Snapper Zero Turn Mower Shutting Down

HogWild

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Hello, and thanks for letting me join the forum!

I have a Snapper Zero Turn Radius mower model ZT18440KH. It's been a very good mower for me. It's about 7 yrs old and still running on the original battery (believe it or not).

I just replace the fuel pump, the inline gas filter, and the gas pickup line inside the tank. Mower fired right up afterwards. So I pulled out of the shed and stared mowing. A couple of minutes later while mowing away it all the sudden dies.......just like you turned the key off. Hmmm.

I turned the key off, put the brake back on, disengaged the blades, and put the handles back in the parked position and tried to start it.......nothing. Wow, I checked a few things and tried again and it started right up. No need to choke like after running out of gas.

So I mowed for a couple of minutes and it died exactly the same way. Possibly the blades are shutting off right before the mower dies, not sure, so it could be all happening at once. After it dies the it seems the the power is disconnected somewhere......turning the key does nothing. Then something resets, or reconnects, and it runs perfectly.

So is something overheating then reseting or do I have an intermittent short or what? Not sure how to go about troubleshooting an electrical issue (and I believe it is electrical). Any advise or have you seen something like this before?

Appreciate the help!!
 

HogWild

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BTW, the Snapper has an 18HP Koehler engine if that helps.
 

HogWild

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Update.

I hadn't tried this mower since yesterday. Just started it and mowed for nearly 3minutes before it cut out. Waited 30 seconds or so and it restarted. This time mowed for about 1 minute before it cut out. Afterwards, it would only run for about 30 seconds before cutting out. Each time something "resets" in about 30 seconds and then I can restart it. If I try the key too early, nothing (just like the battery is dead or disconnected).

So it's almost like something heats up then disconnects a circuit........then reconnects after colling off.
 

jeff

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Solenoid gettig hot and breaking down.
 

HogWild

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That's a possibility Jeff. Have you seen one act similarly when the starter solenoid is going out? I assume it shorts to ground inside the solenoid after it gets hot?
 

jeff

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I have seen this happen. Remember that all of the hot leads are somehow attached as are some grounds, especially the grounds for the safety system. I would test this by first checking for 12v at the small wire, the for 12v going to the starter.
 
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