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I am having problems with my mower. I have to jump it across the solenoid to start it. This is not a big deal. The problem is that the battery does not stay up enough to start it, I put a new battery and cables on it last month. It started okay for a few weeks but now barely turns and won't start due to this. I try jump starting it and still the same problem. Is there another way I can get it to start by bypassing the battery and jumping it off? I am going to exchange the battery again tomorrow. This will be the third battery over since the end of March. I have had it on a trickle charge overnight but still not enough battery to start it. the trickle charger light continues to show that it is charging. In previous weeks it has charged and the light has gone off and I could start it.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. There is a thin black wire that has come off of somewhere, over the last weeks, so I can no longer use the key switch to start it. I pulled the ignition switch and found all wires in that harness to be okay. Being an old mower, I don't mind jumping off of the solenoid now. I have tried hooking up jumper cables directly to the red and black battery cables, unattached from the battery, but still don't get enough power to start the mower, just a slow turn.

Thanks!

Well the first thing to do is post the model number of the engine, it does matter. I doubt you have gotten that many bad batteries even if you got them from Walmart.

Where does that black wire come from? You aren't giving us much to go on.

Walt Conner

The model number off of the engine plate is as follows: Model 422707. I have the Type and Code numbers also if necessary. The black wire that has come loose, is part of the keyed ignition switch harness. I just don't see where the other end hooks up to. That would solve my ignition switch problem it looks like.

The battery is still the main concern. I doubt that I should be going through batteries once a month. There is another problem with it causing these batteries to drain so quickly. I usually have to replace the battery yearly, so that I am used to. I buy remanufactured batteries for it. I have used them for years with no problems

I didn't make it to the battery store today but will go on Friday,

Thanks for the help. Any ideas on how to correct this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

What is the model # of your mower?

Difficulty turning over is a common complaint with this series of engine. Since you have replaced the battery and cables cable connections should not be a problem you did clean where the ground cable connects to the frame? There is good ground connection between the engine and frame? I am skeptical of "reconditioned" batteries.

I have a list of the most common causes of difficulty with starting these engines IF you would like them, address below, put proper format and remind me engine model number and what you want.

Walt Conner
wconner5 at frontier dot com

I have absolutely no idea what the model number of the mower itself is. I bought the mower used years ago and the tags were missing then. I can post pictures of the mower if that would help.

Thanks!

The briggs opposed twin engines because of their energy to crank them over, and they not quite big enough starter had a habit of creating a weak starter over time. Where the starter would crank the engine, but just no fast enough to start the engine. After checking and cleaning all the wire terminals, then you may have to consider replacing the starter.

Thanks! I have replaced the starter from another old mower I have but still have the same issue. I just exchanged the battery so I will see what happens.

Thanks again!

If your tractor battery goes dead over time, try checking your alternator, because it might be bad. If the battery goes dead while driving, your alternator's toast. Also try running the tractor and getting an Volt reader on the alternator wires, which come out of the top of the engine.

You said there was a black wire near the engine that was disconnected, right? That might be your coil wire; I would check if there's a thin black wire attached to the coil, you're good. If there isn't, that might be a problem. When my coil wire was disconnected, the engine wouldn't start or shut off.

Tractorkid1250 said:

If your tractor battery goes dead over time, try checking your alternator, because it might be bad. If the battery goes dead while driving, your alternator's toast. Also try running the tractor and getting an Volt reader on the alternator wires, which come out of the top of the engine.

You said there was a black wire near the engine that was disconnected, right? That might be your coil wire; I would check if there's a thin black wire attached to the coil, you're good. If there isn't, that might be a problem. When my coil wire was disconnected, the engine wouldn't start or shut off.

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:welcome::welcome::welcome::welcome:
Your enthusiasm is greatly welcome.
However if you look at the left side of the green bar at the top of each post, you will see the date it was posted, in the case of this thread it was May 22 2015.
So this is a dead thread

What generally happens is people post till the problem is fixed then simply vanish.
In the case of this thread it would appear that the OP had a bad battery as the last time he posted we said he was about to change the battery.

Secondly there is only 1 forum but to make it easy to navigate they have broken it up into sections .
Posting the same thing ( or very similar things ) in different places becomes confusing.
The site is actively monitored and if post goes unanswered fro a few days Cath or Mumhamid will shift it.
Most regular contributors use the "since my last visit" search ( drop down from the grey "new posts" icon ) to keep on top of what has been posted.