Try reversing the leads of the meter to see if it shows "no resistance" no matter which way the leads are connected. Some of these PTO clutches feature a diode in the clutch wiring. The diode (if present) is to shunt high voltage "spikes" to ground. If a diode is part of the clutch, and the clutch is GOOD, you will read "no resistance" connecting the meter leads in one configuration, and when you switch the leads (polarity reversal), you will read the true Ohms value of the clutch coil windings. The Ohms value seen should be near the range of 2.4 Ohm and 2.9 Ohm. Anything much greater than 2.9 implies poor continuity through the windings. Anything much less than 2.4 implies "a short" to ground. If a diode is featured in the clutch, and the diode "shorts out", it will give the same Ohm reading (no resistance) as a shorted coil winding. Are you disconnecting the clutch wires from the chassis harness to access the terminals of the connector? Simply slipping the meter probes into the connector while it is still plugged to the chassis side harness will give a false reading.

Hey folks, so I'm posting this follow up in my original thread because I think I have a related problem. Last year, I replaced the PTO drive belt and the mower blade drive belts on my inherited JD STX 38 Yellow Deck. Today I took the mower out (NOT the first time this season) and had some serious issues. First of all, the grass is tall - 18-24 inches. I had the mower height set to the tallest height. The grass may have also been slightly damp - although not wet. I was able to cut basically one path, then I realized that although the PTO was engaged, the blades weren't cutting the grass. I was going at the slowest speed (first gear) and even tried cutting using only 1/2 of the mower deck width at a time - no help. I took the mower back to my driveway, cleared out lots of old clumped grass from the blades, and started the mower and the PTO. The blades were definitely turning. I turned off the mower again, and noticed that the PTO drive belt is looking terrible - it's all pitted and slack - it's not tight around the PTO shaft! So, my theory is this: the PTO drive belt is shot again (Although not broken yet) - so the blade spin when I'm not trying to cut anything, but when I come in contact with any sort of grass of substance, the slack belt is "slipping" and resulting in the blades not cutting? Does this make sense? Solution: replace the belt AGAIN???? A few more things to note: 1) I tried cutting shorter grass and drier grass and had very little luck. 2) why would my PTO drive belt, just replaced a year ago, be so shredded already? That's worrisome... any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

***"sometimes when trying to reengage the PTO or engage the transmission it will kill the engine"*** Sounds like it may be related to a safety interlock switch, or a relay that is part of the safety interlock circuitry. Is your PTO hydraulic, controlled by a solenoid valve? If that is the case, a defective solenoid valve might be overheating to the point of "going open" or even "shorting out" after it has been energized for the 20 to 30 minutes of operation. But, sometimes relays can act up when they are overloaded by too much current draw when they get old, or, if the device they are controlling develops too much resistance or "shorts out". When the engine "kills", will the engine crank right back up? or does it act like the battery is weak or dead?

RD, you are talking apples & oranges here sir. 425 & 445 features a gear type PTO system where the PTO shaft emerges from the front of the rear axle case to power a gear driven MMM deck. Markwisz, you see smoke coming from the two wires that go into the rear axle housing. You have located the wires that power the PTO solenoid. Most likely the solenoid has shorted internally and will have to be replaced. The fact that you see smoke might be proof that the solenoid coil wiring (which is very small wire size) has shorted and burned up. But, it might also indicate that the OEM fuse for that circuit has been replaced with a larger ampacity fuse. Whatever you find regarding the burned out PTO solenoid, please double check to confirm that the fuse has been been replaced with a higher capacity fuse. Fuses are meant to fail when an electrical short or overload occurs. That fact makes me wonder why you are seeing smoke as the second indicator (mower quit being the first) of trouble instead of finding a blown fuse, and that fuse blows again and again when you replace it.??? It could be that the wires that are smoking are too small to blow the fuse in the particular place of the coil the short occurred, but it could be due to a heavier than spec fuse having been put in place at an earlier time (time bomb). Here is a link that might be useful: 425 PTO solenoid