Spent most of the day trying to diagnose the ride-on-mower starting problem during rain shower breaks.
Firstly I tried cranking the flywheel manually to ascertain whether the problem was engine related, but it cranked fine, if a bits stiffly, bearing in mind the compression.
Next I charged the battery to maximum to eliminate that problem, but to no avail. However, I did notice a slight squeal coming from the solenoid and believed that the be the source of the problem. It's located in the most inaccessible place imaginable, but an inspection didn't show any loose wires.
I found a new solenoid on t'internet from Germany for decent money and was about to purchase it when I had a brainwave. The solenoid is nothing more than a switch, so if I shorted the HT terminals and it cranked, then that would show it was indeed the solenoid. Nearly welded a screwdriver to the solenoid terminals in the process, but the result was the same - a starter motor click but no continued cranking. Back to the drawing board.
It could only be one of three things;
- A faulty starter motor,
- Pulling the drive spindle out to fit the belt round the pulley had jammed something, or
- The drive shaft nut had been tightened too much and there was too much resistance for the starter motor to overcome.
Then the rain set in for the day. Job for tomorrow, but if anyone has any bright ideas, they'd be most welcome to air them.
3 comments:
Don't rule out the starter motor brush gear. If you have disturbed the motor and the brushes are not sliding in their holders then they won't be contacting the commutator properly. Of course they might just be worn out.
I had another thought: If you nearly melted your screwdriver then there must be current flowing so it's doubtful if there are issues with the brushes. I don't suppose that you have had the cables off and connected the cable from the solenoid to the starter motor to the wrong terminal?
Give the starter a wack with a hammer, maybe the bendix is stuck in the starter ring. 2 Hand turn the engine over make sure its not siezed. 3 take a video of it with the volume up and send it to me on whats app.. you can often tell from the noise it is making
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