RK 25 blows engine stop fuse

[Mal102]

At about 3 hrs my RK 25 started blowing the engine stop fuse and the engine quits. Unfortunately it runs immediately after replacing the fuse making it near impossible to troubleshoot. It runs for minutes to hours and then stops with the blown fuse. A quick internet search revealed a few of the same problems with no hard fix. Pinched wires frayed wires and a bad solenoid seemed to be the problem but no definitive fix or wire location. Does anyone have a good fix? The local RK mechanic has been out sick and not responded to my queries.

 

[jaxs]

If you insist I'll walk you through troubleshooting but my advice is that with only 3 hours is don't mess with it and risk voiding warranty if major parts and repair become neccessary. Give dealer the choice of loaning you a tractor until his mechanic gets well or send you somewhere else at dealers expense.

 

[Mal102]

Sounds like reasonable advice. I'm going to do minor trouble shooting by rigging a 12v light in parallel with a fuse holder. When the fuse blows, the light should light and I'll leave the ignition on to see if it's a momentary short or continuous then jiggle wires close to the solenoid and see if I can find it. If it fixes itself when I turn the ignition off, I'll suspect the solenoid.

All this only as I'm waiting for help from RK.

 

[circled]

FWIW, I had a 40A fuse that suddenly blew and essentially would run for 15 seconds when replaced. It turned out a poorly routed section of harness got hot and melted through and kept shorting out. This was our RK24. The problematic portion of harness was under the cylindrical air filter area. Repaired it once myself with more insulation, the second time the travelling RK mechanic replaced and rerouted the section of the harness in question. No problems since.

 

[Mal102]

The, "run for 15 sec" sounds like the engine stop fuse but in my 25 it was 7.5 amps. I'll look for the section of wire you mentioned, thanks.

 

[Mal102]

I'm beginning to think the solenoid is a really high draw item eather by design or by malfunction. Look under your fuse cover and see what size fuse is called for in the "engine stop" slot. The 25 is 7.5 amps. If a 40 Amp is in that slot, the wires could likely melt unless they are of sufficient gauge. The 7.5 amp fuse will protect a whole lot smaller gauge wire than the 40 amp.

 

[Mal102]

Just looked at the RK 24 fuses. That fuse should be a 7.5 Amp. No wonder the wire got hot. I suspect we both have a bad solenoid.

 

[Mal102]

A quick follow-up. I fished around the large wire bundle on the right under the fuse panel looking for a frayed wire. Though I didn't find a problem, the tractor has been flawless since.