No juice at start, C-175

[bo dawg 518]

Was mowing the weeds tonight with the C-175 and it just died. So I checked gas then noticed the head lights wasnt on with the key on. Turn key to start and nothing there.

So I pushed it to the garage, took the tester and started to check connections. Battery good, and power to the ign switch, coil, light switch, and to the solenoid.

So I checked the start post on the back of ign switch and turn key over to the start position and the tester light flicks but go's right back out. So for kicks and giggles I followed that wire to the solenoid and put the tester on the post and turn key to start and the test light flicks and go's right back out.

So I would assume the ign switch is bad, or could it be the solenoid? Dont quite understand why the lights dont work either when I have juice at the light switch but not going out to the lights.

[Save Old Iron 1,571]

So I would assume the ign switch is bad, or could it be the solenoid? Dont quite understand why the lights dont work either when I have juice at the light switch but not going out to the lights.

The ignition switch is supposed to distribute power to the various functions on the tractor - 12 volt power to the right place at the right time. In the case of the starter solenoid, the ignition switch or connector at the switch appears to be the culprit. Either the igniton switch is defective or the harness and connections on the ignition switch are loose or corroded.

To eliminate the starter relay as the culprit, jumper the battery side of the relay directly to the trigger terminal of the relay. If the relay is good and all your starter connections are good, the starter will spin.

The ignition switch / connector could also be a player in the headlight issue. Check for a good ground at the headlights. A temporary jumper from the negative side of the headlights to the engine block should help to diagnose a bad ground thru the hood / hinge area.

[bo dawg 518]

Thanks for the help.

I found what the trouble was, the amp gauge! The battery feed to the amp gauge was strong but from the neg side of gauge was weak allowing the ign switch to be weak too. Which is why the lights stop working as well. The neg post on amp gauge was loose. Then I had to mess with it by trying to back the nut off and remove but only messed the post up and now wont tighten up. So I had an aftermarket one from another tractor and put it on and she's back up and running. Just wouldn't allow enough juice through the switch to do anything.

[Save Old Iron 1,571]

Excellent find. With the number of ammeter issues lately, I'm almost considering starting out all troubleshooting of multiple "weird" symptoms by checking the battery and then bypassing the ammeter.

Bo, in your case, was the post on the ammeter loose ? or just loose / corroded wiring ?

For troubleshooting purposes, the ammeter can be considered as a 1" piece of wire going thru a meter case. If the connections to this 1" wire are loose or the wire is corroded, "weird stuff" can happen to multiple functions on the tractor.

A defective ammeter can be temporarily bypassed by fitting both leads onto one post (either post, makes no difference, except do not use a post if the threads are stripped).

[bo dawg 518]

It was loose more than anything. I guess at some point it got hot on the neg post cause the plastic flange around the post was melted some which caused the looseness. I tightened it up with the nut just a bit and tested good. But then I thought I would take it apart and clean it up and then thats when I messed it up for good.

It would probably still be alright but I damaged the threads for the mounting nuts/bracket. Every time I tried to tap the treads the bolt would just turn and loosen up again. :*****: