Any riding lawnmower gurus?

[hlb3]

I am totally stumped on what is wrong with my POS riding lawnmower. It is a late 90's/early 2000 Scott's 1742 (rebadged John Deere) with a 17hp Briggs motor.

Tried to get it out the other day to mow and it won't start, the starter isn't wanting to turn freely. So I took it off and pulled it apart and the magnets were all cracked and broken. So I get a new starter, put it on, still won't start. The solenoid just sits there and clicks, when the starter does turn over a little bit, it hardly moves. So I order a new starter solenoid, put that on, POS is still doing the same thing.

If I unbolt the starter and try it, it spins and works fine, but as soon as I bolt it back up, it acts up. I have no clue what else to do with the damn thing. Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[crazybluerider1]

I am totally stumped on what is wrong with my POS riding lawnmower. It is a late 90's/early 2000 Scott's 1742 (rebadged John Deere) with a 17hp Briggs motor.

Tried to get it out the other day to mow and it won't start, the starter isn't wanting to turn freely. So I took it off and pulled it apart and the magnets were all cracked and broken. So I get a new starter, put it on, still won't start. The solenoid just sits there and clicks, when the starter does turn over a little bit, it hardly moves. So I order a new starter solenoid, put that on, POS is still doing the same thing.

If I unbolt the starter and try it, it spins and works fine, but as soon as I bolt it back up, it acts up. I have no clue what else to do with the damn thing. Anybody have any suggestions?

Have you tried turning the engine by hand? Maybe it's locked up.

 

[hlb3]

Engine does turn by hand.

 

[ain'tstuckjustresting]

Like Darren said, make sure it turns over freely by hand. Then I'd jump the starter solenoid to see if it cranks over. There are so many interlocks & safety switches on those mowers you could be getting a weak signal to the solenoid.

 

[hlb3]

I'll give that a try.

I also found a video last night about adjusting the valves on the engine. The mower they were showing was doing something similar to mine, so I think I will give that a shot too.

 

[boxboy]

My rider the key switch acts up on me all the time acts like the battery is dead sounds like its hard to turn over I have to wiggle the key switch and it starts working normal...

 

[mark]

X2 on jump the starter. If it cranks just fine then the problem is in the wiring and interlock switches. Remember there is one on the clutch/brake pedal, one under the seat, and I'm sure a couple others if its a manual "transmission"....

 

[woodsrat]

I had this problem with mine a few years ago. Kept it simple and replaced the battery. It'll have just enough current to turn the starter without a load but when it engages the motor there's too much internal resistance in the battery and won't spin the engine to start it. Try jumping it or charging it, should start.

 

[hlb3]

Battery was fully charged. Tried hooking it to my deep cycle boat battery and got the same results.

 

[hlb3]

Got it running. I tested a few more electrical things and jumped the solenoid and it still wouldn't turn over all the way. I pulled the spark plug and tried it and it cranked just fine. So I pulled the valve cover and adjusted the valves. Put it back together and it fired right up.

Apparently when the valves get out of adjustment the pressure in the cylinder gets too high and the starter doesn't have enough torque to turn the engine over. Never would have thought to check that, so I am glad I found the video on YouTube.

 

[JOOP]

I picked up a Husky a few months ago for free.Non running. Had kind of the same symptoms as yours. I ended up cleaning the magnetos, new plugs, new starter solenoid and battery. I could get it running but only by jumping the starter solenoid but the battery kept going dead. Finally took the switch apart cleaned all the contacts and now it starts and runs like a champ. Pic for reference

 

[zukkev]

I've also got a scott's S1742 Les! :redneck:
...Just went through and rewelded the deck around the right spindle, and replaced the deck belt last week. Screw the factory starter solenoid...weak as hell!
I wired in a Ford solenoid when I first got the mower and it wouldn't start unless I jump the terminals at the solenoid...The ford solenoid has Way better contacts, and better continuity under load! 8bux! I ran the factory battery that was in it (dated 1999!!!), after I charged it up. That was four years ago! I just put a new battery in it this yr, as it would not hold a charge after it sat overnight. Also ended up putting two rear tires on it this yr too, as the originals would not hold air for an entire mow session! :haha: Beauty was I grabbed a couple 20x10x8 from a local mower shop for $40 that were very lightly used! The originals were 20x8x8...So I gained 2" width, better flotation! :redneck:

 

[hlb3]

The decks on these things suck. I had to pretty much rebuild the deck on mine last summer. I kept throwing throwing the belt, turns out the right spindle was about to fall off, it only had about 1/4" of material left holding it to the deck, the other side had a ton of cracks around it too. I rewelded everything and added gussets or extra material where I could.

 

[zukkev]

Yep, they do suck! not two weeks go by after fixing up the deck as mentioned prior... and I am mowing, get about 2/3 through the day's mow, and end up finding a chunk of wood the dogs left out in the yard with the left blade, well...it stopped the blade, and ripped the spindle out of the deck!
Fortunately there was a mower shop not far away that happened to have a complete deck in really decent shape, and the new belt and blades i had just bought weren't damaged...had her back up and running in about 2 hrs, including picking up the deck, and picking/cutting out the entire spool of bailing twine that was wrapped around the new deck's spindles.....:haha:

 

[hlb3]

That's good you were able to get a replacement deck. Was it for a Scott's or were you able to fit one from another mower?

I went new mower shopping before i got ours fixed. I'm not too impressed with any of the new mowers, anything in the $1000-$1500 range had no features or shitty cheapo Chinese motors. Anything decent was $2000+, which isn't going to happen.

 

[82toyomud]

You can find used John Deere LX series mowers for under $1000 that will have another 5-8 years of life left in them.

 

[japerry]

You can find used John Deere LX series mowers for under $1000 that will have another 5-8 years of life left in them.

This. I picked up a 1996 LX176 back in 2008 for $600. I've done oil changes, belts, blades and thats it. Runs like a champ and I hope it lasts a few more years!

 

[zukkev]

That's good you were able to get a replacement deck. Was it for a Scott's or were you able to fit one from another mower?

I went new mower shopping before i got ours fixed. I'm not too impressed with any of the new mowers, anything in the $1000-$1500 range had no features or shitty cheapo Chinese motors. Anything decent was $2000+, which isn't going to happen.

Sorry Les, yeah, it was the EXACT deck! :awesomework:
I spoke our local Deere dealer, and apparently the L120 series decks can be modded to fit under the scotts, basically the deck is the same, but the mounting tabs on the scotts deck needs moved over and welded to the deer deck,

 

[hlb3]

Nice, that is good information to have!

 

[hlb3]

Pulled the blades for their annual sharpening, I think they are toast.