Riding mower won't start, battery OK

[wallyuwl]

Simplicity riding mower. Battery replaced last August and on a cheap tender all winter. Installed today and nothing. Put the better Battery Tender on it and it says fully charged.

No clicking or anything. Lights work. I get spark touching metal to the connector that is at the other end of the short positive red wire coming off battery. Then there is another red wire coming off this that goes to the solenoid.

Maybe a bad solenoid?

 

[mccandish]

 

[jhs914]

If you have PTO switch to engage the blade look up how to diagnose it with a volt/ohm meter. My zero turn had the same symptoms. I checked all of the safety shutoff switches and then found out it was a faulty PTO switch. The ignition won't work if the PTO is engaged and if faulty it acts as if it is engaged to the ignition when it is not. Or yours could be a faulty safety shut off switch, like the one on the seat.

 

[spasm3]

You have to check battery voltage before looking at anything else, rule that out first.

 

[mk378]

Make sure you didn't connect the battery backwards.

Jump across the two big posts on the solenoid, that should make the starter turn. If it does there's a problem with the small wiring and interlocks. If it does not, then check the battery voltage.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

My dad had a riding tractor that went through starters, and the parts weren't cheap or easy to swap. The starter failed again when I went to use it after he died. It went to the scrap heap right after that.

But eliminate the battery first. The stores that sell them admit they're basically junk and don't last very long in most equipment. My tractor is on its fifth battery in 10 years. It's possible you got a bad battery, even though you just replaced it last year.

 

[BigCahuna]

Riding mowers have several safety switches utilized, so in case you fall off it it won't run over you. One is in the seat, others won't let it start in gear. Some will only start when the clutch is depressed. I'd check those first, before spending money on anything.,,

 

[brianl703]

My tractor is on its fifth battery in 10 years. It's possible you got a bad battery, even though you just replaced it last year.

Mine is still using a battery from June 2017. The trick is to keep it on a charger over the winter.

 

[RDMgr]

Loose wire, safety switch issue, a lot of mowers have a dead man switch under the seat, blades are engaged

 

[tnt_motorsports]

Did you apply the brake? My JD LT150 won’t engage the starter unless the brake pedal is applied.

If you applied the brake I would use a fluke meter start checking voltage to components

Just my $0.02

 

[dwendt44]

Several YouTube videos covering 'No start' for lawn tractors. Do a search there.

My 2¢

 

[wallyuwl]

Turned out it was one of the two cables that needed to be connected to the negative terminal was not connected.