LT-155 No Start

[Red Horse]

Well I bought a very clean LT 155 lawn tractor for the wife to tow a cart with. Had a mower and I had the guy take it off. ended up with a charging problem and I replaced a couple of the magnets and that took care of that.

Lately you would hit the key and it would spin briefly then stop-but eventually spin motor and start. Now however hit the key and starter will maybe give less than a half turn and that it is. Pulled starter and it spins just fine. jumped starter solenoid and no difference. Battery okay and even with a jump pac on it, no change-spins a 1/4 or half turn and that is it. Starter switch filthy so pulled connector and shot WD in both ends-no change.

Its been suggested it could be the Pto disconnect switch or the brake interlock switch. Any opinions???
Thx

 

[Kish318420]

Pull the starter and solenoid have it tested at a starter shop. They should be able to load test the torque. Anything can be binding the starter with a load, with no load, no binding.

 

[tomplum]

You could have a tired starter. Jump direct to the terminal with a separate battery. + on the terminal and momentarily hit the the engine at a good ground point with the negative- it will spark. Obviously if it is better there are other issues. I would also see how it turns with the spark plug out and the lead grounded. You could have a bind between the stator and flywheel. And a bunch of ground magnets. . .

 

[Red Horse]

Thx guys-further thought about the PTO switch and brake interlock-thinking about those two items wouldn't it NOT turn at all? It does spin-but not a complete turn

 

[Red Horse]

Update- pulled plug and it spun like crazy. No hydro lock. Excellent mechanic buddy of mine came over thinking might have a bent pushrod. Pulled cover off and everything looks good. He now suspects it somehjow jumped time. He also mentioned that the Kohler engine has a feature that somehow opens valve on initial cranking to facilitate starting?? At least that is how I understand it.

In any case he has a call out to some Kohler "expert" for an opinion.

 

[tomplum]

These won't jump valve timing but they do shear the flywheel key. Many from the factory had flywheels that were not securely tightened. had one from 2004 the other day that had not been apart which had sheared the key and the bolt was easily spun w/ a box wrench. They will still crank over well enough though when this happens. They do have an ACR . Have you done any actual testing? I've had several tired starters on the Command singles. Should you replace it, use the OEM.

 

[Richard001]

Sounds like you need to adjust the valves. If the valve adjustment is to large, the compression release system will not open the valve to release some of the compression and thus the starter can't turn it over.

The fact that when you removed the plug, thus not causing the compression issue, the engine spins over just fine.

Richard

 

[Red Horse]

Thx all for these comments-stay tuned.

 

[tomplum]

Unfortunately, these have hydraulic lifters. A failed ACR problem rests with the cam itself with a very outside chance of a lifter issue.

 

[Red Horse]

Engine by the way is a CV-15S. The Kohler guy came back today and says it has a broken spring-the spring is the thing that provides the compression release on cranking...Make sense?