I was driving my lawn tractor up a ramp into a truck. It shut down suddenly. No lights. It won't turn over at all. The fuse is OK and the battery isn't dead. Any ideas what would cause the electrical system to shut off?

Is there power to both sides of the keyswitch when it is in the "on" position?

There is power on some of the leads in the harness going to the switch but it is a six lead harness so I'm not sure which are the sides of the switch.

Hi,
A bit vague, what do you own? Make and model?
Peace,
Clarke

It is a 2001 Craftsman 917.272082 lawn tractor. 17 HP. The battery is low, not dead. The problem is not that the battery is dead. The tractor shut down as I was driving it up a ramp into a truck and now it won't do anything. The lights should work even with low battery, and they don't. The ampmeter should flicker when you turn the key, but it does nothing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crigby

Hi,
A bit vague, what do you own? Make and model?
Peace,
Clarke

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Hello Crigby;

I'm trying to figure out how to troubleshoot the safety switches on riding mowers. Do you know where I can find the theory of operation or wiring schematics so I can read and understand how the wiring and switches are are supposed to operate. Or can you possible tell me. I understand electricity and can use a volt meter, It would just be helpful if I had a theory of operation.

Thank You!

Vince

[email protected]

Hi, I read the question about their lawn mower shutting off while loading it up, I've recently eexperienced the same thing and I figured it is related to the PTO switch. Something with that is draining the battery as I've had to recharge the battery several times while mowing the same time. A few times the mower pto would not engage, thus I checked fuses, wiggled several wires and was able to get it to work. Problem is there are several relays, wires, etc. to check. Does anyone know what specifically I should replace or what the issue is?