GT275 Lawn Mower

I'm working on a GT275 lawn mower with a Kawasaki engine, for my neighbour. I don't have a service manual and neither does he, so I'm hoping a YT member may be able to help.

He brought it to me because it suddenly quit running. I discovered a broken intake valve spring. Easy fix. However, in the process of checking other things, I do not have any spark and the starter will not spin using the key. It will if I bypass the key, but I can't seem to find the combination that allows me to hot-wire the ignition. I'm think'n there may be a safety neutral switch involved. The machine is a hydro-static drive which is activated by a rocker style foot pedal. Push on the front of the pedal to go forward and push on the back to go backward. It seems to have a center position, but fiddling with it in the center position didn't help.

Anybody have a GT275 that might be able to shed a little light on the subject?

I would ask the owner, but after he brought the machine to me the rascal took off for a couple months.

Dave.

(quoted from post at 21:12:09 04/10/15) I'm working on a GT275 lawn mower with a Kawasaki engine, for my neighbour. I don't have a service manual and neither does he, so I'm hoping a YT member may be able to help.

He brought it to me because it suddenly quit running. I discovered a broken intake valve spring. Easy fix. However, in the process of checking other things, I do not have any spark and the starter will not spin using the key. It will if I bypass the key, but I can't seem to find the combination that allows me to hot-wire the ignition. I'm think'n there may be a safety neutral switch involved.

Anybody have a GT275 that might be able to shed a little light on the subject?
Dave.

Click to expand...

http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.deere.u90490.partscatalog.view.servlets.HomePageServlet_Alt

NOT sure about that specific mower/engine, but most newer small engines have a self-powered "mag"/electronic ignition system and DO NOT require battery power. Instead, the ignition or safety switches ground out the ignition system to "kill" the engine.

If that is the case with that machine and you are attempting to "hot wire"/jumper battery power to the ignition system you have or will "let the smoke out of" some very $$$$ modules/electronic parts.

Rather than "feeding" it battery voltage, you need to disconnect the "kill" wire at the engine, and see if spark returns. Be aware, at that point, if the sparkplug wire is connected, the engine may start and turning the igntion switch to "OFF" isn't going to stop it.
http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Kawa...AIR MANUAL.pdf

Badly constructed link, but the message got across.

<a href="http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Kawasaki-Service-and-Repair-Manuals/FC290V-FC400V-FC401V-FC420V-FC540V-KAWASAKI-SERVICE-REPAIR-MANUAL.pdf" target="_new">Perhaps the ENGINE manual may help?</a>

Should be FC540V engine, but still not certain if it has or does not have the ignition module. If this part goes bad you have no spark no matter what, Deere price $75, mymower price $12.98. Nice site will be adding them to my store of links, thanks Bob.

Ignition switches on garden tractors fail a good deal, but it's usually engaging the starter is where they fail due to the high current flow. Grounding the ignition coil in off position only isn't that much work so this side of the switch doesn't cause much troubles. If the starter solenoid will engage by jumping it at the solenoid at least this part is still good. So then it's up to you find which it is, safety interlock or the ignition switch itself. As already pointed out these typically ground the ignition system to kill it at the ignition switch so hot wiring it can be costly. B&D's link will be much more model specific, showing the interlock switch system entirely, just enter GT275 into the find box, search and drill down in the pictorial section. And it shows NO module for this application, you can still cook the coil by hot wiring it. It must be OPEN or no connection to anything in order to have spark, safety interlock is then grounding the ignition coil to prevent starting, don't forget the seat switch, the brake switch, the PTO switch, and just about any other switch on there.

Thanks guys. The problem was a faulty neutral switch on the transmission. Without a service or operators manual it took a while to find it. The Parts Catalog was a big help too. Thanks again.

Dave.