DIYbanter - View Single Post - 14.5 hp OHV Won't Turn Over Unless Plug Removed

J Burns

On 6/6/15 1:42 AM, wrote:
On Fri, 05 Jun 2015 23:15:13 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 05 Jun 2015 18:07:58 -0400, Arnie Goetchius
wrote:

I have a tractor (MTD 1998) with a 14.5 OHV Briggs & Stratton. The
starter has been giving me fits over the last year or so. The starter
would not turn the engine over. I tried to turn the engine by hand but
could not.

Have brand new battery and some times I can jump start with the car
battery and will turn over. Once I get it running, there is no problem.
If I turn it off for an hour, it will start right up. Leave it off for a
couple of days and the starter will not crank. Any ideas?
I'd be checking for bad power or ground connections both at the
battery and at the engine/starter end.
Do a complete voltage drop test of the system, and go from there.

This is my bet.

I had the same thing with my Craftsman rider and after I went over all
of the fat wire connections, putting star washers under the screws, it
worked great. I am not sure which one was bad but something was
dropping a few volts.
The other thing might be a bad starter solenoid.

Earlier this year, I checked mine for fun. First the voltage at the
battery terminals under load. Then the voltage across the starter
terminals. IIRC, it was 0.4V lower, but it was adequate.

Then I began to wonder where I was losing the 0.4V. It was across the
solenoid contacts. In view of the current involved, that looked like a
pending disaster. (Not really. I could have started it by bypassing the
solenoid.)

There had been times when the engine would start to turn and stop.
Turning the key again would work. I'd assumed it was too much
compression. Burnt solenoid points could also account for it. Now I'm
trying to remember if the problem has occurred since I replaced the
solenoid.