Craftsman will not run own its own power

14 years ago

Hey Guys, I've been reading this forum for a while now, and fixing up a Craftsman 917.272960 GT 20hp Kohler that was given to me. The owner said among other problems, that the tractor would not charge itself. I fixed all the other problems, (thanks to this forum), but I still have the charging issues. I got a new battery and the tractor ran fine for two mowings. Then when I went to start it, I got nothing. The solenoid and ignition key looked old so I replaced them. I checked all the wires and took off the ground on the frame and cleaned it up. I replaced the spark plugs and 30amp fuse while I was at it. I then hooked up one of those jumper boxes and the engine started right up. It sounds like its running fine. Not clunking or backfiring. I let the engine run for about 10min, then took the cables from the jumper box off. The engine ran for about 30 seconds, then died. I then tried it again, same deal. I ran it full throttle per other posts advice. I checked the wires again and reviewed the manual wiring schema. I discounted the two wires from the PTO and ran it for another 10 min, same results, discount the jumper box and it dies. I took apart the PTO switch on the dash, cleaned the connections and tried again, same deal.

1.I mainly want to know, which wire supplies power to recharge the battery so I can test it. I donÂt have ampmeter with a read out of amps , but I do have a meter that tells me if power is flowing or not.

2. Also the dash has a meter on it, Ive seen it move a little bit below zero while the PTO engages, but have never seen it go above zero. When these tractors are functioning normal and started should I see a reading on the upper side of 10.?

3. Any tips and tricks of anything else I could rule out?

Thanks

Jim

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Comments (8)

jimma406
Original Author
14 years ago
PS I also took all the connectors apart and cleaned them , they all look solid.
rustyj14
14 years ago
A battery is called, was called, back in the "olden days", a storage battery! (Yeah, i'm that old!)
By that, it meant the battery would store up the electrical current produced by a generator (back then-alternator now). Still works that way!
If your battery is fully charged, more or less, it should turn the starter, asnd start the engine.
So, if you install a fully charged battery, and the charging system is working properly, it will have enough power to turn over the engine with the starter, and make it run. And keep on doing it.
Consequently, if your charging system is not putting out enough power, or none at all, that battery will eventually run out of power, and you won't get it started! Until you recharge it. The fact of the dash meter never going above zero tells me your charging system is not working!
Things that keep it from doing this are: Dirty ground connection at the frame bolt, rust usually does that. Rusty flywheel magnets, and ignition coil legs rusty, mouse nests under the engine shroud, wires eaten off by mousies, Wiring insulation eaten off by mousies! Or a bad charging diode! That wire comes out from under the engine shroud on a B&S, and has a thicker section in it which is the diode. I'm not well informed on Kohler, as i get few of them to repair.
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***"I'm assuming you meant the white wire that comes off the ignition switch. That correct?"*** stocks, are you saying that you checked the WHITE wire.....at the key switch? and with the WHITE wire still connected to the key switch? ? What I said was, "Disconnect the small white wire from the starter solenoid, connect the volt meter red lead to this wire and the other lead to a good ground on the frame or engine...................." If you did not DISCONNECT the WHITE wire at the solenoid, you have not done an accurate evaluation of the solenoid or wiring....yet. The white wire on the key switch travels through the clutch/brake pedal switch AND the PTO switch on its way to the starter solenoid. To add another twist to that, the seat switch influences the PTO switch decision too. So there are 3 switches that affect the starter solenoid operation besides the key switch itself. You have to disconnect the white wire AT THE SOLENOID and do the test on the loose end of that wire, then report back. I'm reluctant to condemn the key switch until I know you are doing the test right down to the letter. If you want, I can reconfigure the tests into a more concise, step X step "flow chart" that you can print and carry to the tractor. Then you can go down the chart and decide what's next as you do the tests. Post back please.
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jimma406
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Rusty. I've been avoiding taking off the shroud because of all the stuff attached to it. There was a family of mice living in the engine when i pulled this thing out of the mud. I will take off the shroud and see what I got under there. I was able to get it to stay running and charge the battery a little, but I think its not engough to keep the batt fully charged during normal usage. Thanks Again. Ill post back when I find out whats going on for other peoples info..
bill_kapaun
14 years ago
According to the owners manual, you have a 15 AMP system.
http://www.managemyhome.com/mmh/lis_pdf/OWNM/L0101027.pdf

You can download a service manual from the Kohler website to troubleshoot the CHARGING system.

In a nutshell, there are 2 Yellow wires coming from under the shroud.
You should have somethinhg like 28 VAC minimum when the wires are disconnected from the Voltage Regulator.
EXACT VALUE WILL BE IN THE SERVICE MANUAL. sOME SYSTEMS HAVE A HIGHER MINIMUM, SO CHECK TO BE SURE.

IF you have the required minimum AC volts, then check the output of the Voltage regulator. It should be around 14V DC.
NOTE- some readings are AC and some are DC!

With the engine quitting after a few seconds, I venture to guess the battery is totally dead. The fuel shut off solenoid probably works for a bit from the initial charge the battery received while being jumped. After a short time, that is used up and the fuel solenoid disengages, shutting off the fuel.

I'd also suggest charging the existing battery and having it tested.
mownie
14 years ago
Good to see bill kapaun posting again. I was some concerned by your "absence". I hope all is well.
jimma406
Original Author
14 years ago
Ok I took off the shroud and think I found my problem. The terminal on one of the magneto was completely broken off. So only one magneto was intact and working.
jgreissi
14 years ago
Sounds like you will be up and running with a magneto repair. As far as the charging circuit goes - the mice are definately suspect here as I have had occasion to clean more than one mouse nest out from under a flywheel where your charging happens. The mouse nest can also cause an overheating condition where the magnets inside of the flywheel that are part of the charging system delaminate and no longer spin with the flywheel. The mice may also have chewed the alternator all to h-e-double hockey sticks!
jimma406
Original Author
14 years ago
I got the new magneto in and fully charged my battery. Also had to replace a few wires while i had the shroud off. I ran the mower for about 30 min today with no problems. However I'm still on the fence if this is my only problem. Running I read about 2 to 3 amps on the dash ammeter, when the PTO is engaged, it drops to zero. I hope the PTO is not bad :(

Craftsman will not run own its own power

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jimma406
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Craftsman will not run own its own power

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