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My battery was not charging as the mower ran so I checked out the stator and I am not getting any voltage (AC) from the stator leads. So I replaced the stator thinking it was bad, but now I am only getting 13.2 volts from the new stator...and after a few minutes, the voltage from the stator dropped to 8. The manual tells me to disconnect the stator leads from the regulator, but if I do not have them attached to the regulator while I am measuring voltage, I get no reading. Any ideas why this is?

The mower is a craftsman command cv491 18hp

With the regulator disconnected from the stator, you will be reading AC volts. Is your meter set to read ACv?

Yeah I did have the leads disconnected from the regulator and I had the multimeter set to AC volts, I wasn't getting anything.

Voltage regulator?

If your not getting voltage output to the regulator, the regulator is probably not the problem. Here is a manual for your engine which will tell tell you how to test the stator.

http://www.mymowerparts.com/pdf/Koh...13-CV14-CV15-CV16-CV460-CV465-CV490-CV495.pdf

Sorry I should have been more clear. I wasn't trying to test the regulator. I did test the stator according to the manual. I measured .3 ohms between the stator leads and I got an open reading when testing each stator lead to ground. So I know at this point that I do not have a short. The stator passes all tests except for the voltage test where I know I should be seeing 28 volts or more and I get 0 volts when testing across the stator leads.

Stator bad, needs to be replaced.

This is actually a brand new stator that I just put on, but of course that doesn't mean that I didn't get a defective stator. Is it at all possible that it is the flywheel?

Do you have a 3 Amp or 15 Amp stator? Remember that they have different testing procedures and should give you different results. Biggest problem while testing is getting a good ground connection on you meter. Before we say that the new stator is bad, let's double check, which system we have, which set of testing procedures we used, the results we got. Hate to put you through this again, but we must be sure that we did everything right, because around here all electrical components are non returnable.

I do have the 15 amp stator and I did a double check to make sure I followed the correct troubleshooting procedure from the manual. I used the negative post on the battery for a ground and also another ground bolt near the carb for the tests....just to make sure I got a consistent result. It's making me think it's the flywheel because I would think that I would at least get some voltage from the stator, even if it's very little, but I get zero volts. I hope I didn't just waste $60 on a new stator when possibly my old stator was just fine and it possibly be the flywheel that was the cause.

Highly doubt it is the flywheel, but it could happen. I would take the stator off and make sure that the areas where it contacts the engine (ground) is extremely clean and bolts tight. Check the stator tests 3a & 3b with the stator off the engine. Also, don't want to get smart, but I have had people install it upside down.

Ok, thanks I will do those things tomorrow and report back. However, for test 3b. doesn't the stator have to be bolted to the motor or is that incorrect?

Use the stator frame as ground.

ok, i did the same tests with the stator off of the mower and got the exact same results. i looked at the underside of the flywheel and i didnt see any magnets. are they supposed to be glued to the underside of the flywheel or are they inside of thr flywheel itself?

Magnets are on the inside of the flywheel, most of the time cast into it. Take a screw driver and test. Are you using an analog or digital volt meter. Analog may not be able to read below 1ohm accurately. Reading across the two stator leads should be around .1-.2 ohms. Infinity is bad. When you test resistance for one stator lead to ground infinity is good, any reading is bad. Do this with each lead separately.

yeah i did all of those tests and all passed. i also took a screwdriver and touched it to the inside of the flywheel, there was no magnetizing. also i am using a digital multimeter

If all the tests on the stator passed, stators good. If you have no magnetism on the inside of the flywheel, that's bad. Sorry for making you do all those test over again, I just didn't think it would be the flywheel. I can't believe it, I can count on less than one hand all the flywheels that I have replaced because they lost their magnetism, in the last forty years. I suggest that you start calling all the repair shops and bone yards looking for a used one. New ones are expensive.

thats ok. i appreciate you taking the time to help me. usually for me, its the worse case scenario when it comes to something being broken

I am curious as to the settings on your VOM. You said it is set to AC v, but what voltage setting is it at?

The lowest setting possible on my multimeter, which is 200. However, the flywheel is undoubtedly the problem.

Truckdriver09 said:

The lowest setting possible on my multimeter, which is 200. However, the flywheel is undoubtedly the problem.

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If that is 200 mv, it is not the correct setting. In my 45 years, I have never seen a bad FW. If the magnets have magnetisim, "that" is all that is required. Many magnets are epoxied to the FW and I have seen this adheisive fail where the magnets separate from the flywheel.

That is the problem though, I have absolutely no magnetism. I don't know if the magnets are cast into this flywheel or expoxied on there. I do not see any marks where any magnets would have been, so Im just going to assume that they are cast, but I can't get a paperclip to stick anywhere on the flywheel.

No magnetism is what I mean't about the flywheel being bad, I should have worded that better.

Can you post up a photo of the flywheel for us to see please..? .....you never know...!

Truckdriver09 said:

That is the problem though, I have absolutely no magnetism. I don't know if the magnets are cast into this flywheel or expoxied on there. I do not see any marks where any magnets would have been, so Im just going to assume that they are cast, but I can't get a paperclip to stick anywhere on the flywheel.

No magnetism is what I mean't about the flywheel being bad, I should have worded that better.

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Duh! There's your answer. You have an engine with a flywheel that was "not" manufactured for use with a charging system.

chance123 said:

Duh! There's your answer. You have an engine with a flywheel that was "not" manufactured for use with a charging system.

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I've had this mower for nearly a year and it just recently got to the point where it would start to die from voltage on the battery getting too low (electric clutch). So the charging system was working for a while and it takes 3-4 hours to cut my grass.

EngineMan said:

Can you post up a photo of the flywheel for us to see please..? .....you never know...!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately I have no way of getting a picture right now, can't find my camera.

Truckdriver09 said:

I've had this mower for nearly a year and it just recently got to the point where it would start to die from voltage on the battery getting too low (electric clutch). So the charging system was working for a while and it takes 3-4 hours to cut my grass.

Click to expand...

Well, if there is no magnetic attraction on the inside of your flywheel, you obviously need a new one. What is strange is that if the engine runs, that means that the magnet on the "outside" of the FW (for ignition) is good. I am wondering if 12v was somehow sent to the wires that come out of the armature, therefore "demagnetizing" those magnets.