# Riding Lawn Mower



## shellybc

Help! My Craftsman Lawn Tractor clicks but won't start. I have replaced the solenoid, starter assembly, sparkplug, battery, ignition switch and all three safety switches. I have examined and cleaned all wiring and contact points. Short of taking a hammer to the thing, does anybody have any other ideas?


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## madmanmoose

does the engine turn over when you try to start it


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## hdman97

Try a jump start from a car or truck


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## big ed

did you ck to see if the engine is locked up for some reason like a bad idler pulley or a belt jammed in some way when did this problem start throwing parts at it usually wont fix anything but your wallet need more info symtoms ect.


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## kbalona

Are the spark plug cable ends where they connect to the battery in good shape? If they are worn/corroded it won't have enough contact surface & will not work. Are the battery cables large enough? (Usually around 6 gauge wire, if I remember correct). Does the engine spin freely? (Try turning by hand). Where is the clicking coming from? The solenoid? (Place a finger on the solenoid, you should be able to "feel" the click.


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## shellybc

The clicking is coming from the solenoid. Battery cables are original (4 years old) and look to be ok. I am able to hot wire the engine and use the mower just fine. The problem started a couple months ago but we were able to jump start it eventually (usually after turning the key about 100 times or so!) Figured it was the battery and when I went to replace it, I noticed my husband had put the battery in with the cables reversed. So my repair began with a trip to the store to get the correct battery and then continued by replacing just about everything else. Could my battery cable or the cable from the solenoid to the starter assembly have been fried from the reversed battery cables?


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## 30yearTech

Make sure the engine ground is good. If the ground cable from the battery grounds to the tractor chassis/frame then the engine may not have a good ground to the tractor frame. If the cable grounds to the engine, then chances are the problem is in one of your battery cables not making good contact possibly resistance in the terminal ends to the cables.


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## big ed

this newer equipment today has all kinds of relays and in line diodes if the battery was hooked up improperly a small but vital part may have been cooked causing this headache to become a migrain i would get a wiring diagram and look at what is in the start circuit and what may have been effected good luck


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## kbalona

If the solenoid grounds through the base onto the tractor frame, make sure it has a good clean surface. Use a wire brush to clean rust or dirt away. 
Getting a wiring diagram would be a good idea, maybe there's even a blown fuse tucked away somewhere.


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## 30yearTech

Test to see if you are getting power to activate the starter solenoid, if your starter solenoid is getting power (and this is what you hear clicking) then the problem is not in any of the switches, interlocks or relays. It's a supply problem and you are not getting suffient amperage to operate your starter.
What model riding mower do you have?


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## shellybc

*riding lawn mower*

I am getting power to the solenoid, a full 12 v. But I am getting nothing out. My tractor is a craftsman 917.272056 with a kohler engine. When I replaced the solenoid, instead of being mounted to the frame with two bolts, the new kit uses a tab and a bolt. The kit also said that the solenoid was internally grounded to the chassis. But the kit also came with a ground wire (with an eyelet on one end) that fits the tab that is used to mount the solenoid. I have taken the one bolt out and brushed it up good, applied a little oil and then put the ground wire on, but I'm not sure if thats right? THis is my very first time doing any engine repair and I am clueless. I cleaned the ground from the battery, which is to the chassis. I wouldn't even know where to look for the engine ground. I have the schematics for all the different systems but don't see anything that looks like another ground from the engine. Thanks for all your help guys, I told my husband that if it weren't for my dad and this forum he'd be pushing a mower from now on!


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## 30yearTech

How many tabs are on your starter solenoid (blades)? When you say you are getting a full 12 volts to the relay but nothing out, are you testing the power going to the starter with the key in the start position?


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## shellybc

The key is in the "on" position, but not all the way to the "crank" position. Not sure what you mean by blades. There is a tab that inserts into the old bolt (mounting) hole and the other bolt holds the other side of the solenoid to the frame. There are also two "male" tabs that connect to the ignition harness. These are directly under the "in" and "out" terminals on the solenoid.


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## 30yearTech

Blades = Tabs, in order to test the solenoid, check for power where the cable that goes to the starter motor connects to the solenoid, when the key is in the start (crank) position. Power comes into the solenoid from the battery and a connection is made internally to the side connected to the starter when the key is turned to the start position. Check to see if you are getting power to either of the "tabs" located under the "in" and "out" terminal on the solenoid (when the key is in the start/crank position)


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## shellybc

I am getting no power to the "in" tab and about 5 v to the "out" tab. And still nothing to the "out" terminal. All of these are as the key was turned to the crank position. The wires to those two tabs are one white and two black. Maybe I had them reversed? The white wire seems to go to some kind of relay.


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## 30yearTech

The wire that goes to the relay is for your saftey interlock, it will not operate unless you are in the seat, clutch pedal depressed and blades switch/lever disengaged. To test, remove the wire that goes to the relay from your starter solenoid and using a jumper wire, ground the terminal that you just unplugged to metal part of frame or a known good ground. Once you have that done, then unplug the wire wire under the "in" side of the relay, using a jumper wire touch one end to the hot side of the solenoid where the battery cable is attached, and the other to the tab on the solenoid under the "in" side. This should activate the solenoid and the stater motor on your engine.

NOTE: MAKE SURE THE KEY IS IN THE OFF POSITION, TRANSMISSION IS IN NEUTRAL, BLADES ARE DISENGAGED OR OFF AND THE CLUTCH/BRAKE IS LOCKED!

If the engine cranks over, then the problem is in either your saftey interlock, the switch, or the relay for your saftey interlock. Once you determine that the engine will crank from the solenoid then I can help you to troubleshoot further


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## shellybc

I was able to determine that I had the wires (to the tabs) on correctly by looking at the electrical diagram. I also was able to get it to crank by jumping it at the solenoid as you suggested. This is a brand new solenoid. So is the safety interlock switch? I am concerned that it amy not be grounded correctly. The old solenoid had 2 bolts to mount it to the frame and no separate ground wire. The new solenoid came with a separate ground wire and a tab on the left side instead of a bolt.


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## 30yearTech

If you got it to crank by jumping the solenoid as I described, then the problem must be either in the ignition switch or the saftey interlock system. To check the ignition switch unplug from the wiring harness, if you cannot see the markings on the back you may have to remove it, otherwise if you can see the markings by or on each terminal look for the ones marked "B" for battery this should correspond to a wire that has voltage all the time. Look for another marked "S" for Starter or Solenoid, this terminal should show voltage (12v) when the key is held in the start or crank position. Now that you know the locations of the terminals, plug the harness back into the switch and test for voltage coming out of the switch to the wire connected to the "S" terminal. If you do not get any voltage when the key is in the start or crank position then your switch is bad, if you do then the problem is in one of the three interlock switches or the relay. Let me know what you find and we can proceed from there.

Also after reviewing the wiring harness diagram, the solenoid on your unit is not internally grounded, but rather grounds through the saftey interlock switches and the relay, because of this it does not matter which way the wires are connected all that matters is one side is grounded and the other has voltage in order to activate the solenoid.

You can email me if you like and I can see if I can give you more indepth help


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## shellybc

I saw that you were on so I am replying here even though I also sent you an email. I did get 12 v from the S terminal of the ign switch


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## 30yearTech

Sometimes I leave this site up on my screen when I leave and am not always here. I will try not to do that


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## Paul Greier

*Craftsman 917-272056 Reversing Battery Blows Fuse*

Shelly, You have surely found the problem by now, but this is for other users (like myself) who might have the same problem. I also reversed the battery because the new one was physically identical ... yet the positive and negative terminals were reversed. Turning the battery around 180 degrees fixed that problem (so the wires could reach) , but too late. It took me forever to find the fuse (20A blade-type as used in autos) ... because it is hidden under the gas tank. If you remove the gas tank (you don't have to disconnect it), look under right side at about same level as ignition switch to see the fuse coming out of the wiring harness. I am not sure yet if alternator still works, but at least I can now start and run the mower.


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## glenjudy

The couple of times this happened to me, I found either flaky battery to ground, i.e., bad cable or corroded ground and solenoid to ground was corroded.
:wave:


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## justin3

Yeah it sounds like it is the fuse to me, I have yet to reverse the batterys on a tractor but i have done so on my quod and gotten the same problem.


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