My z-turn mower will not start. It acts as though the starting position of the brake, PTO, etc. are not all correct. But the PTO is up, the bars are in neutral, the brake is on. I have put in a new battery and used an air compressor to clean all the spots I cannot reach. How do I get to the ignition wires to check all the wire connections?
I work at a Deere dealership. First thing I would suggest is to check your fuses and test the battery(I see you installed a new one, so you should be good there). If all is well, then pull the solenoid wire off the starter solenoid and check it for voltage while holding your key in the start position. This is usually a purple wire on a spade terminal on John Deeres.
*If you have battery voltage, and your battery is good, then the solenoid or starter is the issue.
*If you have no voltage, then the issue is in the safety system, i.e. brake switch, control lever switches, pto switch, key switch, or relays and wiring between them. The parking brake switch overrides the seat switch in the starting circuit, so we can elliminate the seat switch being the issue. The easiest way to test is to get a printout of the wiring diagram and start tracing voltage. This can take time and patience, but it's pretty basic testing. Good luck!