starting problems on scotts 1642s

[toohott7718]

Hello everyone I have a scotts 1642 s riding lawn mower, I went out side to go cut the grass I turned the key and nothing happens, no clicking or anything. I checked the battery and it was a bit low so I charged it and it is above 12 volts. I did some reading and research and thought it was the solenoid, I replaced that and still nothing. I am thinking it is either one of the safety switches or the ignition itself. Is there a way to test any of them?
thank you for everyone's help:thumbsup:

 

[sox3]

Best way is to use a 12 volt test light. You should have a switch on the clutch pedal, and one on the blade engagement lever / or switch if electric clutch. You turn the key to start position and follow the power from the
switch to the other two switches to the solenoid. Does the solenoid have 1 or 2 small wires on it? Make sure all your grounds are in good clean contact. If you have 1 small wire on the solenoid, you run a jumper wire from the battery positive to the small wire it should crank over. If it does, solenoid, starter, Battery are good. then you have a switch problem to find.

 

[cgutenschwager]

Hi, I have the same mower, mine is about 12 years old or so... I had the same problem one spring. The headlight switch is in the key, so I turned the key to see if the headlights would come on, and they did. That means the battery has a pretty good charge, so I looked on. There is a switch in the seat, you could jumper it with a piece if wire to eliminate it, and the clutch/brake pedal has to be locked down, I just set the parking brake. So that takes care of the switches - it still did the same thing...nothing! I took off the battery cables and cleaned them, and the connection to the starter - BINGO! They tend to corrode over the winter and wont conduct enough amps, but the lights will still work because headlight don't draw current like a starter. Let me know if any of this helps.

Good Luck.

 

[toohott7718]

I have 2 wires on my solenoid

 

[toohott7718]

I will try your suggestions, how do I test the safety switches? I read somewhere to stick a wire on plug to connect the wires together, but the plug for the break/clutch has 4 wires. thank you again for everyone's help :thumbsup:

 

[toohott7718]

I checked battery again and its above 12 volts, I turn the key and no lights at all- I wonder if its a bad ignition hmm I checked for ohms on the seat, forward/neutral/reverse lever and the brake/clutch pedal all seem to be good.

 

[cgutenschwager]

I checked battery again and its above 12 volts, I turn the key and no lights at all- I wonder if its a bad ignition hmm I checked for ohms on the seat, forward/neutral/reverse lever and the brake/clutch pedal all seem to be good.

Have you tried jumping it, or swapping a good battery? Just curious, have you cleaned the terminals?

 

[sox3]

If your not getting the lights to work, check battery, cables and ground connections. Check the Ignition switch to see if you have power into the switch, if yes check for power out of the switch when key is turned to a position like lights, ignition, start etc.. Did you check any fuses in the system?
A lot of those units used Plastic Ignition switches that fail.
ok, you have 2 small wires on your solenoid so its a dual system. When you turn the key do you get power to one of the small terminals? if yes, then that side of the circuit is good, if no you have a safety switch or Ignition switch problem. Start at Ignition switch to check for power.
If you have power to solenoid when key is turned to start hook a jumper from the other small terminal to ground,
If the unit cranks then the problem is in the grounding side of the solenoid circuit. Thats why some of the safety switches have 4 wires. they are dual circuit switches. Let me know what you find.

 

[toohott7718]

I'm going to check voltage at the solenoid on the 2 small wires, I did check the red wire going to the starter and no voltage. I will reply back today what I find. thank you

 

[toohott7718]

Have you tried jumping it, or swapping a good battery? Just curious, have you cleaned the terminals?

I have tried jumping it with no luck at all, I'm going to go over all the terminals again just to make sure they are all getting good contact.

 

[sox3]

The 2 large wires on the soleniod, 1 should have 12 v from battery, other will not have any until solenoid is engaged to pass that to the starter. Let us know what you find

 

[sox3]

if you leave the key in the off position. Use 2 jumpers, put 12 volt + to one of the small wires on the solenoid, and 12 volt - to the other. The engine should crank over.
One of the small wires should get 12 volt+ when key in start position, the other gets 12 volt-. This is why a test light is a good test tool. Volt meter will work good too.
Should have 12 volt+ at one of the larger wires on the solenoid, the other wont until solenoid is engaged

 

[toohott7718]

I checked voltage on 2 small wires at solenoid- no voltage
I checked voltage at ignition and I get power on the red wire when ignition is off but when I turn it forward it goes to 0 voltage. Does that mean the ignition is bad??

 

[toohott7718]

if you leave the key in the off position. Use 2 jumpers, put 12 volt + to one of the small wires on the solenoid, and 12 volt - to the other. The engine should crank over.
One of the small wires should get 12 volt+ when key in start position, the other gets 12 volt-. This is why a test light is a good test tool. Volt meter will work good too.
Should have 12 volt+ at one of the larger wires on the solenoid, the other wont until solenoid is engaged

I tried testing the small wires on the solenoid with my test light it shows green on both but if I hook up my volt meter I get nothing. Not sure whats going on there

 

[sox3]

I take it you still dont have lights working either? You said that when you turn the key the power at the switch goes to 0. I have to assume you checked and cleaned all the cable connections. If you put the volt meter on the battery and get 12 volts, does it stay at 12 volts when you turn the key for the lights to come on?

 

[toohott7718]

I take it you still dont have lights working either? You said that when you turn the key the power at the switch goes to 0. I have to assume you checked and cleaned all the cable connections. If you put the volt meter on the battery and get 12 volts, does it stay at 12 volts when you turn the key for the lights to come on?

still no lights, checked all connections. voltage stays the same when I turn the key to get lights (no lights turn on) also when I turn key like I'm going to start mower

 

[sox3]

sounds like a bad key switch but you say you lose the 12 volts when you turn the key on. the 12 volts feeding the switch should stay constant.

 

[cgutenschwager]

I take it you still dont have lights working either? You said that when you turn the key the power at the switch goes to 0. I have to assume you checked and cleaned all the cable connections. If you put the volt meter on the battery and get 12 volts, does it stay at 12 volts when you turn the key for the lights to come on?

Well now it sounds like you have to chase the voltage and find out where it stops. There must be a wire or component that is broken causing a break in the chain.

 

[toohott7718]

since the voltage goes to 0 doesn't that mean the ignition is bad?
otherwise what would make it just drop out?

 

[sox3]

Bad terminals, connections, bad ground, bad battery, etc.