johnwilldo
Bronze Member
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2010
- Messages
- 62
- Tractor
- John Deere 2305
My STX 38 would not start without priming the carburetor if it had not run in a while. Also, the engine would not rotate when the key was placed in the start position. It had been an intermittent problem that became a solid failure when I uncovered it from it's winter nap a few day ago. My mechanically talented nephew was visiting from Florida and I had him take a look at the problems.
The priming problem was fixed by applying some oil to the pivot points when he discovered that the choke butterfly valve was not closing properly. Then we discovered that the dead battery would not take a charge until we applied a jumper from my tractor to fake out the charger. Once we had the battery charged, he removed and disassembled the start solenoid. He cleaned the contacts of the solenoid and reassembled the unit. We also cleaned the battery cables and terminals.
We started it and checked the output of the alternator to make sure that we had charging voltage. We then did about twenty minutes of test mowing before shutting it down. After letting it cool down, it started right up. I put the charger on it overnight to make sure that it had a good charge. I let the mower set for a few days to see if the old battery would hold a charge and to see if it would start just using the choke function. It fired right up on the first try!
I used WE a lot in this post.......I merely stood by, handed tools and made sure that his coffee cup was refilled as required.
The priming problem was fixed by applying some oil to the pivot points when he discovered that the choke butterfly valve was not closing properly. Then we discovered that the dead battery would not take a charge until we applied a jumper from my tractor to fake out the charger. Once we had the battery charged, he removed and disassembled the start solenoid. He cleaned the contacts of the solenoid and reassembled the unit. We also cleaned the battery cables and terminals.
We started it and checked the output of the alternator to make sure that we had charging voltage. We then did about twenty minutes of test mowing before shutting it down. After letting it cool down, it started right up. I put the charger on it overnight to make sure that it had a good charge. I let the mower set for a few days to see if the old battery would hold a charge and to see if it would start just using the choke function. It fired right up on the first try!
I used WE a lot in this post.......I merely stood by, handed tools and made sure that his coffee cup was refilled as required.