltage on the solenoid while the engine is running, is the large terminal coming from the battery.

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That is also a good idea, never thought of that. They do make a solenoid for constant voltage to it but not a starter solenoid.

Hi guys,
First thank you for your help. I found the problem. This morning I went back with an idea and it was exactly like I thought. The last owner must have changed something about the wiring. I didn't care about the wiring because I thought everything is oké. But it wasn't oké at all. Now I remembered that I saw 2 red wires on the small circuit (magnet) and that is not right. I checked the wires and discovered that both wires were connected with one connector to the small circuit. One wire came from the keyswitch and the other came from the charge unit and was also connected to the small circuit. When someone turned the key to start the engine, it started well but when the engine was running the small circuit got full charge power and burned through.

Yes Rivets you were very close, it wasn't the keyswitch but it also could have been. It was just wrong wiring. I should have checked the Voltage at the battery than I should have had a hint. That was very stupid of me. I hope this post can be very usefull for others thanx again to all.