# Cub Cadet LTX1040 Starting Issue



## apowell

I am the new owner of used Cub Cadet. It has a new battery and a freshly rebuilt starter. The problem is it won't start. It cranks about halfway and stops. I have been reading about the automatic compression release on the Kohler SV590 and this seems to make sense. When I pull the spark plug the engine and starter spin just fine. Has anybody else had a problem with the acr? Is this something a shade tree mechanic can handle or do I need professionals?


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## Mickey

We seem to be having a rash of starting issues with Kohler engines.

If you are sure the battery is charged and all wiring has good clean and tight connections, my suggestion is to take a look at the starter solenoid. I'm thinking for this engine the solenoid is separate from the engine and I'm not sure where it is located on your equipment. Once found, I'd put a jumper across the 2 battery cable connections and see if the engine turns over without difficulty. If it does, that indicated the solenoid is defective and needs replacement.


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## apowell

Thanks Mickey. I'll give it a try. I think it is located under the seat.


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## apowell

I tried the jumper wire across the two points and it still does the same thing. The motor spins about halfway then stops. Then it spins a little more and stops.


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## Mickey

Has the engine ever started after the rebuilt starter installed?

Have you taken any voltage reading to see if adequate power is reaching the starter? I'd be a little concerned if voltage was much less than 11V. If you do see low voltage, you'll need to start tracing the wiring circuit for bad connections. Could be at any one or more connections including the battery terminals.


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## essikr65

*start problem*

I am having the same problem starting. I tried using a fully charged battery direct to the starter and it still turns slow and stops . Removing the spark plug allows the engine to turn easily. The mower is four years old and it has the original starter.How can I test the starter and is there a problem with ACR on the SV590 engines? Thanks for helping.


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## greasefrogs

pull the air cleaner off and see if the butterflys are broke in the crab


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## jhngardner367

*starting*

I've seen the same thing on many units..not just Kohlers. I've found that it's due to (a) Bad grounds,or connections(b) Battery cables that aren't large enough to send the amperage/voltage[ mfgrs use the smallest/cheapest,to save money],(c) A battery that ,even though new,doesn't have the cranking power it needs, to turn the engine. I usually check the battery first,and if it is above 300 cca,and rolls another engine,I go to the cables.To check the cables,use a good set of jumper-cables.First,connect one positive end to the starter stud,and the other to the battery +,and if it turns the cables,OR the solenoid are the problem . If it still doesn't turn,retry,but connect the - cable to frame & battery grounds.This tells you if it's a bad ground. Next,try connecting the + end of the jumper cable to the battery +,and the other end to the battery-side of the solenoid,and try to start it using the key. If it does the same thing,the solenoid is weak,or has a bad ground. As I said ,the makers use the cheapest cables/solenoids,to save money.I usually use larger,aoutomobile cables/solenoids,when possible,and the largest cca rated battery for tractors. YES it costs more,but it usually cures the problem. By the way,most small engines with ACR's have to spin at/above 300rpm,for the ACR to work properly.


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## essikr65

*start problem*

Thanks for the reply. Tried jumper cable from + to the starter,didn't help. I will try using a jumper on the negative cable. I'm doing this with a fully charged marine deep cycle battery. 
After reading your post,I think I will replace the cables with better ones.I hope the problem is the ground cable,will post the result of the test.


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## essikr65

*starting*

Tried jumping both + and - battery cables. Hooked direct to starter and ground. The first try it turned it over several times than quit. Further attempts would only turn it till the compression stoke than it stoped. Turning it by hand past the compreeion stroke tried it again,still no luck. I've removed the starter and taken it apart. The brushes as well as the armature look OK,no visible problems.
I did replace the stock battery cables with heavier ones even though it did not help. What can I do next ,hate to get a new starter if it is something else.


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## Mickey

Not surprised about the cables. If there is nothing you can find that is causing the engine to bind, I'd say the starter is the problem.

Any chance you've taken resistance measurements of the armature measured at the electrical input and ground? Rotate the armature slowly while taking the measurement. Measuring this way you are measuring resistance of the complete assembly including resistance across the brushes & commutator. Is the reading consistent and what are you seeing for resistance?


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## jhngardner367

If you connected it to the starter,and had a good ground,I would guess the starter is weak.


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## essikr65

*starter test*

Tried reading the resistance while turning , it was not consistent. Not sure what scale to use but it varied all over . At standstill it was 0. No grounds from the armature poles to the shaft. I don't have an amp grabber to see what the current draw is while trying to start.


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## Mickey

essikr65 said:


> Tried reading the resistance while turning , it was not consistent. Not sure what scale to use but it varied all over . At standstill it was 0. No grounds from the armature poles to the shaft. I don't have an amp grabber to see what the current draw is while trying to start.


Based on your comments I see a couple possibilities. First, resistance should be quite low ~.5 Ohms or maybe a little less but not a dead short. If brushes are worn to their limit, they may not be able to exert full pressure against the commutator. Other is possibility of having problems with some of the windings which should show up as higher resistance. I'd explore both of these possibilities. Will need to disassemble the starer to do this.


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## essikr65

*still no start*

I'm back,starter eliminated as the problem . A new starter did the same thing.
Something internal in the engine must be the problem.Although I can turn the flywheel over the compression stroke by hand ,there is resistance. I took this to be normal ,guess not.
I did remove the deck and made sure the clutch was working .Is there a problem inherent with the SV590 S engines? Any ideas on what could be the problem with the engine??


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## essikr65

*problem located*

Found the problem,hope someone can verify and explain. The tab on the exhaust cam gear for the ACR weight had broken off. This allowed the weight to stay out and not release the compresson through the exhaust valve. Apparently the starter does not have enough umph to turn the engine without it.
Now for the good part,both of the cam gears are identical and have the alignment marks for both intake and exhaust. I want to switch the gears ,the intake gear tab for the ACR is OK. I don't know how the spring for the weight is positioned. Has anyone done this or is familiar with the spring arrangement. I could sure use a picture of how it goes. I took pictures of the gears,not sure how to upload them. I hope finding this problem can help someone else.


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## apowell

essikr65 said:


> Found the problem,hope someone can verify and explain. The tab on the exhaust cam gear for the ACR weight had broken off. This allowed the weight to stay out and not release the compresson through the exhaust valve. Apparently the starter does not have enough umph to turn the engine without it.
> Now for the good part,both of the cam gears are identical and have the alignment marks for both intake and exhaust. I want to switch the gears ,the intake gear tab for the ACR is OK. I don't know how the spring for the weight is positioned. Has anyone done this or is familiar with the spring arrangement. I could sure use a picture of how it goes. I took pictures of the gears,not sure how to upload them. I hope finding this problem can help someone else.


Were you able to repair this?


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## essikr65

Yes,swaping the gears works and the spring cost was less than $2. I did replace the gasket as well ,it was less than $10. The mower worked all last season and will be put into action this week. The weather here in Ohio has been great.


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## apowell

essikr65 said:


> Yes,swaping the gears works and the spring cost was less than $2. I did replace the gasket as well ,it was less than $10. The mower worked all last season and will be put into action this week. The weather here in Ohio has been great.


Glad that worked for you. Do you have the part # for what you used or where you bought them? Weather here in Missouri has been pretty good too. Need to get this thing going before the yard is a jungle. Thanks.


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## essikr65

I got them from a local mower shop,he had to order them . I think the parts came direct from Cub Cadet. I don't have the part numbers but he was able to look them up. Hope it works for you.


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## apowell

KH-20-089-06-S Acr. Spring 
KH-20-044-23-S Acr. Weight 
KH-20-468-03-S Thrust -Acr. Washer 
KH-20-041-01-S Closure Plate Gasket 

I got these part numbers of the Cub Cadet website. I was wondering about the spring also. Anybody got photos?


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## apowell

Well I finally got this thing apart. Only one gear had an ACR weight and it was broken (I assume this is the exhaust cam). Should the other gear have a weight also? Also wondered how to set the timing, do I line up both "ins" with the mark on the cam shaft? The gears are stamped with "in" & "ex".


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## Country Boy

Do you have a picture of the top face of the gear? There should be a mark on the crankshaft gear and one on each camshaft gear that you need to line up for proper timing. Its been a while since I opened a Courage engine, so I don't remember exactly what the marks look like. They usually are a line or a dot stamped or molded into the gear.


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## essikr65

Only one gear has an arc weight, the timing marks are are on each gear .One for the intake side and the other for the exhaust gear. The spring and the stop was broken on my exhaust gear. The cams are the same and can be switched.Just line up the marks accordingly.


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## apowell

Thanks for the help. I did get this fixed. I was off a little on the timing but a buddy helped me and got everything going. Now for some bad news, I let my brother borrow this and he broke the timing belt for the blades.


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## bamabuilt

Ok so I have a 2009 cub cadet ltx1040 .....if you spray carb cleaber in the carb it will start for like 3seconds then go dead again....sounds like a fuel issue right!? Well ive cleaned the carb and still nothing....any ideas!?


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## NHboy

cold engine? it sounds like its just a cold engine when its cold like that it will go normal rpm and than go below normal if its really cold than it will go normal rpm and then go way under and then stop


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## pigeonman-77

I have a cub cadet that wont start spins over no compression exhaust valve rocker arm is loose I can take the rocker arm off whitout undoing the nut looks like the valve does not come all the way up. can u help


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## apowell

*ACR Spring Cub Cadet LTX1040*

How does the ACR Spring install?


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## rcbe

obtain engine mfgr/model/type/etc. off engine plate/decal. Go to engine mfgr's website - find downloadable sevrice docs for your particular engine - detailed info you need should be found there.


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## bfsummarell

check the valve lash (gap ) mine was having the same problem -valve lash was too much and wouldn't release compression -reset to factory specs - no more problems


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## apowell

Mower has been working fun until now. Battery light stayed on and mower would die halfway through the yard. I found the wires coming from the stator to the regulator were worn in half. I just bought some new wire and replaced them. Now the mower will crank and spin but never starts. It has spark and fuel to carb.


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## apowell

So I noticed the flywheel was off from the keyway. Pulled the flywheel and the key was sheared. Replaced with part #KH-25-340-02-S -Key, Straight Flywheel. Put it all back together and tried to start with exact same problem. took apart again and noticed key was sheared off again. It seems the key is too small. Is there a different part #? It's the SV590-0220 engine.


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## rcbe

flywheel, key and crankshaft must be Clean and Dry before assy. Then flywheel retaining capscrew must be torqued to engine mfgr's specs to prevent repeat shearing. Torque spec can be obtained from engine mfgr's website.


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## jhngardner367

Here's a link for the downloadable manuals.

http://www.kohler-engine-parts.opee...-manuals/free-kohler-service-manual-downloads


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## roninohio

I seem to have the same problem as essikr65 . Only difference is my Cub Cadet 1170 has the Briggs 17.5 . I will check all the things he did first. Hope I don't have to open the motor.
This site is really helpful!


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