ctown75
Member
Well I have this mower, it's 6 or 7 years old. It's only a 42" cut and we mow 2+ acres with it in the summer, plus it used to have a plow on it so it sees plenty of hours year round. It has been a rough starting mower when it's cold out since I got it 4 years ago. This year I finally got fed up with jump starting it because when the hose freezes I use the tractor to take water out to my animals. So I replaced the battery with a bigger one. It had the original battery, which was unmarked, but it still tested good and had no issues starting it when warm outside, even after sitting a week or so. I put a new one in that is 350 cca- the biggest mower battery I could find. Still no cold starts. I took all the terminals off the battery, solenoid, and starter, and cleaned them with a wire brush- still nothing! So I got fed up(see the trend? LOL) and put my car booster on it(a big roll away charger, puts out 150 amps on boost) and started it. The first couple days it started, but then a couple days ago it was uber cold and I layed starter a little bit, and the starter started smoking. So I took it apart to find the brushes trashed. Not surprising, this mower has a buttload of hours. So I bought a new aftermarket starter(AEM brand) from a local mower guy. Same story different day. still no cold starts. Is my motor wearing down to where it is just that hard to start(I can still turn it by hand fairly easily) Or am I missing something? I think I already trashed the new starter. I am running a little thicker oil than recomended(15w-40). It is 18HP single cylinder, briggs and stratton, intek I/C with "AVS"(anti vibration sys). Any help or advice is appreciated!
Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Scott
Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Scott