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I know what that sounds like, trust me, I know. But it's true and I have no dam idea why.

17.5 HP Craftsman 42" Mower
Automatic Tractor
Model # 917.272220

I have a small craftsman lawn tractor and at first the tractor started to stall at times after the blades were engaged. Then sporadically when they weren't engaged. Now, the tractor sputters and sounds like it's going to stall when the blades aren't engaged but it still sounds that way more often when they are engaged. A change in the grade of the ground appears to be a something that makes it worse but it's not the exclusive reason for this happening as it doesn't discriminate where it starts to sputter. Safety switches have been tested and replaced. Air filter, replaced. Carb, cleaned out very well. Ignition (key) and part of the wiring were replaced. PTO tested and it's fine. Fuse, replaced. At one point I thought that it had to be the safety switch on the seat because when it would start to sputter i'd push myself back into the seat and it'd stop it's sputtering. So then, I bypassed the safety switch on the seat and the problem remained. THEN!!! I realized something. My pushing back in the seat was still helping stop the tractor from stalling (even with the safety switch on the seat bypassed). I realized it is the actual act of me pushing myself back into the seat that did this, specifically, pushing on the top of the steering wheel that helped out. I followed the rod from the steering wheel to the tires and found one item that seemed like I found what happened. There were wires against the rod from the wheel that had rub marks on it. So, not taking any chances, I replace any parts of the wires that could've been affected by rubbing or by being accidentally grounded, taped them off and moved them away from the rod. Nothing, same exact issue. Also, the tractor was acting the same way before anything was replaced or worked on, it is not a case of me not installing reinstalling a part or the like.

The linkage on the steering wheel is a little sloppy but that shouldn't affect anything, right? I'm at a complete,100% loss. Please, for the love of God, if you have anything that might possibly work, please share.

I'm about to go cut off/grind down the pin in the fuel supply shutoff solenoid. Why? Because I think It will help? Nope. Just because I can eliminate it from being the problem. and I figured that donating a $70 part to the tractor Gods might help too. Although it wouldn't explain the steering wheel thing I am just spent and have no idea where to go from here.

Any help you guys can provide is very much appreciated.
Thanks for taking the time to read this too.

This boils down to an electrical problem and my guess is either a bad ground or bad (loose) connector. First, I would remove the ground cable where it attaches to the frame or engine block. Clean the connector and the metal very well and reinstall good and tight. Second, I would purchase a can of electrical contact spray cleaner (available at any auto parts store) and clean every switch, terminal, pull electrical plugs apart and clean the internal connections. Make sure every connection has good metal to metal contact. From your description pay attention to everything under the dash board. Something is moving while you are mowing and you are reconnecting it by flexing the frame. All the symptoms you are describing lead me to look for bad electrical ground connections.

Thanks for your input. The electrical cleaner, take every plug, connection, etc. apart, spray/clean/wire brush/etc. I did that a few times. I was thinking the same for the bad ground but never took the ground cable off where it connects to the frame/engine block...because I couldn't find it (to be honest) but I'll go out and give it another attempt.

The issue with this tractor and locating where it's grounded is that the harness has a small section that disappears and all chances of tracing that section are lost without a significant amount of removed parts. Anyway, I'll go look for that connection again and hope I can locate it. Thanks for your 2c. I really do appreciate it a lot.


I was actually just about to go take the fuel shutoff solenoid off and cut the pin...but thought "ahh, i'll go check and see if anybody got back to me" on here first.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply. I'm hoping the ground is the issue and I can find it...

Found where it was grounded. Unscrewed the bolt, wire brushed and cleaned everything very well. No change.

Electrically there are only 2 things that will stop the engine.
1) lack of power to the fuel solenoid
2) grounding of the magneto kill wire.

Replace the solenoid with a bowl bolt ( or cut the plunger off ) and have a mow.
Problem goes away = power supply problem
Problem remains = grounding of kill wire problem

So in one stroke you have halved the problem.

Remove the blower housing and remove the wire to the coil.
Run a jumper from the coil up to the operators station long enough for you to ground it some where in order to stop the engine.

Go mow,
Problem goes away = safety switch circuit problem

Well it seems as though you've been through everything in the electrical section, I think I would go back to the engine area, have you replaced the fuel lines ( might have that "stuff" that collapses the inner wall of the line,) or a hard to see hairline crack, I can feel for your frustration, but I just don't understand how jostling around on the machine could cause the issue, I assume the machine is stopped as you perform your ant's in my pants ritual ..?? yep, sure is a weird one ! .. :confused2:

Boobala said:

Well it seems as though you've been through everything in the electrical section, I think I would go back to the engine area, have you replaced the fuel lines ( might have that "stuff" that collapses the inner wall of the line,) or a hard to see hairline crack, I can feel for your frustration, but I just don't understand how jostling around on the machine could cause the issue, I assume the machine is stopped as you perform your ant's in my pants ritual ..?? yep, sure is a weird one ! .. :confused2:

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This is why you carry out a logical & systematic diagnosis .
The steering wheel thing may have absolutely nothing to do with the problem.
So you start by splitting the problem into fuel or ignition.

Thus the suggestion in the previous posts.
If neither make any difference then the problem is not electric and one needs to look elsewhere.
Randomly running around checking this or that does nothing but waste time and creates frustration.

While i'm performing my "ain't in my pants routine"? Cute, but i don't think me "pushing up" on the steering equates to anything like that but whatever...
I did try a systemic approach to diagnose the problem but my error only occurred when i omitted an organized conveyance of such. Although, if you are able to take the single line of "I push up on the steering wheel and it stops the tractor from stalling" you very easily could rule out the possibility of it being a fuel issue.

I didn't want to cut the solenoid quite yet because then i could simply be out a $60 part. I am going to take and run a wire to the steering rod and then connect then ground the other end and try that out. If it still stalls, then i can cut the solenoid with more confidence, right?

The operative word in "logical approach" is, logical. And logical by definition would mean that, basically if you do one thing and get a result, they are related. So, logical would mean that it would be natural or sensible given the circumstances if somebody pushes on the steering wheel and the mower stops sputtering, the wheel is involved or affects it somehow - definition of logical.
If i come across as rude in any way, i don't mean to and I apologize. The wife says i do at times, at least i thinks she says that, i wasn't really listening lol.

jtnewhouse said:

While i'm performing my "ain't in my pants routine"? Cute, but i don't think me "pushing up" on the steering equates to anything like that but whatever...
I did try a systemic approach to diagnose the problem but my error only occurred when i omitted an organized conveyance of such. Although, if you are able to take the single line of "I push up on the steering wheel and it stops the tractor from stalling" you very easily could rule out the possibility of it being a fuel issue.

I didn't want to cut the solenoid quite yet because then i could simply be out a $60 part. I am going to take and run a wire to the steering rod and then connect then ground the other end and try that out. If it still stalls, then i can cut the solenoid with more confidence, right?

If i come across as rude in any way, i don't mean to and I apologize. The wife says i do at times, at least i thinks she says that, i wasn't really listening lol.

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You DON'T HAVE TO cut the solenoid, just remove it from the carb & replace it with a "bowl-nut" found on carbs WITHOUT the solenoid, secure the wires so they don't interfere with anything.

So the logical thing to do is to go back and carry out the two tests asked for in post # 5.

To put a really silly spin on things but hopefullly illustrative.
Pulling up on the wheel and moving back in the seat changes the weight distribution on the mower, combined with a slightly underinflated rear left tyre causes the mower to tilt ever so slightly which changes the angle on the float bowl allowing the float which is just fouling on a badly cut gasket to free itself and cut off the fuel at the proper height.

I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice.

Mysterious problems can always be fixed by going back to the basics.
And when going back to the basics identifies what is really causing the problem you then look at the mower to try & understand what pulling on the wheel was actually doing.

bertsmobile1 said:

So the logical thing to do is to go back and carry out the two tests asked for in post # 5.

To put a really silly spin on things but hopefullly illustrative.
Pulling up on the wheel and moving back in the seat changes the weight distribution on the mower, combined with a slightly underinflated rear left tyre causes the mower to tilt ever so slightly which changes the angle on the float bowl allowing the float which is just fouling on a badly cut gasket to free itself and cut off the fuel at the proper height.

I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice.

Mysterious problems can always be fixed by going back to the basics.
And when going back to the basics identifies what is really causing the problem you then look at the mower to try & understand what pulling on the wheel was actually doing.

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In most cases that would be true. But to be completely oblivious to something that you discovered to have a direct correlation to the mitigating of a problem would be what? Reckless, stupid or Ignorant? I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice. I never deviated from "the basics" I merely pointed out items that were worth mentioning. And I was able to find a piece to place in the end of the solenoid to keep it from extending. Which, turns out is not the problem. And yet another day spent with my tester going from connection to connection. Oddly enough, I did notice that, (i'm not making this up) the onset of stalling is significantly more prevalent when turning to the right, not left (uphill primarily). And to save you from accusing me of another asinine, concocted brilliant diagnosis, I'm not claiming that the tractor can be fixed by pushing on the steering wheel and only making nascar turns (left).

jtnewhouse said:

In most cases that would be true. But to be completely oblivious to something that you discovered to have a direct correlation to the mitigating of a problem would be what? Reckless, stupid or Ignorant? I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice. I never deviated from "the basics" I merely pointed out items that were worth mentioning. And I was able to find a piece to place in the end of the solenoid to keep it from extending. Which, turns out is not the problem. And yet another day spent with my tester going from connection to connection. Oddly enough, I did notice that, (i'm not making this up) the onset of stalling is significantly more prevalent when turning to the right, not left (uphill primarily). And to save you from accusing me of another asinine, concocted brilliant diagnosis, I'm not claiming that the tractor can be fixed by pushing on the steering wheel and only making nascar turns (left).

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Here's another dipschitt guess from me ...... Check your ENGINE MOUNTING fasteners .... who knows ..??? ...:confused2:

jtnewhouse said:

In most cases that would be true. But to be completely oblivious to something that you discovered to have a direct correlation to the mitigating of a problem would be what? Reckless, stupid or Ignorant? I could come up with a dozen or more such but I would hope just one will suffice. I never deviated from "the basics" I merely pointed out items that were worth mentioning. And I was able to find a piece to place in the end of the solenoid to keep it from extending. Which, turns out is not the problem. And yet another day spent with my tester going from connection to connection. Oddly enough, I did notice that, (i'm not making this up) the onset of stalling is significantly more prevalent when turning to the right, not left (uphill primarily). And to save you from accusing me of another asinine, concocted brilliant diagnosis, I'm not claiming that the tractor can be fixed by pushing on the steering wheel and only making nascar turns (left).

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At least we can both face this with a sense of humour.
If you really want help to sort this out I really require the two tests asked for in post 5 to be carried out.
As was mentioned, electrically there only 2 things that will cause the engine to faulter one is the kill wire & the fuel solenoid.
Isolating it to one or the other or neither then points us towards where to look.
I am sure you are familiar with the old mechanics adage ,
Most fuel faults are found in the ignition & most ignition problems are found in the carburettor.

It would take you less time to do those tests than I have spent answering your post.
Now I am not ignoring any observations.
If there was a known connection you would have been the first person to be told.
Considering that it is the beginning of the season, and the fault seems to have physical triggers then I would suspect a bare kill wire under the blower housing a bit chewed up by what was living in there over winter flopping about in the breeze and making random ground contacts.
The second thought would be the same thing happening to a kill wire under the turret .

And once again if you did as requested back in post 5 this would have been revealed.

1) lack of power to the fuel solenoid - took of and used the tip off a finishing nail to keep plunger contracted, replaced, nothing changed.
2) grounding of the magneto kill wire. - tested cleaned, grinded connections/wire brushed, reconnected, no change.

Although it tested fine i'm going to replace the PTO switch. It's the only thing that can explain what happens to the tractor. I'll know if that was it in about an hour or 2.

jtnewhouse said:

1) lack of power to the fuel solenoid - took of and used the tip off a finishing nail to keep plunger contracted, replaced, nothing changed.
2) grounding of the magneto kill wire. - tested cleaned, grinded connections/wire brushed, reconnected, no change.

Although it tested fine i'm going to replace the PTO switch. It's the only thing that can explain what happens to the tractor. I'll know if that was it in about an hour or 2.

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You were asked to REMOVE the magneto ground wire, not clean the contacts.
If you remember I suggested you run a wire from the magnet to the controls so you could ground the magneto when you finished mowing to test if it was in the kill wire circuit.

Well having passed the fuel solenoid test looks very much like it will be in the ground circuit.
Usually it is best to find the actual problem first before you go spending money.

bertsmobile1 said:

You were asked to REMOVE the magneto ground wire, not clean the contacts.
If you remember I suggested you run a wire from the magnet to the controls so you could ground the magneto when you finished mowing to test if it was in the kill wire circuit.

Well having passed the fuel solenoid test looks very much like it will be in the ground circuit.
Usually it is best to find the actual problem first before you go spending money.

Click to expand...

Wellllll it' sorta like this ........

I messed up on not removing the wire, all you had to say.

As for wasting the money on a part...The PTO and ignition switches were always finicky ever since I got the tractor. The PTO switch would get hung up from time to time in between open and closed to the point that it'll take playing with the switch for small period of time to get the contacts to free up. So, replacing that switch was neither a waste of money (especially since it was only 2 paychecks worth of money for Boobola - $14), nor was it intended to be the eureka moment fixes everything. I wasn't saying that replacing the PTO switch was some brilliant idea, similar to using a drawing with text to speak for me... I was just saying that was the last "part", "I", as in me, personally, could think that might possess a functional that could possibly fit the things that were wrong with the tractor.

Typically, it's better to first understand the question prior to answering it.

Simmer down jt, I'm here to piss people off, it's a job that was handed down to me .... when you're in the middle of a "head-scratcher" it's always good to pull back and at least smile about something, it's a thing about about clearing the snot outa your sinuses so ya can think better ! ..:laughing:..:laughing:

Just a thought here of what I would do...if you can get it running again lift the hood and start moving wires around by hand, especially any near the steering gear and where you said they went out of sight.
That might reveal a break in a wire somewhere or a bad ground.

Just got done fixing a mower with a similar problem. Push back on seat and engine runs fine. It was in the wiring harness for the seat switch grounding every once and a while. When moving the seat with the butt it would allow the wire to move just a little. Liquid black tape and moving wiring harness fixed the problem. I had to lift the seat pan to find this.

My advise, take it with a grain of salt, but crank the engine, carefully push and pull on any wires you can get your hands on. Since the seat safety switch is disabled, this should be pretty simple. Of course, be careful not to touch any rotating parts.

I'm thinking there's a slight short in there somewhere.

I had this problem on one of those old green ones. Tested wires for hours. Always had continuity. But it would still cut out like that. So, I just swapped the harness (all of it) and problem solved.
I still don't know where the short was. I didn't even want to know, at that point. Just glad it was fixed.