oldyellr
Silver Member
I have a Honda H3011H rear engine rider that occasionally won't start. What I mean is there's nothing wrong with the engine, ignition or fuel system, but the starter won't crank; I just hear a small relay clicking. (Before you jump to conclusions, he battery and connections are fine.) The previous owner mentioned this problem when I bought it and said he apparently fixed it by cleaning some connections, but clearly it was still intermittent, because otherwise he would have had no reason to mention it.
The first time it happened to me I thought I fixed it by jiggling the shift lever sideways, actuating the neutral safety switch. The next time maybe it was the PTO lever (switch). Another time I thought it was the hand brake (buzzer switch). Sometimes I didn't know what fixed it after moving various controls. (The seat switch connection is shorted, so that's out of the question.) I have also been unplugging, spraying and re-plugging the various connectors and the last time it worked after I re-plugged the connector to the ignition switch. Today it wouldn't start again, so I again unplugged the ignition switch connector, sprayed WD-40 and reconnected it, but no dice.
The only connectors I hadn't tackled were the ones to the combination relay box and regulator behind the battery (which I think are the ones the PO cleaned to fix the problem), so I pulled the battery and did them. Guess what? No joy. As far as I can tell, those are all the connectors in the harness, confirmed by the wiring diagram. One other connector is the one to the starter solenoid coil. It's too hard to reach to unplug and re-plug, but I've wiggled it. I've also banged on the solenoid while trying to start it, but that didn't help.
Okay, I did get it started today. I dropped the deck to the lowest height and then raised it again and it started after that. I don't see any interlock switch on the diagram dependant on the deck position, but maybe the position of the deck affects the PTO switch somehow. Next tome I'll have to jack up the mower and find the PTO switch if it won't start. Meanwhile, do any of you with experience with these mowers have any bright ideas? (Too bad Honda didn't put a pull start on this thing.)
The first time it happened to me I thought I fixed it by jiggling the shift lever sideways, actuating the neutral safety switch. The next time maybe it was the PTO lever (switch). Another time I thought it was the hand brake (buzzer switch). Sometimes I didn't know what fixed it after moving various controls. (The seat switch connection is shorted, so that's out of the question.) I have also been unplugging, spraying and re-plugging the various connectors and the last time it worked after I re-plugged the connector to the ignition switch. Today it wouldn't start again, so I again unplugged the ignition switch connector, sprayed WD-40 and reconnected it, but no dice.
The only connectors I hadn't tackled were the ones to the combination relay box and regulator behind the battery (which I think are the ones the PO cleaned to fix the problem), so I pulled the battery and did them. Guess what? No joy. As far as I can tell, those are all the connectors in the harness, confirmed by the wiring diagram. One other connector is the one to the starter solenoid coil. It's too hard to reach to unplug and re-plug, but I've wiggled it. I've also banged on the solenoid while trying to start it, but that didn't help.
Okay, I did get it started today. I dropped the deck to the lowest height and then raised it again and it started after that. I don't see any interlock switch on the diagram dependant on the deck position, but maybe the position of the deck affects the PTO switch somehow. Next tome I'll have to jack up the mower and find the PTO switch if it won't start. Meanwhile, do any of you with experience with these mowers have any bright ideas? (Too bad Honda didn't put a pull start on this thing.)