Starting issues. Please help.

[schism]

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

 

[sgkent]

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

 

[schism]

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

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

 

[bertsmobile1]

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

 

[sgkent]

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.

 

[vol1954]

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

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.