QuestionQUESTION: 2004 Craftsman GT5000 Garden Tractor Model #917.276022
John, I have to say, you come HIGHLY recommended. I would appreciate if you can help someone that cannot help himself. Today I mowed and bagged my
lawn which is just under an acre. Tractor gave no sign of anything being wrong, just had it serviced two weeks ago and runs like a champ...until
today that is. When I turned the tractor off with the final load of grass, it would not start after that. At first I thought "dead battery" because
it would do nothing. Not turn over, not click, nothing. So, it was a nice day and I took out my "trickle charger" out and hooked it up for about 6
hours. Anyway, I come back, fully expecting it to start..it would not. It THEN clicked like, well, like a dead battery. So, I pulled the car down to
jump it off since it was getting late. Car would not jump it BUT, when I finally got a good connection with the jumper cables, it did do something..
it no longer clicked, it began SPINNING. My first thought then was "starter" but, the more I think about it..maybe flywheel and starter? Hoping you
can help before I take this in for service. I feel sure I can exchange a starter but, if it is more than that, I do not want to undertake something
I cannot finish. Thanks for your help!
ANSWER: Hello Jim:
Thanks for the Good Words. You must have been Talking to my Wife. LOL. From your Description it Sounds like the Starter Solenoid is Not Operating Properly. According to the Breakdown for this Unit, the Engine is a Kohler, the Model and Spec Numbers are; CV730-0029. You can View a Breakdown of the Engine at this Site Addy; http://www.kohlerplus.com/login.asp and Select Enter as Guest. Now Select the Thumbnail of the Catalog you Wish to View. Select the "Command Twin" Thumbnail. I Suggest you Remove the Starter and have the Starter Tested at your Local Automotive Parts Retailer. If you Hit a Snag or this Does Not Correct the Problem, I am Here if You Require More Assistance. Hope this Helps. Let me Know What Happens, Please. May the All Mighty Bless You and Yours. Thanks.
Good Luck
Respectfully
John
PS: I am Allowed to Answer 10 Questions a Day. If you See I am Maxxed Out, then Try Submitting your Question at or Just After 8pm EST (US). My New Day Starts then. Thanks.
Respectfully
John
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION:
Thanks again for the help! Unfortunately, I need even more help than I ever imagined. The starter is/was fine. The battery however was not. I won’t go into the trial and error that led me back to the battery, after I had left the battery for the starter but, your thinking was in line with my thinking and everyone else’s thinking....except there were other circumstances involved.
Either I have really horrible luck or three things on this tractor happened at the same time. After replacing the battery, I felt like an idiot!
Only until I went to mow did I not feel so bad! See, the battery did cure the starting problem but, whatever happened to kill the battery, also was not allowing the deck to engage!
You following me?
So, the battery was NOT the main/only problem. Here is what I found after days of trial and
error.
One, the battery was completely gone. It would not take a charge or even be jumped, it was GONE.
Two, it seems the PTO switch is flakey to say the least. After testing it with a voltmeter today, I have determined it is shot as well.
THIRD, and this is the most confusing of them all. From the PTO switch to the clutch is of course a power and a ground. From where the wires leave the PTO switch, to where they run into the clutch, there is a male/female connection. Same wires, it just seems they put a connection instead of a "direct run" and that connection I believe includes a diode.
I am not a mower expert, nor a small engine expert much less a wiring expert but, I have never seen anything wired up like this before! As a matter of fact, after talking to the authorized Sears service center in this area today, THEY TOO have never seen a diode there but insist the photo I showed them was in fact a diode.
Why it was there, what is was for, why it fried and caused these issues...nobody knows!
The wires at this connection were wrapped/sealed in a small patch of heavy rubber. Only after peeling that rubber away from the connection did I see where the problem was. The diode had fried and the connection is broken. When putting 12v directly to the other end of the connection and bypassing the fried diode, the deck engages perfectly! So, that leaves the diode which nobody knows anything about.
Sears told me the only way to cure the problem was to buy an entire new wiring harness which is not going to happen! You can go to Radio Shack and purchase diodes all day long.....IF YOU KNOW WHAT TYPE OF DIODE TO PURCHASE! Since Sears and their repair center claim to know nothing about this diode, it is kind of hard for them to tell me what diode to purchase!
It is unreal. I mean, I do agree with them. I cannot recall seeing a diode used in this manner nor do I know the reason why it is was designed this way.
I am hoping you can help with these things John! Maybe it is not as uncommon as I think it is. Again, I am no expert with these things but I thought I knew basic wiring!
Can you tell me what diode to buy? Could you also elaborate...or give me odds...on all of these things being related or all of them happening at the exact same time?!!
Hey, I know my luck is bad, I just never knew it was THIS bad!! Thanks again John. Sorry for what surely seems to be a rambling post but, I figured more info and detail is better than not enough.
Also, I took a photo of the connection I am talking about. I uploaded it to yousendit.com.
The url is http://download.yousendit.com/2B61744806EAF219
(this file can be downloaded securely from their site and then scanned to make sure there is nothing wrong with the upload)
Maybe that photo can help. If external links from posters are not allowed, please feel free to edit that link.
Best regards and if you can figure this one out, well, then you are EVEN BETTER than everyone already knows you are!
Take care and thanks again for being here for us who can’t help themselves!
Jim
AnswerHi Again Jim:
The Diode was Originally Use to Prevent the PTO from Engaging when Static Electricity Built Up in the PTO Coils. The OEM Found that this Diode was of No Help in Preventing this so the Diodes were Use for 2or 3 Years and then Discontinued. The Diode is Not Required. Shrink Wrap the Bare Wires and Use the PTO. I have Removed so Many of these Diodes it is Not Even Funny. They were More of a Pain than a Help. I Spoke to an MTD Technician About 6 or 7 Years Ago About this Diode and will Call them Today to Reaffirm this and will Follow Up with the Response if it is Different that what I was Told Earlier. You can Send Pictures to me Using the "Attach an Image" Feature this Site Uses. I Looked at your Picture and it is the Same as Others I have Removed from Sears and Other Mowers Using the Electric PTO System. If you Hit a Snag or this Does Not Correct the Problem, I am Here if You Require More Assistance. Hope this Helps. Let me Know What Happens, Please. May the All Mighty Bless You and Yours. Thanks.
Good Luck
Respectfully
John
PS: I am Allowed to Answer 10 Questions a Day. If you See I am Maxxed Out, then Try Submitting your Question at or Just After 8pm EST (US). My New Day Starts then. Thanks.
Respectfully
John
