# STX38 Electrical



## seabrz (Sep 26, 2011)

Hi,

First time poster here looking for some advice. I purchased a "beater" STX38 at the beginning of the summer for 200 bucks hoping it would get me through til the prices came down in the fall and I might make a more long term investment. Well, the damn thing ran like a champ all summer and I just might keep it. That was until last week.....

It is the black deck, 13hp, hydro version, by the way. The seat switch was by passed when I bought (actually, the entire seat was missing), but both the brake and PTO switched operated correctly.

It always started first crank. When I started it last week, I was distracted and flooded the engine. Rather than wait, I kept cranking and it finally started, and I mowed half the lawn. When I tried to restart it a little later, just got a click from the solenoid. After about a hundred tries, it cranked, started, and I started mowing. After about 20 minutes, it stalled, and another hundred key turns to get it started. Here is where it gets interesting....

As soon as I take my foot off the brake, it dies. If I leave the brake on and engage the PTO, it dies. Leave the brake on and the PTO off, it will idle for hours. I can catch the engine by quickly depressing the brake or turning the PTO off.

Since I cranked it so heavily trying to start after I flooded it, I think I burned out some switch or maybe the solenoid. What I don't understand is why both the brake safety AND the PTO safety are BOTH killing the engine - are they wired together? 

Any thoughts on what I should replace? Could the prolonged cranking when it was flooded have burned a wire from high amps?

Thanks,

Lou


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