Bad ignition switch? It ran a minute ago...

[GrumpyOldBastige 1]

Was in the midst of my second-to-last go around with the lawn for the season.  I don't have a leaf blower, so I mowed the lawn clockwise until I had a sizable pile of leaves.  Raked them, back on the Horse, let's go...right?  

My 312-8 had other ideas and refused to turn over.  At all.  Call the coroner.

I grabbed an old ignition switch from my tool box, thinking that might have been the problem.  Nothing.  And I highly doubt a 1 1/2 year old battery would crap out, out of nowhere.  

Then, I remembered the "cardinal sin" that will start the tractor- jumping the solenoid with a big screwdriver.  It fired up, and the rest of the lawn was mowed without incident... except that the deck took a nasty hit and will need repaired in the spring.

Now, obviously, this is the wrong way to go about things.  

I haven't had to monkey with the electronics much this season, but am I correct to guess that the no-start is caused by the switch, or a possible chafed wire after the switch?  As of now I plan to mow one more time, give it some Sta-bil, and park it for the winter.  I'm well aware that I'll probably be putting a new solenoid in it come spring, but it is what it is- I need it to run and no $ for parts at this time.  Thoughts appreciated and welcomed.  

In case anyone is wondering, I did re-wire the second ignition switch properly.  I just transferred the wires over, one by one.

Edited October 25, 2015 by GrumpyOldBastige

[slammer302 2,156]

I would check the safety switches clutch and pto and so on 

[953 nut 59,331]

Could be several causes for the problem, need to make sure all of your connections are tight and corrosion free, this includes all grounds, they are electrical connections too.. To see if the solenoid is bad just take a jumper wire from your battery positive terminal to the small terminal on the solenoid, if it activates it is good. Let us know what you find.

[cleat 7,177]

A few years ago my wife called from the gas station saying her car won't start.

It ran fine until she stopped for gas. I told her to make sure it was in Park then try again.

A few minutes later she pulled into the driveway.

Sounds similar, likely a safety switch not satisfied for some reason. PTO, neutral etc.

Cleat

[KC9KAS 4,744]

I agree....safety switch(es)!

[DougC 2,643]

Yep. My 95 520H has done that to me a hundred times in the last eighteen years. Thankfully my dash lights have always indicated to me what was wrong. Usually the motion lever or pto or seat safety switches. For me it has always been operator error and the indicator light on dash has enabled my smaller than average brain to figure out what to move....   

[Joeyd 35]

I have a 312-8 and had a similar issue with it 2 weeks ago where it wouldn't turn over at all. I replaced the ignition switch, seat safety switch and solenoid within the year prior to that happening. I originally thought it was either the clutch switch or PTO safety switch. It ended being that the seat switch was bad. The ground from the ignition runs to the seat switch. If the switch is bad I'm assuming its not grounding the ignition which won't allow it to start. To fix it, I cut all three wires that went to the seat switch. I took the ground wire (black) added a butt connector and added more wire to it and ran it back underneath the dash panel and added a ring connector the end and grounded it to the left of the battery were most of the other grounds are near the throttle cable. The two remaining wires were connected using butt connector. It totally by-passed the seat switch and it fired right up. Hope this helps!