Help! My 8 year old Craftsman riding mower with 16.5 hp Kohler engine
blows a fuse sometime. The engine shuts down and will not crank until I
replace the 30 amp fuse in the engine compartment. I think there is a short
somewhere, but I have had no luck finding anything wrong. Any suggestions?
Thanks.

donh wrote:
Help! My 8 year old Craftsman riding mower with 16.5 hp Kohler engine
blows a fuse sometime. The engine shuts down and will not crank until I
replace the 30 amp fuse in the engine compartment. I think there is a short
somewhere, but I have had no luck finding anything wrong. Any suggestions?
Thanks.



Substitute a 12 volt automotive tail lamp bulb for tha fuse and start
pushing, pulling and twisting any wires you can move while someone keeps
an eye on that bulb.

If as you "think" there IS an intermittant short someplace, the bulb
will light when that short shorts.

"Short" of that, look at the wiring diagram in the owner's manual and
see what's located downstream of that fuse and see if you can make sense
of what might be shorting out and causing it to blow.

HTH,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
donh wrote:
Help! My 8 year old Craftsman riding mower with 16.5 hp Kohler engine
blows a fuse sometime. The engine shuts down and will not crank until I
replace the 30 amp fuse in the engine compartment. I think there is a short
somewhere, but I have had no luck finding anything wrong. Any suggestions?
Thanks.



Substitute a 12 volt automotive tail lamp bulb for tha fuse and start
pushing, pulling and twisting any wires you can move while someone keeps
an eye on that bulb.

If as you "think" there IS an intermittant short someplace, the bulb
will light when that short shorts.

"Short" of that, look at the wiring diagram in the owner's manual and
see what's located downstream of that fuse and see if you can make sense
of what might be shorting out and causing it to blow.

HTH,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."

Sounds like the Starter is drawing to many Amps thus blowing the
fuse.Hook up an Amp gauge in series and read amps while cranking engine
over.Should be aprox. half of the fuse amperage (up to 15 amps) if it's
working correctly.:-)

wrote:
Jeff Wisnia wrote:

donh wrote:

Help! My 8 year old Craftsman riding mower with 16.5 hp Kohler engine
blows a fuse sometime. The engine shuts down and will not crank until I
replace the 30 amp fuse in the engine compartment. I think there is a short
somewhere, but I have had no luck finding anything wrong. Any suggestions?
Thanks.



Substitute a 12 volt automotive tail lamp bulb for tha fuse and start
pushing, pulling and twisting any wires you can move while someone keeps
an eye on that bulb.

If as you "think" there IS an intermittant short someplace, the bulb
will light when that short shorts.

"Short" of that, look at the wiring diagram in the owner's manual and
see what's located downstream of that fuse and see if you can make sense
of what might be shorting out and causing it to blow.

HTH,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength."


Sounds like the Starter is drawing to many Amps thus blowing the
fuse.Hook up an Amp gauge in series and read amps while cranking engine
over.Should be aprox. half of the fuse amperage (up to 15 amps) if it's
working correctly.:-)


Have you EVER seen a fuse in series with a starter motor? I sure haven't
but I suppose anything's possible.

Though, 15 amps at 12 volts sure isn't likely to be enough to crank over
a 16.5 hp engine, is it?

What say you, Spec?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"Life is like a sewer -- what you get out of it depends on what you put
into it."