# Riding mower wont start



## twm42766 (May 25, 2004)

The Battery seems to be good. It worked fine the last time I used it about a week ago, cut grass, then parked it. Went out to start last night, and would not even turn over. I checked the battery, and its fine. I think its one of the safety switches. I think there is one where would have to have the clutch pressed down, and have to be sitting on the seat. Is there an easy way to bypass or test these switches to see if they are bad like the one on the clutch?


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## leolav (Sep 16, 2003)

My guess would be to check the obvious ones.

Solenoid and inline fuses on the MTD's are notorious for going bad. Just work your way from the battery to the solenoid to the starter. My bet would be that it is one of those rather than a safety switch. If it is a safety switch they are easy to bypass, although not recommended. Remember they are there for a reason.


Also, make sure your blades aren't engaged. Even though may seem obvious, sometimes forgotten.


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## memmurphy (Sep 18, 2003)

Welcome to tractorforum twm42766!:friends: 

Just to expand a bit on what Leo said.

How you bypass the switch depends on whether it needs to be open or closed to let the engine crank and run. This varies from one model and manufacturer to the other. The safest way to test them would be to use a Volt-Ohm meter. Set it to read continuity, than activate the switch and see if the reading goes from short to open or vise versa. You can also test the fuse with this feature. Also you can use it to check if the voltage is getting to the starter terminal through the solenoid.

Hope this helps,

Mark


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