new member

woodbutcher01

Forum Newbie
Joined
Nov 4, 2014
Threads
2
Messages
2
You do take special care of new kids right?
My name is Paul Lloyd I live in upstate NY. I have a John Deere x300 and it doesn't work
I am not sure if I am okayed to post or not yet but here goes
First of all let me say I know what a wrench is but obviosly I am not a bonafide mechanic. As I said I have a JD x300 42" mower w/100 hrs that I have been using right along with no issues at all. Last cut was 2 weeks ago. I went out yesterday and it would not start I used my trusty spark plug tester to confirm there was no spark. There was gas as pulled the plugs to see. I checked 3 fuses they were all good. I do know that there is a safety interlock system that tells the engine not to spark or stop sparking if things are not right. So I disconnected the black ground wires to the two coils and walah engine fired right up. I put my foot on the brake and turned the key off and (suprisingly} the engine shut down. I started it up again and got up from the seat (with the break off} and it shut right down, as it should. I started it up again and went out to mow. That is when I discovered the PTO/mower blades would not engage, I put her back in the garage and revved up my puter. On my first trip to this forum I spotted a thread that was identical to my issues, Only one was a solution and it read: get a multimeter, click on this link to get schematics and start testing. That is not a bad idea, as a matter of fact I had it myself before I got on the puter. But not knowing as much as I probably should, I was kinda hoping someone could tell me what I should be looking for and where I might find it.

An example of what I'm looking for is:
What has to happen for the PTO to engage? I am thinking PTO lever activates a switch that confirms or not whether a ground is present?

On startup with the ground wires attached to the coils. What are the somethings that could tell the coils not to spark.

I was thinking if someone could educate me on these functions - that would point me in the right direction.

Thanks for putting up with my short story,
Paul
 

motoman

Lawn Addict
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Threads
65
Messages
2,566
wood, This scenario has been answered on many makes. Have you tried search function? Surely a JD owner or pro will help you on this one.
 
Top