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Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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Posted by reddsky TX (My Page) on Sun, Jul 27, 08 at 14:02
| First off, note that I am a girl and not very mechanically savvy. I have a Craftsman 20hp Twin Kohler late model. I used it yesterday with no problems, but it was VERY VERY dusty (we NEED rain!). When I finished, I blew off tractor as well as engine, took off air cleaner cover and blew it off (will be replacing since it got so dirty) and then proceeded to wash mower and did engine also since it was so dusty. I waited a few minutes and then started the engine again w/no problems and let it run for a few minutes. I then put the tractor away. I went out this morning to move the mower under cover and all I get is a 'spinning' sound, but engine does not turn over. :( I have done a little bit of research and found several different possibilities, but I need some expert help. I am hoping that maybe it is something simple that I might be able to do?! Even so, I will need 'lawn tractor repair for dummies'. Thanks in advance! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| Yeah, it was 106 at my house (Fort Worth area) this afternoon. Can't remember what rain looks like. Reddsky, my first suspicion is that your battery is weak. The whirring sound could be the starter spinning, but not fast enough to engage. If you have access to a battery charger, try charging it. Original equipment batteries usually last 2 or 3 years, some a little less, others a little longer. If you know how to do it, you can use jumper cables from your car to try to start it - and yes, your lawn tractor has a 12-volt battery, the same as your car, so you can jump it that way....HOWEVER, if you don't absolutely, for sure, 100% certain, KNOW how to do it, then DON'T TRY - you could mess up the wiring in your tractor AND your car, not to mention that you could get hurt. If you aren't sure about jumping it, perhaps you could get a friend or neighbor to help out. AGAIN, if you're not sure, don't try jump-starting it! |
Strike out part of my last post
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| Reddsky, PLEASE disregard my suggestion to try jump-starting your lawn tractor. Too many things can go wrong. As a first step, I suggest that you remove the battery, take it to a shop and have it tested and, if it's okay, charged. Then reinstall it, taking care to clean the connectors and get them good and tight, and also being certain that you connect the red cable to the PLUS (+) battery terminal. If the battery doesn't test out okay, or won't take a charge, buy a new one. If a charged battery, properly installed, doesn't get you on the road again, let us know. |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| I dont know - she sad she checked her air filter - she sounds reasonably competent... (hope im right). Some of these places just want to sell you a battery ... and prey on damsels in distress... (you poor thing) I too would start by charging the battery or jumping it from my car... Red (positive) to Red - and Black (negative) to Black Let us know how it goes ! good luck to you either way. |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| When you say engine does not turn over, do you mean A) it doesn't start, or B) it isn't spinning at all (you can raise the hood while trying to start it and see if it is physically moving. If the battery is bad "most likely" all you will get is a clicking sound. One of the craftsman I have absolutely will not start after I wash the motor, but you say yours did. How long did you let it run, 3, 5, 10 minutes? Typically you would either let it set or let it run till it dries out. Please check the first thing in my post and report back. Dave |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| Hey guys, first of all I apologize for not responding sooner. We went out of town to escape the heat for a few days. I did charge the battery first thing thinking perhaps the battery may have been weak, but no change whatsoever. :( From the little googling that I did, I thought perhaps the fly wheel is not engaging, but I have yet to find a good diagram of how/what/where to find the 'gear' for that. *sigh* If anyone can help me with that, maybe I can try cleaning and then WD40 as it was suggested that all of the dust & grime on this gear, may be the culprit. I am somewhat competent with the simple, obvious stuff, but not much beyond that. I of course already checked the oil and I do that every time prior to using the mower also. I think I need to finish reading all of your posts before I post additionally. |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler~Won't Start~Not Battery
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| Hi again, I had to change the subject line a little bit because the forum format would not allow me to post a second time right after my other post. grrr......!!! Dave, thank you for your post. The mower will not start at all e.g. all I can hear is a soft spinning or whirring like something is turning but that's all. It's not the battery as I charged it and the mower never did just make a click noise and I am familiar with bad battery. It has been sufficient amount of time now for motor to have dried so I will go out this evening and try to start it again and I will have the hood raised so that I can observe and get back to you. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me. Karen |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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He's a link to the Kohler manual.
http://www.kohlerengines.com/common/resources/tp_2450_c.pdf It sounds like the starter drive clutch is defective. Look on page 149/ for a diagram.
It might be a matter of cleaning the clutch mechanism or replacing. |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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Karen,
If the solenoid is not engaging the starter gear into the flywheel you will hear the whirring noise you described and the motor will not turn over (I have a 1991 craftsman tractor that does that all the time). The fact that you blew off the dust then washed it "could" have caused some of the dust you talked about to get in between the starter shaft and gear. This is not something difficult to remedy. I know you said you're not mechanically savvy but you sound intelligent so you've got a good chance at fixing this. The first thing I would try and the simplest (if the mower has gears and not a hydrostat transmission), is place the tractor in the highest gear (if it is a six speed, then sixth gear), let out the clutch as if you were driving and rock the mower back and forth a little bit. Have the hood up so you can see if the engine is turning. It only needs too turn a little bit. Once it moves try starting it with the key. The reason for this is on a rare occasion the flywheel will get in "just the right spot" and the starter gear can't engage. If this doesn't work, you're going to have to get to the starter gear and spray some lubricate on the shaft the gear rides on, and possibly move it slightly with a large screwdriver to "break it loose". Let us know how it goes. Dave |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| Whenever this forum will not let me post twice on same subject,at the end of the "Subject of Posting" I add a _,-, +, =, /, >,? .Any lttle thing to make it read differently. TBK |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| i had a problematic solenoid a while back on a scotts - made the starter motor behave weirdly ... similar to your description. Nice thing about replacing the solenoid is that its not a terribly expensive item ($20 +- ) - and its a relatively easy part to swap out. Chics on lawn tractors... that sounds hot ... YOU GO GIRL!!! Good luck to you ! |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| Well guys, thanks for all your help. And, thanks tom k de for that little hint. Yeah, that was a little frustrating and I ended up starting another thread. grrrr....!!! My common sense alluded me....your idea is perfect! njdpo, I thought about the starter, but again don't have the knowledge *yet* to attack that one either. I did take Dave's suggestion and lifted the hood and attempted to start again. I could nothing really happening, but I am leaning more toward the solenoid/starter. I am going to figure out where the little 'darling' is and attempt to clean at the very least. Thanks for the kudos and you do what you have to since DH is out of town a lot. I have learned A LOT about New Holland tractors too as I mow the pastures and have had to do a little troubleshooting on the NH too. *sigh* But, I would much rather do that than clean the house. :) |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please! **##
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| Bill, sorry I missed your post before. Thank you MUCH for the link to the manual. I was able to locate and clean the starter and then decided to jump start the mower because I was not getting that great of a charge even after having charged it. (not to worry guys, I have jump started other mowers as well as NH tractor) and WOOHOO!!!! She started right up! I am so happy just because I was able to 'fix it' myself! "I am woman, hear me roar!" Thank goodness for an easy 'fix' and thanks to all of you for your great suggestions and help! :) I don't look forward to my next 'cry' for help, but sure is nice to know when the time comes, I can come here for assistance. Now all we need is more rain. I won't be mowing around the barn and/or the pastures for quite a while until then for sure. Karen :) |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| Feedback on a successful solution is always appreciated.It can often help out other people that have the same problem. So many people never respond back, so we don't know if the problem was fixed, or if they gave up. That gets a little frustrating, after one spends their time trying to help.
We need our "strokes" too!:-) |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| Bill, you are so right! Not only is it the right thing to do e.g. to show some gratitude, but also so that others with similar problems can have an answer! I think my battery is 'ok' and I do have an on board amp meter, but possibly a weaker battery coupled with a dirty starter was enough to cause a 'no start'....or maybe the lawn tractor gods decided to smile on me?! :) |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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Once a Lawn Tractor battery get's to be 2 years old, it becomes suspect.
Some do last longer and others shorter.
It seems to vary quite a bit. I guess the amount of vibration and the quality of the charging system comes into play, plus probably other factors.
Some charging systems are pretty rudimentary, giving "peaky" voltage pulses and possibly a small AC voltage component. I would think that you probably have one of the better "regulated" systems, but without model#'s etc., it's hard to say for sure. IF it has an electric PTO, it's more likely to have the better system. |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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| Hi everyone - I have a somewhat similar problem in that my Scotts mower with 20hp Kohler Vtwin engine wont start. I have been able to start it by jumping it with my car, but after mowing and turning it off, it wont turn on at all. After trying to charge it a bit I get a series of clicks (from the solenoid?). Any comments or suggestions? Thanks! |
RE: Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Please!
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Sounds like your battery caught a bus out of town. It's gone.
***"After trying to charge it a bit"***
How long is "a bit"?? What AMP rate are you charging it with?? It's possible that your tractor charging system is not producing enough current to charge the battery BUT....that scenario is unlikely to be the case IF your Scott's has an electric PTO to engage the cutting deck. If your tractor has an electric PTO, and you have had no problems of the PTO "disengaging" the deck while you are mowing...........but yet, the tractor will not restart and the only response you get is some "clicks"........your battery is "real gone". How old do you believe the battery to be? Do you own a volt meter (hand held voltage tester)? If you have a volt meter, check the voltage across the battery posts while the engine is running at near wide open throttle. The volt meter should register a reading of 13.0 to 13.6 Volts DC while the engine is running near full RPM. Next, cut the engine off. Now read the voltage across the posts again. Your battery voltage this time is probably going to be near 12 volts, and, you may be able to see the battery voltage slowly dropping. Next test. Hold the voltmeter test leads in place on the battery post while a helper tries to start the engine. If the battery is OK, the volt meter will only drop to about 6 or 8 volts (and the engine would possibly start). If the voltage drops to near zero, the battery is no good. |
Really old thread about Craftsman Twin Kohler Won't Start~Help Pl
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| Oh, please feel free to begin your own thread for a new problem. We have a big supply of new threads and we don't mind if you get one of your own :^) |
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