Scotts riding mower won't start
 

Here's what I've tried so far. Checked all wiring, don't find any loose
or broken wires or connetions. Fuse is good. Battery is new and fully
charged. My friend tried connecting jumper cables from the battery
straight to the starter motor, he said that this would bypass all
electrical connections, (in case there was a bad wire that I didn't
find). This should have caused the mower to start, it still didn't
start, so he thinks the starter motor is bad. I have taken the starter
motor off and thought I'd get a new one. These things cost around $100
bucks, so I thought I'd get a second opinion before doing this, what do
you all think? My friend said that he was 85% sure this was it.
Thanks for any help,
Eileen
It's a Scotts L4217, with Briggs & Stratton engine 17 HP INTEK OHV model
311777.

and fully charged. My friend tried connecting jumper cables from the
battery straight to the starter motor, he said that this would bypass
all electrical connections,


did it make any noise at all when he did the jumper test; as in it cranked
but did not fire up?

Or did it remain silent?

In article , E Gregory wrote:
Here's what I've tried so far. Checked all wiring, don't find any loose
or broken wires or connetions. Fuse is good. Battery is new and fully
charged. My friend tried connecting jumper cables from the battery
straight to the starter motor, he said that this would bypass all
electrical connections, (in case there was a bad wire that I didn't
find). This should have caused the mower to start, it still didn't
start, so he thinks the starter motor is bad.

Probably, but not necessarily. Same symptom would occur if the negative
battery cable is not connected to the frame. If the mower has headlights (most
do), an easy way to test this is to turn on the lights. If they light up, the
battery-to-frame connection is good; if they don't, it's not.

I have taken the starter
motor off and thought I'd get a new one. These things cost around $100
bucks, so I thought I'd get a second opinion before doing this, what do
you all think? My friend said that he was 85% sure this was it.

Now that you have the starter off, test it before you buy a replacement.
Connect the jumper cables from the battery directly to the starter, like so:
1) red cable to the post on the starter where the electrical cable connects.
2) other end of red cable to (+) battery terminal
3) black cable to (-) battery terminal
4) other end of black cable to the frame of the starter

If the starter spins, it's good. If it doesn't spin, either it's bad, or you
don't have the jumper cables hooked up right. :-)

If, after doing this test, it appears that the starter is indeed bad, it still
wouldn't hurt to take it along with you when you go to buy a replacement, and
ask to have it tested first.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Doug Miller wrote:
In article , E Gregory wrote:

Here's what I've tried so far. Checked all wiring, don't find any loose
or broken wires or connetions. Fuse is good. Battery is new and fully
charged. My friend tried connecting jumper cables from the battery
straight to the starter motor, he said that this would bypass all
electrical connections, (in case there was a bad wire that I didn't
find). This should have caused the mower to start, it still didn't
start, so he thinks the starter motor is bad.


Probably, but not necessarily. Same symptom would occur if the negative
battery cable is not connected to the frame. If the mower has headlights (most
do), an easy way to test this is to turn on the lights. If they light up, the
battery-to-frame connection is good; if they don't, it's not.


I have taken the starter
motor off and thought I'd get a new one. These things cost around $100
bucks, so I thought I'd get a second opinion before doing this, what do
you all think? My friend said that he was 85% sure this was it.


Now that you have the starter off, test it before you buy a replacement.
Connect the jumper cables from the battery directly to the starter, like so:
1) red cable to the post on the starter where the electrical cable connects.
2) other end of red cable to (+) battery terminal
3) black cable to (-) battery terminal
4) other end of black cable to the frame of the starter

If the starter spins, it's good. If it doesn't spin, either it's bad, or you
don't have the jumper cables hooked up right. :-)

If, after doing this test, it appears that the starter is indeed bad, it still
wouldn't hurt to take it along with you when you go to buy a replacement, and
ask to have it tested first.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?


Thanks Doug. I'll recheck the battery ground to make sure it's solid.
The starter motor didn't spin when we tried connecting the battery
directly to it, but the battery ground was not hooked to the starter
motor frame. The mower does have headlights and they do not light at
present. Will try your suggestions this weekend. Grass is knee high
now! Will soon be tick city!
Eileen

In article , E Gregory wrote:

Thanks Doug. I'll recheck the battery ground to make sure it's solid.
The starter motor didn't spin when we tried connecting the battery
directly to it, but the battery ground was not hooked to the starter
motor frame. The mower does have headlights and they do not light at
present. Will try your suggestions this weekend. Grass is knee high
now! Will soon be tick city!

If the headlights don't light up, then you almost *certainly* do *not* have a
good ground connection between the negative battery terminal and the frame.
(Assuming that the battery is in fact fully charged, as you said in your
original post.)

Another possibility (but less likely) is that corrosion at the positive
battery terminal has completely insulated the positive cable from the battery.
It can't hurt anything to take both battery cables off the battery, and
thoroughly clean the connections.

FWIW, same symptoms (*nothing* electrical works) in a car = same problem.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Doug Miller wrote:

In article , E Gregory wrote:

Thanks Doug. I'll recheck the battery ground to make sure it's solid.
The starter motor didn't spin when we tried connecting the battery
directly to it, but the battery ground was not hooked to the starter
motor frame. The mower does have headlights and they do not light at
present. Will try your suggestions this weekend. Grass is knee high
now! Will soon be tick city!


If the headlights don't light up, then you almost *certainly* do *not* have a
good ground connection between the negative battery terminal and the frame.
(Assuming that the battery is in fact fully charged, as you said in your
original post.)

Another possibility (but less likely) is that corrosion at the positive
battery terminal has completely insulated the positive cable from the battery.
It can't hurt anything to take both battery cables off the battery, and
thoroughly clean the connections.

FWIW, same symptoms (*nothing* electrical works) in a car = same problem.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Thanks again Doug, this would be wonderful if that the problem! A new
starter motor costs ~$100. The battery terminal connections are clean,
but I haven't checked the ground end of the negative cable. Will do
this weekend.
Eileen

E Gregory wrote:
Doug Miller wrote:

In article , E Gregory
wrote:

Thanks Doug. I'll recheck the battery ground to make sure it's
solid. The starter motor didn't spin when we tried connecting the
battery directly to it, but the battery ground was not hooked to the
starter motor frame. The mower does have headlights and they do not
light at present. Will try your suggestions this weekend. Grass is
knee high now! Will soon be tick city!



If the headlights don't light up, then you almost *certainly* do *not*
have a good ground connection between the negative battery terminal
and the frame. (Assuming that the battery is in fact fully charged, as
you said in your original post.)

Another possibility (but less likely) is that corrosion at the
positive battery terminal has completely insulated the positive cable
from the battery. It can't hurt anything to take both battery cables
off the battery, and thoroughly clean the connections.

FWIW, same symptoms (*nothing* electrical works) in a car = same problem.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?


Thanks again Doug, this would be wonderful if that the problem! A new
starter motor costs ~$100. The battery terminal connections are clean,
but I haven't checked the ground end of the negative cable. Will do
this weekend.
Eileen



Well the ground is good too. Also I took off the starter motor and
tested it off the mower using the metal bracket of the starter motor as
the ground and it turned as it should. So, even though the mower
still doesn't start, you have saved me ~$100 in not buying a part that
is working fine. Must be a chewed wire somewhere that I just can't seem
to find!
Thanks for the help,
Eileen

In article , E Gregory wrote:

Well the ground is good too. Also I took off the starter motor and
tested it off the mower using the metal bracket of the starter motor as
the ground and it turned as it should. So, even though the mower
still doesn't start, you have saved me ~$100 in not buying a part that
is working fine. Must be a chewed wire somewhere that I just can't seem
to find!

Yep, sounds like it. If you don't already have a voltmeter, this would be a
good excuse to buy one.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Doug Miller wrote:
In article , E Gregory wrote:


Well the ground is good too. Also I took off the starter motor and
tested it off the mower using the metal bracket of the starter motor as
the ground and it turned as it should. So, even though the mower
still doesn't start, you have saved me ~$100 in not buying a part that
is working fine. Must be a chewed wire somewhere that I just can't seem
to find!


Yep, sounds like it. If you don't already have a voltmeter, this would be a
good excuse to buy one.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?


Yep, I have one. Guess I'll just keep poking parts with it to see where
the current is and is not.
Eileen