Problem diagnosed - Thanks Guys!

landshark67 · Aug 26, 2012

So, yesterday I'm cutting grass with my BX2660 and decided to take a short break. Less than an hour later (wife needed some things done) I go to resume and the tractor wouldn't even attempt to turn over. Seemed like a dead battery, so I pulled it out and took it into the garage and put it on the charger. One light out of five, not good. Left it on the charger and it got up to three lights out of five pretty quick, so I waited. Several hours later still no more progress so I disconnected it and started trying to open it to check the fluid level. Cap didn't submit willingly and I didn't force it. Put it back on the charger and almost instantly the charge indicator goes to green, indicating a full charge.

I decided to leave it slow charge over night just to be sure.
This morning I put it back in and... Still nothing!

So, I come in the house and log in here and do a quick search and, VOILA! Found out what I needed to know. Battery was showing a reading of 12.6V until I tried starting it, then it dropped to 12.0 - which according to my owners manual is about a 25% charge. Good news is that the battery is still under warranty, just gotta wait 'til tomorrow to get it.
Just wanted to say thanks to all the great people who help out around here by providing good information.

thavil · Aug 26, 2012

Just for kicks, try moving the PTO lever down a little and the back to the off position and try starting again. If this doesn't work, move your forward/reverse pedal back and forth and try starting. You may have a safety switch engaging and this will prevent the engine from turning over.

easygo · Aug 26, 2012

The fact that it does nothing points to a safety switch in the open position as thavil suggested. Jiggle the PTO lever and all other paddles and such that has a switch.

PhilY · Aug 27, 2012

+1 on the previous 2 comments. If you don't hear any clicking at all from the starter, its not a battery issue. If the engine were to turn but not fast enough to start, then we could say it was the battery's fault. Check the levers and switches with safety sensors and then retry starting it.

landshark67 · Aug 27, 2012

This is why this is such a great place! Turns out it WAS an open safety switch. I engaged then disengaged the PTO lever and all was/is good again! Thanks all.

wrooster · Aug 27, 2012

landshark67 said:
Battery was showing a reading of 12.6V until I tried starting it, then it dropped to 12.0 - which according to my owners manual is about a 25% charge.

Just wanted to follow this up... even though you discovered the issue, note that the battery voltage will sag when the starter is engaged. The starter requires a lot of current from the battery, and this will reduce terminal voltage. Depending on temperature and a few other factors, the battery voltage may even sag to around 10.5V during starting. This is normal. As long as the starter is turning rapidly enough against the engine's (appreciable) compression to start operating from combustion, all is well.

Wrooster