Ryobi RM480E 38" riding mower won't move!

[RaYzerman]

A stroke of good luck........ a mouse chewed off a wire to the FWD/REV switch. EZ fix.

 

[repap]

That was supposed to read 100 AH, not mhp.

Where can I get a repair manual on this mower. Bought in 2018...with no problems til now.
Need to troubleshoot if its the batteries for controller. Either case I don't want to spend money on batteries if the rest of the electrical system is aging out. Thanks.

 

[kd0gd]

Update:. I ordered the 996508001 DRIVE MOTOR CONTROLLER $275.41

This solved the problem and was very easy to replace. Again, my problem was that the mower would stop moving forward or reverse, but everything else on the mower would function. Power cycling off and on would reset it, allow me to drive again, but that usually would not last very long.

I bought the mower used from a guy that bought it new 2 1/2 years ago. What ticks me off is that while replacing the drive motor controller, i discovered it was not the first time it had been replaced. That means this mower is now on ts 3rd drive motor controller, at least, in only 3 years. That is terrible. Based on how many people here are saying they have this same problem, and knowing the people on this forum represent only a small fraction of owners, this has got to be a known issue. Ryobi really needs to step up and offer an updated part with longer life.

I'm in the process of removing the drive motor controller and I'm not finding it to be an easy process. I have 2 connectors left to disconnect and I've spent about an hour on each one with no success. The two connectors are the multi-conductor connectors, that is not the single conductor power connectors, and besides not having much room to grab these connectors with tools or hands I haven't figured out the exact process to separate them. On the white connector I do see a tab that I think has to be pressed but as I noted I'm still not able to pull it apart. On the black connector I haven't even figured out where the lock is. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've attached a picture of the two remaining connectors.

 

[jlpatte2]

I'm in the process of removing the drive motor controller and I'm not finding it to be an easy process. I have 2 connectors left to disconnect and I've spent about an hour on each one with no success. The two connectors are the multi-conductor connectors, that is not the single conductor power connectors, and besides not having much room to grab these connectors with tools or hands I haven't figured out the exact process to separate them. On the white connector I do see a tab that I think has to be pressed but as I noted I'm still not able to pull it apart. On the black connector I haven't even figured out where the lock is. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've attached a picture of the two remaining connectors.

Did you ever get this? I'm trying to disassemble right now and am stuck on this white connector as well. The black one on mine had a bit of a clip and it kinda came apart "fiddling with it a bit" The tiny bit of "lock" like thing on the white one broke off with only very minor pressure so I'm worried I have broken it beyond separation z
...
Ok, after futzing with it for about another hour, I found you (probably) needed to push down on the white piece; since I had broken it off, I had to come in under it from the far sided with a ~Medium flat blade screw driver. Attached pictures to show the mechanism in better detail when open

 

[TedM]

I just joined this forum because I did a search and found this thread. Mine just failed like all the above! Dad-gum those Chinese!!! I should have known better...

Sadly, I just paid $800 for new batteries a few months ago. The mower seemed pretty good for the first 3-1/2 years until batteries started fading. My only real complaint until now is that I might go through 2 sets of blades a season which is not terrible at $28 a set from Home Depot. They are so thin you can't sharpen them too many times before they need to be replaced. I also had to weld up the mower deck after it cracked... also too thin!

After reading this: I THINK I WILL PART MINE OUT NOW, TOO!

I was already toying with getting rid of it. I HATE to buy chinese goods if I can help it!

 

[TedM]

I'm sure it's too late to respond to this, but here's what I ordered to replace my 75 Amp/Hr originals. Best price I could find and they worked great until my Motor Controller crapped out on me!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S1RT58C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[1dennis3]

I'm in the process of removing the drive motor controller and I'm not finding it to be an easy process. I have 2 connectors left to disconnect and I've spent about an hour on each one with no success. The two connectors are the multi-conductor connectors, that is not the single conductor power connectors, and besides not having much room to grab these connectors with tools or hands I haven't figured out the exact process to separate them. On the white connector I do see a tab that I think has to be pressed but as I noted I'm still not able to pull it apart. On the black connector I haven't even figured out where the lock is. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I've attached a picture of the two remaining connectors.

Where did you find a new controller? I'm having the same issue; everything works but it will not move. I hate the idea of just throwing parts at it but I don't know what else to do. there is very little about how to fix this issue.
Its 3 years old.

 

[1dennis3]

Update:. I ordered the 996508001 DRIVE MOTOR CONTROLLER $275.41

This solved the problem and was very easy to replace. Again, my problem was that the mower would stop moving forward or reverse, but everything else on the mower would function. Power cycling off and on would reset it, allow me to drive again, but that usually would not last very long.

I bought the mower used from a guy that bought it new 2 1/2 years ago. What ticks me off is that while replacing the drive motor controller, i discovered it was not the first time it had been replaced. That means this mower is now on ts 3rd drive motor controller, at least, in only 3 years. That is terrible. Based on how many people here are saying they have this same problem, and knowing the people on this forum represent only a small fraction of owners, this has got to be a known issue. Ryobi really needs to step up and offer an updated part with longer life.

Was this a RM480e mower?

 

[petereb]

Where can I get a repair manual on this mower. Bought in 2018...with no problems til now.
Need to troubleshoot if its the batteries for controller. Either case I don't want to spend money on batteries if the rest of the electrical system is aging out. Thanks.

I am new to site found manual for these F****n mowers its manualsib.com, good manual a lot of pictures and descriptions.

 

[ApresMaModification]

Was this a RM480e mower?

For information, I replaced my driving controller because the Ryobi one died just after 260 hrs in my case. I put a generic 3000 watts controller because in my case cost way less 3 to 4 times less and time will tell me if it will be more reliable? The bad, little more complicated to replace the original controller because you need to figure out the new connections needed. Especially the few info I found for Ryobi connection, my mower look like don't have the same color for wire.... The good, I just tryed and it work near as it was before with original Ryobi one, exception made, take care when backing, now I have full power and speed while backing. Another thing, now to get working mower, I must press The reverse enable red light to have working mower. The very good in my wanting list, is now, I have Ebrake when I press little the brake pedal and normal brake when fully depressed. Picture provided is when I was modifying it.

In case someone wanting to know why I replaced it. While driving at full speed on the road as I done it frequently, rear wheel nearly locked, then the mower died. Another symptom, he was very hard to push like if the motor was on brake. Found moving controller was now full short circuit at entrance and outside (Why it was so hard to push) and after opening it, I forgotten to try to fill it, all glued inside. A luck, I had 4 LifePo4 batteries, one of them tripped seeing this short circuit and cut power then my 125amps fuse never needed to blow. It's why needed to disconnect and reconnect to later found this moving driver was now short circuit. Since only 260 hrs and 300$ US + shipping to replace it, I decided to try less costly alternative. In my case I choosed to try this 3000 watts https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0..._asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1#customerReviews, why You can see the blue controller in the posted image. As before it pull like 25amps at near full capacity, maybe 2000 watts version will be enough? I choose to not take a chance and it's anyway cost way less in my case compared to Ryobi controller one.

But now I must take care to not forgot to put key in off position because now I don't have the buzzer anymore.