bad electric starter on garden tractor

Joseph V. · May 7, 2010

I am working on a white garden tractor. Several weeks ago, it wouldn't start because the solenoid was bad (clicking). I replaced the solenoid and it worked fine for a few weeks. Now, it is clicking again, but this time from the starter instead of the solenoid (the solenoid is located under the seat, not on the starter). When you turn the key, you just get a clicking noise from the general starter area. Can anyone tell me what to check, or what could be wrong? (It is a Briggs v-twin engine) Thank You!

msb · May 7, 2010

First thing to check is the voltage to the solenoid.

Flurette Farm · May 7, 2010

Batterys bad..........or needs charged.

trucker 40 · May 7, 2010

Clean your connections to bright shiny copper color and charge you battery.A lawn mower doesnt have the best charging system,especially if it has corroded conections at the cables,and then wont charge at all even if it works.

After you do that,and that means clean both ends of the cables,and the ground side too,and look for loose conections when you do this cleaning,and get them all tight,with a charged battery,and it still clicks,then if you leave it parked outside in the rain,you might need to either take your starter apart and clean it up with emery tape and grease it,or get another one.

There are lots of things it could be besides those there.If it has oil all over it around where the ground cable bolts to it that could be whats wrong,not getting a good ground.

Im sure there are way more things than that which I cant think of right now.First thing might be to try and turn the motor with your hand.If you cant do that then you could have other things wrong.

Kentb of SWMO · May 8, 2010

Also check the starter gear. It may have worn and be jammed in the flywheel gear.

Kent

rustyj14 · May 8, 2010

Another thing---remove the flywheel shrouding, and take off the coil that is bolted on next to the flywheel. If there is any rust there, it can prevent starting. Clean the magnets on the flywheel and coil legs, clean out any mouse damage or nesting, bolt the coil back on, using a business card as a guage to get the coil-to-flywheel gap correct. (Yeah, that works well!)
Make sure the negative battery cable is clean where it bolts to ground, usually on the frame, or body braces. Check for a flat fuse near the starter solenoid. How old is the spark plug?
Install a fuel shut-off valve in the gas line. Especially if the tank is higher than the carburetor! Keep the breather hole in the gas cap open. A mud wasp will lay an egg in there, and the machine will not start, nor run longer than about a minute, if it does start!
From Rusty Jones, the Mower Man!

bad electric starter on garden tractor

Joseph V.

New User

msb

Well-known Member

Flurette Farm

Member

trucker 40

Member

Kentb of SWMO

Well-known Member

rustyj14

Well-known Member

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