Craftsman LT2000 Completely Dead after pop sound

dm4x2000

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Hi Everyone.

I am new to this forum and signed today looking for answers on my dead mower. I am happy to have found this forum.

I have a craftsman LT2000 riding mower which I have had for a few years now. I was mowing as usual the other day when I reached the fence and needed to reverse the mower.
I forgot to disengage the blade and put the gear into reverse. Normally this act would shut off the engine and would require me to disengage the blade before moving gear into reverse before restarting. However this time, there was a big loud pop...more like someone lit up a firework. I don't think I saw smoke or smelled anything. Everything went dead no power, no lights...nothing. Could not restart the mower...there is no power at all.

I was able to locate the fuse, which I checked and is working fine. I have visually checked all of the wiring and nothing seems obvious

Any ideas as to what the problem might be and what I should checking?

Thanks
Dennis
 

Rivets

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Two things come to mind very quickly. One, check your battery voltage. Two, check your battery voltage from battery + to the engine block. Sounds to me like you lost your ground.
 

dm4x2000

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Ok. So I tested the battery last night and it was completely dead of course, since it has been about three weeks since my mower died.
I got the battery charged overnight. Today it was fully charged and I decided to see if I could start the mower. It started pretty much right away and all power is back. I could not believe my eyes and ears!

Its funny that an incident like that would completely discharge the battery in a split second. I never thought about checking the battery as I was convinced something more serious happened!

Thanks Rivets! I owe you a beer or something!
 

Rivets

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In Wisconsin we don't drink beer unless the day ends in Y, so I may have to take the something. Glad to be of service.
 

bertsmobile1

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Ok. So I tested the battery last night and it was completely dead of course, since it has been about three weeks since my mower died.
I got the battery charged overnight. Today it was fully charged and I decided to see if I could start the mower. It started pretty much right away and all power is back. I could not believe my eyes and ears!

Its funny that an incident like that would completely discharge the battery in a split second. I never thought about checking the battery as I was convinced something more serious happened!

Thanks Rivets! I owe you a beer or something!

Check the battery carefully.
The "pop" you heard could well have been the battery case splitting or a hydrogen explosion inside the battery.
Not all that common but does ocasionally happen.
 

dm4x2000

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Check the battery carefully.
The "pop" you heard could well have been the battery case splitting or a hydrogen explosion inside the battery.
Not all that common but does ocasionally happen.

The battery is fine with no cracks or sign of "hydrogen explosion" and is still fully charged since I last used the mower 5 days ago.
All is well!
 

grumpyunk

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A battery can go 'dead' in a three week period if not charged now and again. The discharge may have had nothing to do with the problem.
Given that there is a switch that grounds the ignition when the transmission is put into reverse with the blade engaged, you might have heard an electrical 'pop' as the contacts of the switch opened. The switch itself may be on its last legs, or gotten stuck in a position to ground the ignition, and slowly oozed into an open position over time(if gummy).
The pop could also have been a bad ground or + connection that sparked when current tried to cross the connection. I would be checking the battery terminal connections, (wouldn't hurt to check electrolyte level in the cells), ground to the chassis, connection to the starter relay, and starter connections. In addition, I would look at the safety switches. Under seat occupancy switch, blade/PTO switch, brake/clutch switch, and gear position switch. Some will kill the ignition, and some will disable the starter relay.
A 'completely dead' condition can occur if the battery is discharged also. I had one that cranked fine, and within ten minutes didn't have enough juice to crank at all, and would not even make the relay click. I chased that for hours, thinking the battery was charged enough to do 'something', and finally jumpered to another battery and found all the things I inspected were operational, except the battery. Live and learn.
tom
 
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