318 John Deere shuts down

[FitzJS]

I have a 318 John Deere with a B43G 18hp Onan. Today when I was mowing, it shut down like I turned the key off. All lights on the dash went out. After about 30 seconds, the lights came back on and it started and ran fine for about 5 minutes, then did it again. This happened 4 or 5 times and each time it would be only about 30 seconds then everything would be fine. Voltage is fine at the battery. About 14.4 volts at full throttle. The battery is new from John Deere.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[manwith2jd]

The ignition switch is likely the culprit. Connects downstream of the key cylinder assy. Think they're around $15. My 318 had similar issue as I recall and I replaced other parts before finding this site a couple years ago. Found thread on this site that pointed me to this switch and problem solved. Might be worth a try.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

starter switches are known to go bad over time. also check for chaffed wiring.

 

[FitzJS]

Thanks very much for the reply. I found the problem and got it going again. The wire that runs from the positive post on the battery to the breaker had a bad connection at the breaker post and was getting hot. That caused the breaker to trip and kick back on after 30 seconds or so. I replaced the wire and the breaker and it runs great again.