Exciting moments of life...

[Shari]

Well, we had a real exciting moment in life the other day.....

Son came over - conned him into bringing up some wood to stack by the front door. The system to do this includes a Craftsman riding mower & a Rubbermaid utility cart attached to mower.

Son attempted to start said mower. Mower only backfired on him. He called on Mom (me) to come out and give it a try.

I cranked it over. No go.

Tried again....... that's when it got interesting.....

Didn't start, shut off key, removed my foot from the clutch. Every "starting" action should have stopped.

It didn't.

Starter continued to crank and crank and crank and crank.

1. I shut the ignition off - this action should have stopped any attempt to start - it didn't - starter continued to crank and crank and crank.

2. I took my foot off the clutch - this action should also have stopped any attempt to start - it didn't - starter continued to crank and crank and crank.

3. I got off the seat which invoked the safety shut off switch - this action should also have stopped any attempt to start - it didn't - starter continued to crank and crank and crank.

4. Fearing an imminent fire, son ran to the garage to get tools to disconnect the battery.......

5. In the meantime, I pulled off all the ignition wires - this action should also have stopped any attempt to start - it didn't - starter continued to crank and crank and crank.

6. Removed 5 gallon gas can as a safety precaution as it was sitting within 3' of the mower.

7. Son returned with proper tools to disconnect the battery.

8. Battery was beginning to run down but we eventually got the battery disconnected - FINALLY the starter disengaged.

Let me say this: The mower was sitting on our covered patio but the fear of fire was in my mind. Two other snow removal items (gasoline powered) were sitting next to the mower.

So..... despite disengaging clutch, shutting off ignition switch, invoking the safety shut-off switch in the seat and pulling all ignition wires NOTHING stopped the starter until we got the battery disconnected.

I'm not really asking for a diagnosis of the problem (mower is going to the pros for repair) - I guess I'm just flabbergasted that none of the above items (other than disconnecting the battery) was able to stop the starter.

I was REALLY worried about the mower starting on fire. I know I looked 'up' at one time during this emergency and looked at the underside of our new patio roof thinking "Now, what's that going to cost to replace?"

BTW a stack of about 1-1/2 cord of wood was only about 8' away but the wood siding on our house was only about 4' away..........

 

[LLigetfa]

The starter solenoid got stuck. While the ignition switch and safety interlocks work to prevent energizing the solenoid, once stuck they no longer have any influence. Sounds like you need a new solenoid.

 

[oilstinks]

+1 solenoid 10-15 bucks around here.

 

[Shari]

Thanks for the replies - you guys make it sound such a casual thing but I will tell you I was hopping around trying to figure it out. I'm not necessarily mechanically inclined so I was glad our son was here to run for tools as all I could figure out was to disconnect power a.s.a.p. Hubby can't move to fast anymore and my concentration was on moving other gas powered equipment and a full 5 gallon gas can out of the way in case of a fire.

Hopefully repairs won't break the bank.

I've got a winch set up on my trailer and a hitch on the mower so loading it on the trailer to haul to the repair shop shouldn't be much of a job.

 

[Jags]

Shari - I know you say that you are not mechanically inclined, but a starter solenoid is VERY easy to change out. Two lugs and a connector.

 

[bpirger]

I bought a solenoid for my Craftsman not to long ago....pretty easy to find the part online too if you have the model number of your tractor unit. And very simple to change....you can do this.

In general, I have nothing but bad luck with my Craftsman tractor's electrical system....

 

[yooperdave]

Shari, I don't think you could have handled the problem any better. Sounds like you kept a cool head while removing as many "possible accidents" as you could. Good job! I guess the only other thing to do would have been to roll the mower outside-if there was nothing in the way, of course.

 

[fossil]

Yup, starter solenoid stuck. Disconnecting the battery was the most effective way to "safe" the thing...although a light smack on the solenoid with a hammer might have opened its contacts back up. All the rest of the stuff you did was good thinking, but all those safety features have to do with interrupting the ignition circuit, not the starting circuit. Glad it worked out...and has been said, a solenoid is a low dollar part and real easy to change out. Rick

 

[basod]

Throw it in gear, which ever way was out of the awning.

 

[Shari]

Hey, Jags - That does sound simple and something I could do - but - I've been having some 'shut off' issues with this mower....

First of all, this is a new-to-us-used mower - vintage is around 1997-2001 (somewhere in there). We have another Craftsman which is similar so I felt comfortable buying this used one last fall as I am familiar with our older Craftsman and I know how that one operates.

Shutdown procedure should be turn throttle (choke) all the way down, idle a bit and then shut the ignition off.

In order to shut this mower off, I have had to turn the throttle all the way down, idle a bit, turn off ignition and then bring the choke back up to the "Run" position before it will stop running. Basically I think I've been 'choking it' to kill it. Hope that description makes sense........

I was going to take it into the shop as I also have new blades that I want put on it and there is a slight (oil?) leak up front somewhere so the trip to the shop will hopefully address all these things.

Shari

 

[Shari]

I guess the only other thing to do would have been to roll the mower outside-if there was nothing in the way, of course.

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that - but - that would have rolled it right next to that 1-1/2 cord of (mostly seasoned) firewood - on the other side of that stack is where my splitter is stored and then there is another 1-1/2 cord of stacked firewood and then our boat.

Plus, since the engine wasn't running I would have had to quickly figure out how to get the tranny in neutral (there is a "rolling lockout" lever on the rear frame) and that is always a fiddle dee dee thing to get invoked.

 

[Shari]

PS The 'rolling lockout' lever I mentioned - this is a hydrostatic tranny.

 

[Jags]

Hey, Jags - That does sound simple and something I could do - but - I've been having some 'shut off' issues with this mower....

First of all, this is a new-to-us-used mower - vintage is around 1997-2001 (somewhere in there). We have another Craftsman which is similar so I felt comfortable buying this used one last fall as I am familiar with our older Craftsman and I know how that one operates.

Shutdown procedure should be turn throttle (choke) all the way down, idle a bit and then shut the ignition off.

In order to shut this mower off, I have had to turn the throttle all the way down, idle a bit, turn off ignition and then bring the choke back up to the "Run" position before it will stop running. Basically I think I've been 'choking it' to kill it. Hope that description makes sense........

I was going to take it into the shop as I also have new blades that I want put on it and there is a slight (oil?) leak up front somewhere so the trip to the shop will hopefully address all these things.

Shari

That is the ignition grounding wire, if I were a betting man. Probably off the back of the key switch to ground.

 

[Shari]

That is the ignition grounding wire, if I were a betting man. Probably off the back of the key switch to ground.

That is what I was thinking too - which is why I wasn't too delicate when I yanked the wires off the back of the ignition during this current instance.

 

[Jags]

That is the ignition grounding wire, if I were a betting man. Probably off the back of the key switch to ground.

That is what I was thinking too - which is why I wasn't too delicate when I yanked the wires off the back of the ignition during this current instance.

<snicker> - maybe it SHOULD go to the tractor doctor. <snicker>