Riding mower issues

put both leads on the battery, clamp them on so they wont fall off. set your meter to look like the picture below. get on the lawnmower and drive. engage blades and watch the voltage. should be 12v at rest. report back what actions caused changes and what voltages it showed during the change.



aww2.justanswer.com_uploads_bluextc89_2011_11_04_210430_multimeter.jpg



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if i werent going out of town this weekend i'd come over and help sort it out for ya.
 
mbalbritton said:
damn, my meter has the needle points. jamming them in the the +/- leads will be the same right?
Click to expand...

Voltmeter lesson #1
Leads: the pointy needles at the end of the black and red wires coming out of a voltmeter.

jamming them in is an appropriate way to engage nearly anything.

it's one of those trade secrets they wont print in any manuals.
 
mbalbritton said:
I've looked all over that engine and can't find a square box on the side of the engine. I've followed all the wires, and the only two that I can't trace all the way to the end are a set that go below the engine mount deck, and a set that go up under the Fly wheel. I assume those are the stator wires.

I have no idea what the ones going under the engine mount deck are going to. I'd have to tear down the whole damn mower to get to them.

Hopefully tonight I can have a chance to throw my fully charged battery in and fire it up. How do I check the load? I have a meter, but I really don't know how to use it. I hate electrical work. so feel free to explain to me like I'm a 2 y/o.
Click to expand...

You mentioned that this is not the original engine, so there's a very slight possibility that this thing doesn't even have a stator on it, or is such a low amperage output that it doesn't require the larger and typical voltage regulator. The wires that go below the engine mount are safety switch leads for either the PTO or the brake/clutch. The wires going into the top, or "fan cover" are debatable as to their function, but I know for certain that one of them is the kill wire for the ignition coil. Remember that I said these things will run forever? That wire is what will shut it down if grounded.

What I need is either pictures of this engine or a model number, type, and code from the valve cover.

As for load testing the battery, you have to have an actual load tester. A volt meter will not give you loaded conditions to test the battery's amperage and if it can sustain a charge under heavy use, such as starting.
 
Well, I put a fully charged (12.74v) battery in it and turned the key. Not a damn thing happened. Then I remembered that while trying to lift the front of the mower up with the top cover off (note, dip stick tube is mounted to the cover and was removed with cover) I dumped oil all down the bottom side and onto the brake safety switch. I'm thinking its full of oil? Because it's acting just as if you don't have the brake down or there's no battery in the mower. Not even a solenoid /starter click.

Also, back to Reid's statement about rope around the blades. When I pulled the deck off tonight, I found that the main drive pulley on the deck is somehow warped or otherwise spinning off center and hitting a bolt beside it. Beatings feel fine, not sure why it's spinning... Out of round?

Not sure if this is turning into a challenge for me and I have to conquer it, if I'm one step closer to putting a .375" slug through the block!
 
If you're not even getting a starter solenoid or fuel solenoid click, I'd venture to say that either the battery has a dead cell (giving a false charge) or the ignition switch is bad. Could also be a blown fuse or broken wire or bad safety switch or...the list goes on and on. Or, you didn't have it in neutral.

As for the pulley, I've seen them strip or break under the spindle bolt but still function.

Don't shoot it, though.
 
****NOTE TO SELF**** get maulcruiser's phone number for future small engine repair.
 
Maulcruiser is right, i should have thought about the load tester.

BUT! dont put the meter away yet. start at the battery, and trace that 12v volts til it stops. check for voltage after every component. when you get to the one that doesnt have 12v coming out you have found your culprit.
 
Oh, that engine...I love how they sound when they're running right, but that's about the extent of it. Haha! Ok, no fuel solenoid on that engine, so that thing should run as long as nothing is grounding out the ignition coil and you have a good clean carburetor. So, that takes us back to an external electrical issue. Solenoid, battery, poor grounds, dead cell, bad ignition switch, or faulty safety switch.
 
Not that these items can't go bad, but the beginning of last season I replaced the solenoid, the ignition switch and battery.

Assuming those are still ok, I'll need to check the grounds, and switches then.
 
Being only semi talented under the hood, i assume anything i just recently replaced is the culprit first.
 
Found some shity wire nut connections. Soldered them and heat shrunk them and it turned over just fine. But the freshly charged battery died pretty quick. So I think it's back to bad battery.

Pulled the main drive pulley on the deck and ball bearings fell out. So new bearing or pulley assembly for it.

At least I feel much better about getting it running again.
 
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Ok, got her running again, with new bearings and all things greased and moving freely spinning freely on the deck. But same old battery at this point. Just charged it again.

Under slow movement it runs and drives. But soon as you push the pedal to go fast it cuts off. Or if you engage the PTO, it's cuts off. Not bogs down, but cuts off.

Sounds like a grounding out issue maybe.

Not sure if it has anything to do with it, but I've lost Neutral from my transmission.

Thoughts?
 
Several years ago, I was having trouble getting my weedeater to run. It was a hand-me-down and was several years old, but it had ran flawlessly the previous year. I replaced the plug, cleaned everything I could get apart, you name it - I touched it. After several days of working, frustration got the best of me. Holding the business end of the shaft, I beat the engine across the work table until it was pretty much unrecognizable. Then I calmly walked it to the curb and placed it in the trash where it belonged. A few days later I needed to burn a brush pile, I decided to start it with the weedeater gas since I no longer owned anything that required 2-stroke fuel. The gas was so dead that it actually extinguished an open flame when poured out on it.

Always start with the small things. It's usually something so insignificant that you never think it could be the problem.
 
@maulcruiser, so it's mowed the lawn twice now, but still not right. The charging issue seems to be resolved. I'm thinking that replacing the wire nutted wiring with soldered and heat shrunk wrapping has helped that. It fires right up now and no charging issues it seems.

Problem continues is that under load it'll big down and cut off if I down throttle down quickly. Not sure if it's tied to the same issue or a secondary issue, but the variable speed doesn't seem to be working right. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes I give it full pedal and it doesn't want to go.

Scenario: I can only go about half throttle with both blades and propulsion. And I have to give it about half pedal of propulsion. It's mows fine like this. But if I get into heavy grass it'll big down and start to die if I don't immediately throttle back and come to a stop.

If I'm full throttle, I can run the blades. If I'm full throttle I can give it full pedal for propulsion...until I hit a hill. Then it will either die or just stop moving forward.

Wondering if my carb has shit in it too since the filter looked like ass.

Thoughts?
 
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