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White MTD LT-165 Won't start

5K views 32 replies 7 participants last post by  38racing 
#1 ·
So I have a brand new battery, band new starter solenoid and I have power going to the positive pole and the spade tab which I assume goes to the ignition switch, but when I turn the key I get zero dash lights on and hear nothing energize. I wonder If I got the wiring wrong?


Chet
 
#3 ·
Check your fuse but I am confused by the above. The starter solenoid will have 2 large terminals and 1 or 2 small terminals. The +ve cable from battery (red) will be on 1 large terminal and with it may be a small wire (usually red) going to the keyswitch. The other big terminal will have the cable (again red) to the starter. The small terminal will have a small wire coming from the keyswitch but routed through some safety switches(which also might be your problem). If the solenoid has a second small terminal it's wire is grounded.

Sounds like your small wire is on the wrong large terminal and the cable from the other large terminal to the battery is not a ground wire but should be the +ve battery cable.
 
#4 · (Edited)
there is two poles on the starter relay.. one will have the red cable from the battery.. this would hook the + pole on the battery.. (there is a small red wire that goes to the fuse that hooks to this post too).. the other pole on the starter relay will have the cable goin to the starter..

if u have the + & the - hooked up wrong at the battery.. the starter will turn backwards.. the red wire goes to the + post on the battery.. the black wire is the ground or the -..
 
#5 ·
So I got the wiring corrected. I have replaced the solenoid, ignition switch, 30 amp fuse and the new battery reads 12 volts on the meter. I have power going to the positvie lead on the solenoid but I get noting on the starter side when I crank the key to the #3 postion (start). I also do not get dash lights when I turn the key to the #2 position
 
#7 ·
do u have 12 volts on any terminal on the starter switch..
 
#6 · (Edited)
If you jump with a wire across the large solenoid posts, the starter should turn.

There is +12v on the starter solenoid at all times. The relays ground the solenoid to engage it.

The wiring diagram is quite complicated. The ground for the starter solenoid floats from the frame ground. There are safety switches and relays that need to work to engage the starter solenoid. One of the relays may be loose or bad. The safety switches power the relays so there may be a loose connection or bad switch.

Diagrams are for 1998 and 1997. The 98 uses just safety switches and the 97 uses switches and relays.
 

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#8 · (Edited)
I just remembered that I loosend the mower deck engagement lever bolts (one was missing) when I removed the side cover to access the ignition switch. Could there be a safety switch connected to that lever or would the position of that lever affect power to the solenoid or is that all handled by the PTO switch?
 
#9 ·
the PTO needs to b in the OFF position.. this may b a manual leaver or a PTO switch.. did u check for 12 volts at the backside of IGN switch???????? if u don't have that .. it will never start..
 
#10 ·
when you say 12 v I hope you mean at least 12.4 volts. I hope you replaced the ignition switch with an exact copy. Another quick test to check if it's a safety issue is to remove wire from small terminal of the solenoid and jumper to the tab with +ve battery (available at the big lug where cable from battery is attached.). Should crank if solenoid and starter are good.
 
#11 ·
for measuring the volts .. this is done with all sorts of meters.. some show a dial witch u have to read.. some have a digital read out.. some do not show the tenth's of a volt..

he did not replace the IGN switch..
 
#12 ·
Where do you now have the cable from the - side of the battery connected? As stated aboove, the + cable goes from the battery to one large lug on the solenoid, then a cable goes from the other large solenoid lug to the terminal on the starter. The cable from the - side of the battery should be bolted to the engine block.
Also, where are you picking up the + 12v for the ignition switch? It will either be a second wire to the + side of the battery, or a second wire to the solenoid terminal that the battery + cable is on.
 
#16 ·
u may have the solenoid wired up wrong.. I asked if u had 12 volts on the backside of the of the IGN switch.. u did not confirm that.. also see the latest postin I made.. the OP is u.. (original poster)
 
#20 ·
So after a 2nd new Solenoid, 30 amp fuse and a new starter switch I'm still getting power to the solenoid on the positive side but nothing on the starter sided even when the key is turned to the crank position. I also get no dash lights in the #2 key position or nothing on the test light when touching the starter switch tabs when turning the key. I know this has to be something simple or obvious but what would prevent power from going through the solenoid to the starter wires?
 
#24 · (Edited)
the wire for the fuse (at the solenoid) must b hooked to the cable from the battery.. please confirm that.. if not.. ur not sendin 12 volts to ur IGN switch..

the other terminal (at the solenoid) should have only the cable to the starter..
 
#25 ·
I realized after rereading the first two posts from the OP that the way he had that solenoid wired would have resulted in a dead short across the battery if the solenoid ever did get energized, but thankfully, there was no power to the ignition switch to trigger the solenoid. Here is a rough representation of the way he said he had wired it.
Rereading his posts and diagramming it provided me with a better understanding of where he went wrong, and why mosts of the tests we've told him to do might not work. Now I'm hoping he ignored my last post about supplying power directly to the small terminal.
 

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#26 · (Edited)
the ground does not go to the solenoid.. it should stay put where he found it.. the starter needs to b hooked on the other terminal on the solenoid in ur diagram.. the lil fuse wire needs to b hooked where the cable from the battery.. thanks for makin ur pic..
 
#29 ·
the solenoid has 2 big connections & 2 lil connections.. we r talkin only the big connections.. one has the cable to the starter.. the other has the cable from the battery along with fuse cable..

how hard is that to get correct..
 
#31 ·
1st let me say thank you to all of the veterans that offered suggestions long after I had to step back and take a break from being burnt out on this problem. I have attached pictures to show the starter solenoid and how its wired. Facing you the right side large lug goes to the positive side of the battery under the seat. The left side mounting bolt shows the ground wire going to the negative battery terminal and the ground wire is touching the frame where the mounting bolt is. The large RED wire on left side large lug goes to the starter. There's also a smaller red wire that is bundled with the large hot wire on the right side large lug. The small green wire is the ground and one end is grounded to the frame under the solenoid and the other end goes to the fuse block. It should be noted that the solenoid only has 1 small blade and the white/orange wire appears to or should power the bundle of smaller ignition wires that connect the key and dash panel. Oddly enough the yellow wires also have a vacant unused spade connector with no place to connect as the solenoid has only 1 blade.

All this to say that there is no power on the left/ignition side of the solenoid under any condition (Key off Pos 1, Key middle Pos 2 and Key on Start Pos 3)

Test light shows power going in (right side large lug) but dead on the left side large lug.

I checked the oil level as this will cause a non start issue and its good. There are safety switches at the clutch pedal, PTO toggle and under the seat. Would any or all of these safety switches cause there to be NO power at the solenoid regardless of the key position? I should also point out that when working properly I always got dash lights when turning the key to Pos 2 and 3.
 

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#32 ·
The only time you should see 12v on the lug that goes to the starter is when the key is turned to the START position. Turning the key to START should supply 12v to the small wire on the spade on the solenoid. If you're not getting power on that spade the solenoid cannot activate.
 
#33 ·
I doubt very much that the mower has a low oil feature. Never seen that on any of my many MTDs. The solenoid grounds by the mounting bolts to the chassis. It looks right. But I'll repeat what others have said. A large cable goes from battery positive to one of large lugs on solenoid. That same lug has a small red wire leading to the fuse (I assume that you checked the fuse). Other large lug has only a large cable to the starter. The small tab on solenoid has a wire on it. Tracing it you would find it originates on S terminal of the battery switch and passes serially through brake switch and PTO lever switch (or electric pto switch) . On some mtds the brake switch mount gets bent and switch does not close. Sometimes it is still open when brake is locked but need further pushing to close it. As said ,repeatingly, the test of safety or key switch issues is tested by removing the wire from the small tab of the solenoid. Run a jumper from the large lug connected to the battery positive. If it cranks solenoid and starter are good and the problem is in the circuit from keyswitch to solenoid small tab. If not, try a booster cable from the large terminal with battery positive cable on it directly to the stud on starter. If starter is good it should crank. All of this assumes also that connection of the large cable from battery negative to the chassis is good.
 
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