[Martin Jacobson]

I have a Craftsman15.5 lawn tractor. The fly wheel would barely turn, then stopped totally. I replaced the 5 yr old battery, no luck. I replaced a 15 amp fuse that looked bad, no luck. The ammeter shows a draw when I turn the ignition, but nothing turns, no click even. I am suspecting the starter. Any ideas?

[21boat]

Bad battery or when a starter goes bad it draws a lot of power which makes it seem like the battery low. Check all battery connections and the connecting wires to the starter and the ground. Look under the seat, many mowers have metal contacts that are on the seat and the frame of the mower and when you sit on them this allows the ingination switch to work. There's also a safety devise when you need to depress the brake or clutch that if not working properly will not let you turn over the motor even if the switch shows power. Also a safety switch may be on the Neutral stick under the fender and that will do the same thing on not starting.

The fly wheel barely not turning could be rust build up between the flywheel and the armature. To check the flywheel remove all spark plugs so there is no compression in the cylinders and see how it spins now. While you are there check the little starter wheel and see if that's not jammed into the teeth of the flywheel. I added this in case it gets heaver

[ballengerb1]

Remove the spark plug and tell me how hard it is to turn the flywheel now.

[ITstudent2006]

I have a Craftsman15.5 lawn tractor. The fly wheel would barely turn, then stopped totally. I replaced the 5 yr old battery, no luck. I replaced a 15 amp fuse that looked bad, no luck. The ammeter shows a draw when I turn the ignition, but nothing turns, no click even. I am suspecting the starter. Any ideas?

Well both guys are right, if you remove the plugs then you take away the compression, if it's still having a hard time starting then check your wires to all services even your starter. If your flywheel turns nicely with the plugs off, then A) your battery/wires too, aren't pushing enough juice to turn it or B) could me semi0locked up more some Kroil down the cylinders. You would onl do this if it hasn't ran in a while ie: 5 years.