craftsman gt5000 wont mow

[bigtexas282008]

i was mowing and all the sudden the blades stopped working. i didnt hit anything. no broken belts. i think it is something with the switch. is there a fuse dedicated to the blade engage switch or what.

 

[General Lee]

Most likely the electric PTO clutch. It should be the towards the front of the deck and also has a pulley attached for the blade belt. I had to replace mine once on my GT3000

 

[toppop52]

I once had a stick get under mine and broke the wires to the electric pto clutch. so check out the wiring to the clutch before replacing it.

 

[JDgreen227]

Could it be a problem with the underseat safety switch that would shut off the pto clutch if the operator wasn't sitting on the seat? Those switches are very prone to getting damaged or having the wiring plug come loose.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My ZTR did the same thing and it was one of the safety switches went bad. I think mine was on the parking brake release. I think mine has 3 that all have to sync to work. It did just like yours quit mowing first then as I jacked around with the whole engine restart sequence, finally then it wouldnt start up even, all because one little micro-switch went out. Warranty took care of it.

 

[Zork]

A stick got into mine today and I cut both wires to the clutch coil and shut her down real fast. It also blew the 30 amp fuse and I had nothing; no crank, no clicks, nothing. I blew the replaced fuse when I tried to cut again. Repaired the wires and fuse. but I have no electric clutch operation. There is power to the operator presence relay coil (assumed #1). Does anyone know where the other relay is, assuming it is operator presence relay #2? The diagram doesn't show it but does make mention of a #1 relay. Anyway, I think the diagram is pointing me in the direction of terminal B and E of my PTO switch. It's late and I'm tiered but I'll check it out.

I pulled the switch and sure enough no power or ohms from/at B to E. I scraped the heat sealed seam of the switch with the edge of a razor knife then used the blade to cut the seam. I opened it up to find dust and what appears to be a rusted or heated contact elements that may have lost their temper. I bent them out and reassembled the switch and it works- took all of 5 minutes. I'll clean it real good tomorrow and lube the contact areas, and crazy glue or heat weld, then order a spare switch for future use. Meanwhile I can price shop and get my leaves mulched.

 

[Gary Fowler]

It looks like that whole switch needs to be encapsulated in something to dust/water proof it. Not a good design for something exposed to as much dust as a mower. Maybe a good coating of silicone on the new one would help.

 

[Zork]

You are right Gary Fowler; it should be more dust proof. I cleaned the inards with carb cleaner and put a skoach of dielectric grease in it and reassembled. I tested it then crazy glued the seam and heat sealed it with a soldering iron. Worked great!

 

[JDgreen227]

You are right Gary Fowler; it should be more dust proof. I cleaned the inards with carb cleaner and put a skoach of dielectric grease in it and reassembled. I tested it then crazy glued the seam and heat sealed it with a soldering iron. Worked great!

HEY....glad it worked and thank you for letting us know what the fix was. It is always rewarding when someone posts a query here and then follows up with the solution that works....that helps ALL OF US.

 

[cheif]

IVE WORKED A FEW OF THESE FOR 1 ISSUE THE WIRERS RUNNING FROM THE PTO UNDER THE MOWER THROUGH THE FRAME IS NOT PROTECTED CHECK THEM. THERE ON THE RIGHT SIDE.
2 THE PTO SWITCH ITS SELF GOES BAD ALOT.