Seat safety switch replacement...

RichF28

Member
I'm working on a Poulan Pro riding mower. It has the 4 wire seat safety switch. In order to move the mower, I pulled out the small metal contact in the plug to hotwire it. I have the new plug, but when I put the small contact back in the plug, it will still start without the safety switch... Checked with multimeter, and there is continuity between all 4 wires of the plug with the contact bar in place. It will still start with no switch attached. Any ideas what I did wrong?
 
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First give the actual model so we try to find the wiring schematic but it does sounds there is still a case of non shorting.

Are you getting a rock zero ohms readings?

Have yet to find a source for the 4 pole shorting connector but a two pole version can usually work depending on the wiring setup.

And when removing these strips it is important not damage them you wish to re-install them.
 
Its a PP A1942. Long story. I started the mower and moved it, as I got off it stalled, and wouldn't crank. After I pulled the grounding bar, it started and I ran it like that for a week. Today the grounding bar went back in, and it still starts. I measured .000 on the 200k scale between each of the 4 pins on the connector, and it cranks right up. Checked the ground pin to neg. battery cable too, its good. I thought that it shouldn't run with the grounding bar in, is that correct?
 
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I'm working on a Poulan Pro riding mower. It has the 4 wire seat safety switch. In order to move the mower, I pulled out the small metal contact in the plug to hotwire it. I have the new plug, but when I put the small contact back in the plug, it will still start without the safety switch... Checked with multimeter, and there is continuity between all 4 wires of the plug with the contact bar in place. It will still start with no switch attached. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Did you put the shorting bar back in the same way it came out? It could simply be upside down. It is spring steel and flexes with seat pressure when the seat is occupied.

With the shorting bar removed it takes the seat safety switch out of the circuit.
 
First is does not flex when the seat is occupied. It flexes off the terminals when the connector is plugged into the correct seat switch.

No it doesn't completely take out the seat switch. When connector is connected the seat switch still operates as normal. Its when the connector is unplugged is when there is a problem which is intentional normally. The shorting strip is meant to short out the connector terminals thus acting as if no one is on the seat. When the strip is remove then it becomes an open circuit which then all three safety systems become inoperative; unless, the connector is plugged into the seat switch.

The seat switch will two or four plastic triangles that lift the shorting metal fingers off the terminals. This why it important to use the right switch and not have connector with a broken locking tab..
 
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First is does not flex when the seat is occupied. It flexes off the terminals when the connector is plugged into the correct seat switch.

No it doesn't completely take out the seat switch. When connector is connected the seat switch still operates as normal. Its when the connector is unplugged is when there is a problem which is intentional normally. The shorting strip is meant to short out the connector terminals thus acting as if no one is on the seat. When the strip is remove then it becomes an open circuit which then all three safety systems become inoperative; unless, the connector is plugged into the seat switch.

The seat switch will two or four plastic triangles that lift the shorting metal fingers off the terminals. This why it important to use the right switch and not have connector with a broken locking tab..
The problem is, with the shorting bar inserted, it will still start. There is continuity between all 4 pins, and it still runs.
 
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