1996 Toro 724 / 74140 seat bypass/parking break switch issues

Hey All-
I picked up a deal on an older 724 that wouldn't start. It looks like it is in the seat switch.

In trying to diagnose the issue, I was able to jump the seat bypass switch by jumping two orange wires together and then the 3 yellow wires together. It would start and drive, but the blades will only engage with the parking brake on, which obviously is an issue. If you disengage the brake, it kills the motor and then throws off the belt from the PTO.

The switch is $110 bucks and I'm told will take 3 weeks to get in. I know this forum doesn't approve of bypassing the switch, but I'm trying to trace down the issue without throwing $110 bucks out the door. Can someone help me narrow down if I also have a parking brake switch issue also? Does one of the yellow wires get left off when doing this?

Also, is there a source for an online manual? I need to drop the deck and get the blades off to get sharpened and it doesn't look all that easy.

Thanks!

Update...wiring issue fixed. Still trying to get this deck off!

Thanks a ton, I looked there but obviously didn't look hard enough. I appreciate your help!

StiffNeckRob said:

Thanks a ton, I looked there but obviously didn't look hard enough. I appreciate your help!

Click to expand...

The reason people on here find stuff you can not is because we search for it all the time. Search engines learn and they search for you better. I love googles tracking feature.:smile:

StiffNeckRob said:

Hey All-
I picked up a deal on an older 724 that wouldn't start. It looks like it is in the seat switch.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

:welcome:

THE SEAT SWITCH IS NOT IN THE STARTING CIRCUIT ON ANY MOWER EVER BUILT>
SO IT WILL NOT PREVENT THE MOWER FROM STARTING

And yes I AM shouting, I am screaming , I am shaking you violently and for your own good I just hope it sinks in.
If you stopped and thought about it for just 30 seconds it would have occurred to you tha service people have to be able to start & run engines to repair them and we can't do that sitting in the drivers seat.
Because you and 1/2 the adult male mower owng population insist on dissabling seat safety switches then go on to injure themselves , other people or send driverless mowers out into the traffic.
The courts have forced factories to make mower wiring horribly complicted so when clowns try & bypass the seat switch they end up with a non functioning mower, as you have there.


Now blood pressure tablets taking effect, bright red face reurning to its normal palid shade of grey I shall attempt to assist you sort out your mess.
the mower has 2 seperate safety circuits, one prevents the starter from cranking and the other shuts down the mower and or blades if there is no operator in the seat.

The cranking circuit is a daisy chain from the start switch through the PTO switch through the brake/ clutch switch through the neutral switch ( if it has one ) and through motion levers on ride ons to the trigger on the starter solenoid.
So any break in this circuit and the engine will not crank. It is there to protect the starter motor by ensuring there is no load on the engine during starting. This is a power circuit and will be + 12V all the way

The other circuits all kill the engine , they run in parallel and their can be up to 5 of them depending upon the mower
Seat + brake
Seat + PTO
PTO + Reverse
These are the 3 you have and one of them is shutting down your engine.and they are all ground circuits
To prevent people with no idea what they are doing playing with the wiring Toro use a few relays
So if a switch has been bypassed incorrectly one of the circuits will go to ground and kill the engine.

So start by undoing everything you have done already and tell us exactly what is happening when you turn the key
And be careful when playing with switches because if you cross wire the PTO switch or brake switch and send 12V down the magneto kill wire you will do exctly that, kill the ignition module for good

LOL...thanks for the concern. 2 jumper wires and it was fixed. IT INDEED was the seat switch. Using the Toro wiring diagram, its clear that the seat switch is in the running circuit. Previously owner didn't strap the seat down while trailering the mower and beat the switch all to heck. The contact wouldn't move properly. I never said I was permanently removing the switch. I was diagnosing the issue in order to identify the problem and then order the correct parts.

Now if I could just get this stupid deck off. The Toro provided manuals don't cover accessories such as decks.

Medications working much better today.
Must not have read your post properly.

Decks are fairly simple.
If it has a clip in a pin. pull the clip then the pin.
Sit the deck on some 2 x 4 flat side down & drop the deck lift that takes all the load of the mounting pins and will allow you to pull the deck out easily.
Usual exception to this rule is the front drawbar if it has one, there are oft bolted together with shouldered bolts to allow for pivoting.