Riding Lawnmower Won't Start? - Think Solenoid
If you lift the engine cowling and look to the rear of the engine you will see the solenoid. The positive (red) and negative (black) battery wires will be attached to it at heavy posts as well as some other electrical wires connected to smaller posts. First try gently tapping it with a rubber mallet. Sometimes this electromagnetically activated switch gets stuck. If that doesn't work, you can try jumping the solenoid switch. The safest way is to take your battery jumper cables and using just one of the jumper wires, connect one side to the negative post (black) on the solenoid and then touch the other side to the positive post (red) of the solenoid. Make sure your key is in the on position and the lawn mower is otherwise ready to start. Be careful that the jumper wires do not become tangled as the engine starts. Also, someone sitting in the seat to prevent any mishap is the recommended and safest procedure.
CAUTION - this will immediately engage the starter and the lawnmower may start and begin running if the problem is the solenoid. Use extreme caution as this process may cause sparks. NOTE: It may disengage any safety devices on your mower so insure that the mower is not in gear and the blades are not engaged. How the safety devices are configured on each make, model and size of lawnmowers is a bit different. The object is just to isolate the solenoid and determine the problem. If the starter engages and the engine starts to turn over, you have discovered the problem and may not have to continue to crank the engine and start it. It only takes a momentary touch to determine if the solenoid is faulty.
I became aware of this possibility when having a problem with my lawn mower at the same time a local mechanic was fixing my car in our driveway. When he noted my problem, he came over and stated that the clicking sound associated with my lawnmower not starting was probably caused by a faulty solenoid if the battery was indeed fully charged. I watched him connect the single jumper cable, bypass the solenoid and like magic the mower started. He further advised that a solenoid was an inexpensive repair part and could easily be replaced. A trip to Home Depot where the solenoid was readily available for a few dollars followed by about an hour of work to install it resulted in success. I had changed the solenoid and the mower has performed well ever since. I saved a considerable sum of money and time as well as acquiring some knowledge that is worth passing on.
If you are not mechanically inclined or have any misgivings about this process - don't do it! The object of this article is to provide information and my experiences. One can confirm and supplement this information by making Internet searches about lawnmower starting difficulties and see similar experiences concerning solenoid problems as well as other information that may be helpful.
Published by Clark Richards
Clark Richards is a retired soldier, business owner and teacher that has traveled extensively throughout Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. View profile
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23 Comments
Post a CommentWhy does my stater smoke?Simplicity 6212
I have a Poulan 42 inch cut with a 17 hp Briggs I used it last week with no problems at all I go to get it out to cut grass today and bam at first it turned over and made a loud pop and then It want turn over so I checked the battery fully charged so I decided to check solenoid with my jumper cables still want turn over so I took the plug out to see if it will turn over and yes it spins what could be going on Its full of oil and fresh gas Thanks Mike
mice ate up all ing.wiring replaced all wiring and new key switch with a 12v test light on pos .post of batt i turn key to start test lite goes out indicating loss of power removed starter and bench tested starter and bendex engage could it be solonid or wiring doubled checked wiring from key switch to starter all good any suggestions
i've replaced the battery, starter, solenoid and the ignirtion switch. when i turn the key nothing happens, no clicks, grinding, no humming. originally it needed a new battery, and my father jumped it from his truck. it ran until i turned it off and now i get nothing at all. i'm no expert, but i think the oversized truck battery fried something, but no idea what is left to check.
To many people are quick to blame the selenoid wich is wrong to asume most of all cases its as simple as a bad connection. If the selenoid click very rapidly its a dead battery or bad connection,however if you turn the switch to start and it clicks and makes a high pitch wining noise there can be two choices. One is if you have a compression relief engine this is faulty, or on most briggs engines the valves need to be adjusted causing it not to release compression at the right time therefore not letting them open to release compression. On most briggs and ltd mowers there is no specific gap to set them they just need to be retightened.
that's wrong you wont have a red and black on wire it's red wire from the positive post of battery on heavy post and the red wire on the starter on the other side, once the key is turned on and clicked over it energizes the coil creating an electro maganet pulling up a upside down T shaft thus touching the two post completing the circuit.
my starter want get any fir to it to turn the lawn mower over
I have a Brigg 18 hp, riding mower. Replaced starter but starter continues to drag.
Carroll - it turns fast with plug out because u have reduced the compression making it easier for the battery to turn it over - even with a new battery, sometimes the cranking amps are not sufficient if the engine has a high compression. If it has been working check the amps of new battery against the old one. u could also put some thinner oil in the mower - try slick-50 oil. I assume u have fresh gas and that the spark plug is working properly.
my mower will not turn over fast it bumps over and then turns about a half round it turns fast with the plug out the battery is new