Our 2010 Bad Boy ZT is sick.
When we were gone for the summer we had a friends 9 year old son mow for us. (he bought his lifetime hunting license with the money along with some Dads help)
He shut off the blades coming across the driveway and reengaged the blades when getting to the other side.
The engine died and would not start for about 15 minutes. Dad called me and I thought they had one of the controls in the wrong position, but while on the phone the engine finally started so they moved it to the shop and we got home a couple weeks later with Dad bringing out his mower.
First thing found was that the pigtail going to the PTO electric clutch was broken in half because the pin that holds the clutch housing from rotating was broken off.
Easy fix I'm thinking. spliced the pig tail back together and replaced the 5" grade 8 bolt that holds the clutch housing in place.
Took it to the yard and only one cylinder was firing which has been a problem developing intermittently.
Time to fix that. The 27hp Command Kohler is 12 years old and the factory no longer uses the original coils, offering a replacement. Bought the pair of new ones, did the rewire job for the upgrade and started up just fine.
Took it to the yard, ran fine for less than a minute although there was some difficulty getting the blades started, finally coughing, sputtering and finally throwing the belt twice. Very rough blade engagement.
Turned off the blades and it started up running fine.
So, took it back to the shop and pulled the clutch pigtail, engine off and engaged the blade switch. 12.8 volts DC. Just fine according to the specs found on the internet for that clutch.
Attached the pigtail with the engine off, ignition on, and engaged the blades. Voltage dropped to 11.5 VDC. Factory resistance standard on the clutch coil with an ohm meter should be 2.7 ohms. Mine reads 2.1 with a calibrated Fluke meter. That brings up some questions. Windings going bad?
Fired up the engine and engaged the blades after removing the belts to make sure there wasn't a mandrel bearing going bad. All loose and no slop.
The mower died almost instantly and would not start. Not even a click, so started at the battery with full voltage and spotted a 30 amp control voltage fuse. Pulled the cover and everything inside was melted. The 30 amp fuse blown.
So, what happened first? coils lock up and break the pin, breaking the pigtail or did it rub for awhile after the pin broke from long term fatigue causing heat/partial melting in the fuse block so it wouldn't start for 15 minutes on the initial failure?
Could the already weakened/partially melted fuse block have low amperage causing the clutch to not operate properly? That's my hope as a new PTO clutch is around $200 on top of the $160 in coils.
Looked under the deck, blades worn out. $80 later, new blades.
It's 12 years old, doesn't use a drop of oil and has ran perfectly to this day other than the coil blipping out on one cylinder for a moment or two occasionally.
I'll buy two new fuse blocks tomorrow(one for a spare if the first burns up again) and see if that is the cheap fix. If not, a new Warner PTO Clutch will be on order. I won't buy some of the cheaper chicom knock-offs on Amazon.
When we were gone for the summer we had a friends 9 year old son mow for us. (he bought his lifetime hunting license with the money along with some Dads help)
He shut off the blades coming across the driveway and reengaged the blades when getting to the other side.
The engine died and would not start for about 15 minutes. Dad called me and I thought they had one of the controls in the wrong position, but while on the phone the engine finally started so they moved it to the shop and we got home a couple weeks later with Dad bringing out his mower.
First thing found was that the pigtail going to the PTO electric clutch was broken in half because the pin that holds the clutch housing from rotating was broken off.
Easy fix I'm thinking. spliced the pig tail back together and replaced the 5" grade 8 bolt that holds the clutch housing in place.
Took it to the yard and only one cylinder was firing which has been a problem developing intermittently.
Time to fix that. The 27hp Command Kohler is 12 years old and the factory no longer uses the original coils, offering a replacement. Bought the pair of new ones, did the rewire job for the upgrade and started up just fine.
Took it to the yard, ran fine for less than a minute although there was some difficulty getting the blades started, finally coughing, sputtering and finally throwing the belt twice. Very rough blade engagement.
Turned off the blades and it started up running fine.
So, took it back to the shop and pulled the clutch pigtail, engine off and engaged the blade switch. 12.8 volts DC. Just fine according to the specs found on the internet for that clutch.
Attached the pigtail with the engine off, ignition on, and engaged the blades. Voltage dropped to 11.5 VDC. Factory resistance standard on the clutch coil with an ohm meter should be 2.7 ohms. Mine reads 2.1 with a calibrated Fluke meter. That brings up some questions. Windings going bad?
Fired up the engine and engaged the blades after removing the belts to make sure there wasn't a mandrel bearing going bad. All loose and no slop.
The mower died almost instantly and would not start. Not even a click, so started at the battery with full voltage and spotted a 30 amp control voltage fuse. Pulled the cover and everything inside was melted. The 30 amp fuse blown.
So, what happened first? coils lock up and break the pin, breaking the pigtail or did it rub for awhile after the pin broke from long term fatigue causing heat/partial melting in the fuse block so it wouldn't start for 15 minutes on the initial failure?
Could the already weakened/partially melted fuse block have low amperage causing the clutch to not operate properly? That's my hope as a new PTO clutch is around $200 on top of the $160 in coils.
Looked under the deck, blades worn out. $80 later, new blades.
It's 12 years old, doesn't use a drop of oil and has ran perfectly to this day other than the coil blipping out on one cylinder for a moment or two occasionally.
I'll buy two new fuse blocks tomorrow(one for a spare if the first burns up again) and see if that is the cheap fix. If not, a new Warner PTO Clutch will be on order. I won't buy some of the cheaper chicom knock-offs on Amazon.
