bad battery, solenoid, or starter?

jschendel

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I have a Craftsman riding mower with a Kohler Pro Courage 26 HP engine. Has been quite the workhorse and very dependable for five years now. Have not started it for 2 months now and today it wont start. Used my jumper cables off my car to crank it up...she started and runs just fine. Disconnected the jumber cables and engine shuts off. Connected battery charger for a couple of hours, tested battery charge...all is good, but it still wont start on its own (no crank). Connected jumper from mower battery to starter and I see a small spark, but nothing else. Tried same thing from car batter, same result. I attempted to jump-start from my car once more...she fires up but as soon as I disconnect the cables, mower shuts off. What gives? Is this a bad batter, solenoid, or starter? :frown:
 

BKBrown

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Not sure without more info, but sounds like dead cell in battery. How did you test the battery after the charge ?
 

jschendel

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With my standard voltage meter...
Another observation, when I test the battery with the key in off position, it holds steady at just under 12V. But with the key in the on position, the voltage pulsates; much like a heart beat. Does that mean anything?
 

ILENGINE

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with a fully charged reading of under 12v the battery is bad. What is happening is when you use the jumper cables to start it that is were it gets it power, but when you disconnect the cables the battery drops below 12v and shuts off the voltage regulator (required 12v input to operate) voltage then drops below 9v which shuts off fuel solenoid on carb causing engine to die.
 

jschendel

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Problem solved! Went out and got a new battery, and viola! she fired right up. The technician tested the battery, said it was holding at 11.8V but was not accepting a charge. He also said the internal temp was registering unusually high (87*F). Either way, "not-so-old faithful" is purring once again. Thanks for your help! :biggrin:
 

BKBrown

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Glad to know it is solved -- I suspected the battery !
 
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