Z Force 48 Difficult Starting

[GBHRPS]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This older Z Force 48 has had several years of difficult starting cold or hot. I don't recall having this issue when I first purchased the unit used. What happens is that you turn the key to start and get a click, turn it off, turn to start and get another click, turn it off, turn to start and get another click, turn it off, and turn it on and the starter turns and fires up the motor with little fanfare.

Its almost as if the starter has stopped at a bad spot on the armature, and then after several part rotations it finally sits at a place where it has enough magnetic pull to turn the crank. The tractor never fails to start, it just takes 5 or 6 key clicks before it catches and turns the crank.

I also own an older JD 175 Hydro (14 HP Kawasaki) that suffered the exact same issue about 10 years into its life. JD had a simple factory kit to solve the issue which cost about $30 way back when. It was a simple automotive relay, a relay socket and about 3 or 4 wires that went to the ignition switch, a ground and the starter as I recall, that totally solved the issue. That old JD is now some 30 years old and turns over and starts first time every time.

Is there a similar solution to my Z Force 48? If so, I'll just copy the JD relay add on and see what occurs. And no, there is nothing wrong with my battery or its cables, ignition switch etc.

Gene

 

[JohnBuffaloMN]

Is there a solenoid on the starter? And yes, armatures can go bad too.

 

[radios1]

that really sounds like a bad solenoid.. think of it as a switch, when it works properly, the battery is connected to the starter, cranking the engine. when it don't work properly, it just clicks, since it's not making the connection between the battery and the starter!..

 

[tomplum]

If it is a Kohler engine, tehy have upgraded some of the starter motors so that they make 20% more torque. Post or look up your ENGINE numbers to see. If that's the case , don't buy a fish brand starter- get a Kohler.

 

[GBHRPS]

Ladies and gentlemen,

The zero turn was repowered before I bought it with a 26 HP B&S twin (originally the mower came with a 22 HP B&S twin)

 

[radios1]

Ladies and gentlemen,

The zero turn was repowered before I bought it with a 26 HP B&S twin (originally the mower came with a 22 HP B&S twin)

that's good, now measure the voltage going to the starter solenoid, if less than 11 volts, there's not enough voltage to engage the solenoid, if you have at least that voltage, then the solenoid went bad, they aren't high quality.. remember that the tractor went many years without a problem, what may have happened is either there is a bad connection somewhere, or the solenoid itself went bad.. copper wires don't get corroded inside the plastic covering.. and also, if the starter had a bad winding, it would never start, since it can't turn to a good winding.. the start kits bypass a problem in the wiring caused by a bad connection.. not that the wiring should be at least 14 Gauge, it SHOULD, but the existing wiring worked fine for years..

 

[GBHRPS]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Took all the electrics from the unit today and cleaned every switch, ground and connection and reassembled. Tested the starter solenoid and it is good. Result is no change, but the starter is partially turning a bit and then stalls. After several repeats of this the engine fires up. I'm starting to think that I have to reset the engine valves, as the starter appears to be fighting compression. It'll be a day or two before I can get back to it, so I'll keep you posted.

 

[Bob_Bainbridge]

Adjusting the valves shouldn't make any difference. If the valves are not seating there would be less compression making it crank faster. If they are seating you should have the normal compression which the starter should be able to handle. If you have a multimeter check the battery voltage both at the battery and at the starter. If there is much difference between the battery and starter readings one of the battery cables may be bad. If the voltage at both the starter and battery drops more than a volt or so, the battery may be bad or the starter is drawing too much current.

Bob B.

 

[100 td]

The reason the relay was produced as a kit, was to fix the bad contacts in the IGN switch and safety switches which create voltage drop to the solenoid coil. If your starter motor is turning slowly, then it is either limited by voltage drop, low battery volts, internal brush/armature/commutator problems or by physical resistance of what it is trying to turn. Most smaller engines like this have an automatic decompressor on the camshaft when starting, if it has worn out and you are getting full compression, you will have trouble starting. So you may have to replace the camshaft if this is the problem with your engine.

 

[1010]

Make sure the ground wire is clean and tight. The connection on the wire can also give problems also. The hot wire also make sure terminal is good on each end.

Ask around and see if you have a starter repair/rebuild shop they can test the starter possibly.

Put some jumper cables on it with a hot battery and see if it clicks repeatedly before starting.