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Posted by on April 20, 2007, 1:19 pm
I have a problem with my LT1000 not starting, when i say not starting,
i mean no clicking whatsoever, prior to my current condition, the
mower would click, click, click, then turn over to start, the starter
didnt sound like it lagged, it just sounded like the power to the
starter wasnt connecting good. the starter would turn over maybe just
a little, then i'd have to click click click until it turned over
again. but now it wont click at all. another note is: the last few
times i got it to start, i had to fully depress the clutch instead of
having it in the locked position. this is what ive done so far to
check the cause. First i read the voltage coming from the solenoid to
the starter when i turned the key, it read zero. i then read the
voltage coming from the battery ( 2 year old battery, still full of
water, has never been run down), it read a little over 12v, i then
hooked the battery up to a charger (not the best charger, kinda old)
and the meter only showed to be pulling 2~3 volts and was slowly
reaching zero, so i assumed that the battery was good. Ive confirmed
that i have 12v coming in to the battery terminal on the solenoid,
upon turning the key to start, i have confirmed that i do not have 12v
leaving the solenoid via starter cable. sooooo i then checked the hot
wire that leads off the + battery terminal on the solenoid, it makes a
stop at a 20a fuse (which is good), it then stops at the dc meter
(which doesnt register the amps, but does have a charge on the +
paddle connector), and finally makes a stop at the ignition switch. I
then checked the two paddle terminals (one single white wire, and the
other is a double black wire) on the solenoid for current when i turn
the key to start, when i turn the key to start, i get 5 or 6 volts on
each paddle connector, but when i reconnect them and read the battery
terminal upon turning the key, i get nothing, so that lead me to
believe that the solenoid was out, so i replaced it. well i hooked it
up and i get the same results, so now i assume that my method of
testing is all wrong to begin with. and now im lost like an easter
egg. im at work now, but when i get home im gonna try and jump all
the saftey switches at once, to see if one or more is out. cause if
the clutch switch is out, will i be getting partial? or no voltage on
the white and double black wires connecting to the solenoid? if ive
left anything out please let me know, sorry this is the first time ive
posted a question about small engines, im by no means a mechanic at
all. but i do have a small supply of common sense, but it seems im
out of that too. model number is 310707, type 0137-E1. OHV 17hp.
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Posted by Pop` on April 20, 2007, 3:49 pm
The battery could be the culprit. Try pulling a headlight out and see if
hte battery will power it for a few minutes and that the light stays nice
and bright the whole time; no light output change. If the light dims at all
over a short period of time, then the battery has gone kaput.
Bad batteries WILL appear to charge.
When you turn the key to Start, what voltage is shown across the battery?
If the starter doesn't turn, it should remain a 12, 13, maybe up to 15V for
a fully charged battery. A freshly charged battery will often show over 14V
at full charge.
If the voltage drops to about 9V at the most, no lower, then either the
battery is bad or something is pulling excessive current in your system.
BTW, battery chargers do not indicate volts: They indidate AMPs. Starting
at 2-3 Amps and slowly going toward 0 while you watch it isn't normal
either, especially on a good battery that's fairly new.
If it measured Volts, which some of the good ones do, the number had
better be in the range of 12-15 Volts at the end of the charge cycle.
2weezle@gmail.com wrote:
...
> that i have 12v coming in to the battery terminal on the solenoid,
> upon turning the key to start, i have confirmed that i do not have 12v
> leaving the solenoid via starter cable. sooooo i then checked the hot
> wire that leads off the + battery terminal on the solenoid, it makes a
> stop at a 20a fuse (which is good), it then stops at the dc meter
> (which doesnt register the amps, but does have a charge on the +
> paddle connector), and finally makes a stop at the ignition switch. I
> then checked the two paddle terminals (one single white wire, and the
> other is a double black wire) on the solenoid for current when i turn
> the key to start, when i turn the key to start, i get 5 or 6 volts on
> each paddle connector, but when i reconnect them and read the battery
That's not normal, although I can't follow your logic completely. The
voltage during starter operation should not go below 9 Volts. If the
starter isn't spinning, and it's free to turn otherwise, then what's the
voltage AT THE BATTERY during this same time? If it's 12V AT THIS SAME
TIME, you have bad wiring someplace which is dropping voltage on you. If
it's the same 6V, then again the battery is likely kaput.
It -could- also be a problem with the starter itself having an internal or
unintentional short someplace. Got a spare battery around to test with?
You -could- use a car battery for testing, but NOT with the car hooked up to
it, NOT with the tractor battery connected, and NOT with the car running!
Wear eye protection while you're messing with the battery. Accidents
happen and batteries can explode if you misconnect things. Just be careul
and keep track of what you're doing. Never, EVER have more than one battery
at a time connected to more than one thing at a time and all should be fine
as long as you watch the polarities hwen you connect to the tractor.
Regards,
Pop`
> terminal upon turning the key, i get nothing, so that lead me to
> believe that the solenoid was out, so i replaced it. well i hooked it
> up and i get the same results, so now i assume that my method of
> testing is all wrong to begin with. and now im lost like an easter
> egg. im at work now, but when i get home im gonna try and jump all
> the saftey switches at once, to see if one or more is out. cause if
> the clutch switch is out, will i be getting partial? or no voltage on
> the white and double black wires connecting to the solenoid? if ive
> left anything out please let me know, sorry this is the first time ive
> posted a question about small engines, im by no means a mechanic at
> all. but i do have a small supply of common sense, but it seems im
> out of that too. model number is 310707, type 0137-E1. OHV 17hp.
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Posted by on April 20, 2007, 4:32 pm
ok yeah i do remember the reading on the battery terminal on the
solenoid dropping below 9v by trying to start it. So maybe i dont
even have enough juice to get a click? ill see if the battery will
take a charge, its never run down before. and its still got alot of
water in it. i got an old battery charger, its just got a 6v and 12v
setting. im not 100% what the measurement is on the gauge. i have
very little experience on this stuff, i didnt know the battery
shouldnt be dropping below 9v during full load. but im almost certain
that i remember it doing so. even with a dead battery should i get a
click or shouldnt the amp meter on the mower read something? even move
the needle a little?
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Posted by Oren on April 20, 2007, 5:06 pm
On 20 Apr 2007 13:32:46 -0700, 2weezle@gmail.com wrote:
>ok yeah i do remember the reading on the battery terminal on the
>solenoid dropping below 9v by trying to start it. So maybe i dont
>even have enough juice to get a click? ill see if the battery will
>take a charge, its never run down before. and its still got alot of
>water in it. i got an old battery charger, its just got a 6v and 12v
>setting. im not 100% what the measurement is on the gauge. i have
>very little experience on this stuff, i didnt know the battery
>shouldnt be dropping below 9v during full load. but im almost certain
>that i remember it doing so. even with a dead battery should i get a
>click or shouldnt the amp meter on the mower read something? even move
>the needle a little?
I would only add that you check the battery ground cable on the frame
and make sure it is clean and tight. I've seen vehicles not start,
because of a poor ground. This can happen on the starter cable as
well.
Sounds very much like a dead cell in the battery also.
--
Oren
"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"
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Posted by David Martel on April 20, 2007, 7:28 pm
2,
If I understand you correctly, you've been having difficulties for some
time with starting. I fear that you know very little about basic electricity
so I'm very uncomfortable making any plan based on your measurements.
Ok, let's clean the battery terminals and the battery cable clamps. Auto
stores sell a cheap brush for this purpose or you can use sand paper. Get
them nice and shiny. How do the cable clamps look? Everything clean and
tight? Now let's head to the solenoid. Take the wire and cables off and
clean the solenoid connectors and the cables. Put the cables and wire back
on. Find the cable at the starter. Take it off, do the cleaning thing, and
put it back on. Note here that your battery is still disconnected. Great
let's get the car and some jumper cables. Attach the + on the car battery to
the + cable of the mower. Attach the - on the car battery to the - cable of
the mower. Start your car. You now have plenty of juice so try to start your
mower. Remember to disconnect the - cables first and then the + cables.
Finally attach the + mower cable to the + battery terminal and then the -
connections. Hopefully this will get you going. If this doesn't get you
going things to suspect are bad cables, bad solenoid, or bad starter. If the
mower starts but won't in a week then the battery is losing charge.
Dave M.
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