Z445 Fuel Solenoid and Battery Draw

[EastonRob]

I have a Z445 and am curious if the fuel solenoid is supposed to "activate" when the battery is connected. When I connect the negative terminal it "clicks." This is with the key off.

The symptoms I'm having:
1. Battery will drain to almost nothing over the course of several days. This has occurred on two batteries that are fully charged. It drains to the point where I need to use a "dumb" charger to even get the voltage high enough for a normal charger.
2. I have tested for parasitic draw with several different multimeters and get weird results that I'm not sure how to interpret. In general it seems to show an initial draw which quickly dissipates to zero on the multimeter.
3. I've tested the Voltage Regulator when running and it's putting out just over 14 volts.

I did have to rewire the fuse box this winter, as the positive battery lead was all corroded and I wanted to replace it. That turned into replacing the fuse box as I screwed up a couple of the connecting pins inside in the process. I THINK that's all good now, and everything functions on the mower with a fully charged battery.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

The solenoid should only come on when the key is turned on. You have something wired wrong.

 

[EastonRob]

Ugh, so that's not what I wanted to hear, but that is, unfortunately, possible. For some reason I did not take great pics of the fuse box before dismantling. I have a few, but it was hard to get the camera in their for a good photo.

I assume I should probably focus on the solenoid circuit. It seems to run through the hour meter on the wiring diagrams I've seen. Something else I should have mentioned/asked: is the hour meter always supposed to be on with the battery connected? Not running, but displaying? I've never noticed before, and maybe that's the actual source of the current draw.

Thanks again.

 

[Rivets]

Hour meter should only be on while the key is in the RUN position. If the hour meter shows ON that circuit is causing your current draw. Something not hooked up correctly.

 

[EastonRob]

Well that seems to seal the deal. I messed up the fuse box putting it back together. Back to the drawing board. At least I think I know where to look.

Thank you!

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Bigger hammer is always the answer.

 

[EastonRob]

Ok, so I'm additionally confused after reviewing the wiring diagrams, testing continuity, and looking at old photos. I've attached the way the fuse block looked before tearing into and how I have it now. The only difference is the original photo does NOT show the red / hot wire that was piggy-backed on the positive battery cable going to the fuse block. I don't see that in the wiring diagrams if I'm reading them right, but that's how it was on mine before I started tearing it apart. I was pretty sure that hot lead went to the fuse block with a common connection to all those fuses. In other words, are ALL those fuses supposed to be hot all the time? One half of the fuse block is a single four prong connector. The other half of the fuse block are individual connections (individual prongs are not connected together). My hot lead is going to the side that is connected to all four.

I also started testing continuity as much as I could. I got really weird readings on the starter switch. For example, I was getting continuity from positive battery cable to yellow lead on starter switch all the time, not just in the start or run position. Same thing with green lead.

Could this be starter switch related? It's possible I put that piggy backed hot lead in the wrong spot, but I'm scratching my head how.

Here's what fuse block looked like before I tore it apart, but after I removed the hot lead from the battery:


Here's how it looks now. The hot lead is going to the upper left connection on fuse block as seen in picture.

 

[EastonRob]

Well, it's not the starter switch. I realized I could test continuity to the leads disconnected from the switch and got basically same results. So that's an effect of the problem, not a cause.

 

[StarTech]

Well you need the original wiring schematic as that appears to an added wire to the fuse block.

 

[EastonRob]

I'm going by two different wiring diagrams I've found online for the Z445. There are minor differences between the two as well as what I seem to have, and admittedly I don't know if any of these are supposed to be correct for my model. It's definitely not helping.