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John Deere L120 -- not charging

15 years ago

This mower gives JD a bad name. Nothing but troubles. Battery seems to drain while mowing. Bought a new battery and it lasted a week. After mowing 45 min. to an hour, the mower spits and sputters when trying to mow in reverse with the override button pushed. When this happens, if you shut the blades off, they will not start back up. If the mover is shut off, will not even attempt to turn over. In addition, now the engine starts to spit and sputter after mowing for a while and eventually stops running. Not sure is this is related or not. Had not problems mowing for 4 hours straight when new battery was installed 1 week ago now it is back to all kinds of issues? Starter? Coil? Any ideas? About ready to drive off of a cliff!

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Comments (5)

bill_kapaun
15 years ago
A charging issue has nothing to do with the tractor brand, starter motor or coil!
IF the battery is running down, the engine is eventually going to quit when the carb fuel solenoid quits working due to low voltage.

You need to address the charging issue on the ENGINE!
whitetail1234
Original Author
15 years ago
Good idea, why didn't I think of that? I guess when I replaced the desk spindles and pulleys, front wheel spindles, and the transmission earlier this year, I should of blamed Briggs and Stratton! I understand that this particular issue may not be the fault of John Deere but surely you can understand my frustration with this mower. If I wanted to spend more time at the parts store than mowing my yard, I would of bought a MTD. Now, any advice on how to diagose the charging issue that I face?
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I had the same issue with my L120. PTO started going in and out and finally died while mowing. I was not able to get the blades to spin in reverse, but if I did get off the seat the mower would start as the engine cut out. Most people mention ground wire. I went to the front of the tractor and looked at the PTO. There is a wire harness on top of it with 3 wires. 1 hot and 2 ground. I pulled the connector off and found one ground wire was not connected anymore. It looked like the two black ground wires are crimped into the connector together. I soldered the 2 black wires together and everything works fine now.
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bill_kapaun
15 years ago
Do you have a volt meter?
IF so, check the voltage across the battery with-
Engine off
Engine at high speed
Engine at high speed with lights, PTO etc. on.
Everything off should be 12.6 VDC.
With engine running & full electrical load, it should be 13-14ish volts DC.
Also switch meter to AC to see if there is any ACV present. There shouldn't be.

IF you don't have 13-14 DCV across the battery at high speed, do the following-
Disconnect the plug to the Voltage regulator and measure the ACV between the 2 Yellow?(non Red) wires. Depending on the charge system used, there should be something like 28 or 40 VAC MINIMUM. NOTE- That's AC Volts.
IF you have the proper AC voltage, the alternator is OK and the problem lies with the voltage regulator or wiring.
whitetail1234
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes, I do have a volt meter. Thank you for your suggestions. I will try them tomorrow. Funny how mowers work. Charged the battery for 30 minutes tonight and mowed, without issue, for 2 1/2 hours. Thanks again.
engine_tech
15 years ago
If the charging system is good, you might want to check the amp draw on the PTO clutch. They normally pull 3-5 amps. If going out, they could pull more than the charging system puts out (around 15 amps).

How many hours does your L120 have? Just curious given the parts you've had to replace.

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