Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?

Rivets

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
To the best of my knowledge on any 4 post solenoid, one of the small terminals must be grounded and they do not ground through the mounting bolts. Second, you state that there is no dirt or corrosion on the frame or coil. Where grounds are connected I’ve always removed the paint also, which Gives me the best ground connection possible.
 

Blaine B.

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
To the best of my knowledge on any 4 post solenoid, one of the small terminals must be grounded and they do not ground through the mounting bolts. Second, you state that there is no dirt or corrosion on the frame or coil. Where grounds are connected I’ve always removed the paint also, which Gives me the best ground connection possible.
The way it's fastened is as it was from the factory, minus the removal of the original solenoid and installation of the new. When I'm back at his place I'll take a look at if I can find any grounds. But if the solenoid is giving a good "clunk" I don't suspect a ground to be at fault, especially since tapping the solenoid temporarily cures the problem.
 

Blaine B.

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
I stopped by to check it out. It appears that the starter is the actual failure. I even made a short video you can see here. I gave the starter a couple of very light taps and it fired right up. Seems that the solenoid is not at fault, and maybe it wasn't last year either - although tapping the solenoid seemed to do the trick last year as well, who knows, they're in relatively close proximity to one another either way.

Watch video here:
https://vimeo.com/717703811

This particular Toro Titan has the Toro V-twin rather than the Kawasaki or Kohler motors. Does anyone know what the correct starter is? Ereplacement parts gives a part number of 136-7880 while the Toro website gives a part number of 133-9828. As far as I see visually online they are identical starters, just different prices.
 
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MParr

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
Toro updates their part numbers regularly. The 136-7880 will work.
So will a starter for a Loncin 708cc engine aka Predator 708cc engine.
 

Blaine B.

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
Toro updates their part numbers regularly. The 136-7880 will work.
So will a starter for a Loncin 708cc engine aka Predator 708cc engine.
Thank you. I have a new, open box Toro #136-7880 starter on order for $175. I really hope this is the end of the line for starter/solenoid failures!

s-l1600.jpg


When I get around to it I'll dissect the original starter. Can't imagine why at only 59 hours it would be crapping out other than it's purely a lemon?!?
 

Rivets

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
Before you start throwing more parts at it, have you done any volt Drop tests as I recommended earlier? Troubleshooting procedures would indicate which parts may be bad. Tapping on parts are not the best way to diagnose a problem. They only give you an indication of which circuit is causing the problem, not part. Just because connections look good and came from the factory that way, doesn’t mean they are good. Personally this would be the first time I’ve heard of this problem, but even that doesn’t mean I’m on the right track or giving good advice.
 

Blaine B.

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
Upon nearly replacing the starter as we have the brand new replacement in hand, we noticed that the main ground between the battery and the engine block was loose. We tightened that up and did not replace the starter.

From what I can see there is no body/frame ground. It appears that the entire mower is grounded through the engine block. Is this true? The only two ground wires coming from the battery are the larger gauge wire which connects to the block and then a smaller wire, which I am not sure of where that terminates.

Would that make sense that the starter would not engage but that the solenoid would produce the loud "thunk" as heard in the video due to a loose ground on the block? I'm assuming that the only way this ground would have loosened up would be from vibration alone, although the mower only has about 60 run hours on it now which is low and as I mentioned before is only used once per week and not in a commercial or business application.
 

Rivets

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
You are correct in your assumptions about the grounds. Grounds come loose for a variety of reasons and that is why every experienced tech will tell you, “ALWAYS CHECK GROUND CABLES AND CONNECTIONS FIRST”
 

Blaine B.

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
Reporting back to say that the issue with the starter has not returned since the ground connection on the block was tightened. There was likely never an issue with the solenoid that was replaced last year either I'd assume.
 

Rivets

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  • / Toro Titan 52" Commercial Zero Turn 2 Starter Solenoid Failures?!?!?!?
Thank you for letting us know, most times we never hear back.
 
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