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Hey folks, I had a baffle on my Poulan Pro 500ex break today and made contact with a blade. I noticed I could not disengage the blades (I had routed the cable a little funky). I pulled it into the garage (blades were still spinning), removed the entire deck real quick, removed the front baffle that was contacting the blade, put the deck back on, routed the blade activating cable through its proper route, confirmed that I am getting engage/disengage now.

However, when I go to star the mower, it's completely dead. The hours do not show up, it's as if there is no power. I checked the battery, it's reading over 12v, tried jumping it just to be sure, nothing. Do any of you have any clue where I would begin? Is it common for it to pop a fuse when you turn the mower off with blades still engaged? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

fuse, wire you broke or pulled out, switch that didn't get reconnected etc would be the places I might start.

sgkent said:

fuse, wire you broke or pulled out, switch that didn't get reconnected etc would be the places I might start.

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I just pulled the deck off. 5 clips, 2 on each side one on the front, removed the belt, disconnected the engage clutch wire, pulled the baffle off, put everything back together. I did not touch any electrical wiring. When I pulled it into the garage the blades were still engaged (they wouldn't disengage because I routed the cable oddly after replacing an arm bolt). I am looking in the manual and can't seem to locate the fuse. Looking at the battery, I notice two wires which go down to two tabs, those were secured. However there is this loose wire here and I am not seeing where it would connect to. Is this the fuse wire?

That wire goes to an accessory that you do not have on your mower Just extra wire. You should be looking for a two spade automotive type fuse. Most likely the fuse holder could be clipped to a piece of sheet metal in that area around the battery. Sometimes depending how they are clipped can be somewhat hidden.

was it idling when you turned it off or running at full RPM?

sgkent said:

was it idling when you turned it off or running at full RPM?

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Only idle, I never turn it off full RPM. The front baffle broke, made impact with the blade, I limped it into the garage under idle power. I noticed the blades would not disengage. I set the blade engage lever to disengage, turned it off. Pulled the deck, pulled the front metal baffle, re-installed the deck and now it won't fire up. It doesn't even show the hour meter when I turn the key to the on position. Battery is showing over 12v, so battery is not the issue. I verified the blade engage lever is making contact with the switch. Trying to find the fuse right now and not having any luck. I also inspected the under carriage and there is absolutely no wiring down there that could have possibly been damaged.

since engines are normally turned off when at idle, I doubt if that specifically caused the issue. Maybe find a wiring diagram for it and post it. Before folks here who have access to that sort of thing, they will need exact model # and serial #

sgkent said:

since engines are normally turned off when at idle, I doubt if that specifically caused the issue. Maybe find a wiring diagram for it and post it. Before folks here who have access to that sort of thing, they will need exact model # and serial #

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Do you happen to know whether the hour meter turns on if the blades are engaged? I know the engine won't start, I just cannot recall if the hour meter comes on. I am curious if the switch in there went bad. I am still trying to find the darn fuse, the schematic in the manual shows it should be right off the battery somewhere but I cannot locate it. Once I get back out to the garage I will post a photo of the schematics. Thanks!

If you just do what we ask you to do things will work a lot better
SG asked you for the numbers off the tag because even the Poulan web page does not list a 500ex
And just 500 returns over 50 pages
Once we have a wiring diagram and real parts list we can work out what is wrong with your mower and perhaps even where the fuse is.

The wiring diagram is just that a diagram showing what is connected to what and is no indication as to where the part might be hiding.
Most times they run the power to the mower off the hot side of the solenoid ( saves wire ) and that wire will have the main fuse on it
As already mentioned, usually a cheap & nasty clip in fuse holder shoved over the edge of a dash tower panel
They fall off after 10 minutes of use and end up hidden between the engine and the dash .
If this is the cheapie gravity feed then under the fuel tank as well where it will be impossible to find .

Here is the model/serial #.

I found the fuse, hidden, but found it, replaced it and mower fired right up. Now I am trying to diagnose why the fuse blew. This never happened before, I noticed right before the mower wouldn't start back up (fuse popped) that my blades would not disengage. After looking into it, it seems there is a sensor that knows when blades are or are not engaged. Obviously it will not start with the blades engaged.

So, I was playing around with the cables/detent etc to try and get it to engage/disengage. During this I accidentally had the key on, as I manipulated the cable spring, I grabbed the exposed cable and burnt the snot out of my thumb. Is it normal for the cable to be electrified? Now I need some help diagnosing why my fuse keeps popping. Thanks for any help

look for a wire that has chaffed thru on the cable or its assembly is the first place I might look.

sgkent said:

look for a wire that has chaffed thru on the cable or its assembly is the first place I might look.

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So it isn't normal for the blade engage cable to have electricity running through it?

No
What has happened is your ground cable is not working and the mower is making a ground connection from the dash via the deck engagement cable

we get that in VW buses when the ground cable is bad from the frame to the engine etc.. The clutch cable acts as the ground strap, gets hot and stretches. Yep, that will do it.

schism said:

I found the fuse, hidden, but found it, replaced it and mower fired right up. Now I am trying to diagnose why the fuse blew. This never happened before, I noticed right before the mower wouldn't start back up (fuse popped) that my blades would not disengage. After looking into it, it seems there is a sensor that knows when blades are or are not engaged. Obviously it will not start with the blades engaged.

So, I was playing around with the cables/detent etc to try and get it to engage/disengage. During this I accidentally had the key on, as I manipulated the cable spring, I grabbed the exposed cable and burnt the snot out of my thumb. Is it normal for the cable to be electrified? Now I need some help diagnosing why my fuse keeps popping. Thanks for any help

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Since you said unplugged the deck clutch, try unplugging it again, leaving it unplugged as you try to start the engine. If the engine starts, then you have a problem with your deck clutch and/or the decking clutch wiring/connector.