| Author | Message | ||
     Buellish |
I have an '05 Craftsman ZT 7000 zero turn mower with an 18 horse Kohler motor. It has a parking lever with two plunger type switches under it.The mower will crank with the parking lever in park,the drive levers in the out position,the PTO off and the operator sitting on the seat.When you put the parking lever in drive the mower dies.I replaced both of the parking lever switches and it still kills the motor.I've looked for any unpluged connectors,chafed or broken wires and not found anything. I'm at a loss as to where to go from here. | ||
| Glitch |
Not sure about the Craftsman, but I had the same issue with a Hustler, and a Grasshopper. Turned out to be the seat safety switch. | ||
| Glitch |
Oh yeah... Hated that I had to miss you and everyone Saturday. This weekend looks to be a winner. | ||
| Buellish |
Same here Glitch,its been a while.I'll be in South Georgia visiting the family this weekend. | ||
| Glitch |
At least we know we'll be in the same place at the same time, seeing as how TWO is one of our favorite places to be. | ||
| Carbonfibrebob |
Mike, +1 on the possibility of a seat switch problem. I'm an equipment manager in the golf industry, have been for almost thirty years. No experience with Craftsman equipment, though. Toro and Jacobsen mostly, with some Ransomes and JD thrown in for fun. Most safety switches are just a simple 2 wire on/off type of switch. Try jumping the safety switch with either a cotter key or a jumper lead depending on style of connector. Most of the run circuits use seat and neutral switches wired in series to provide grounding for the run relay. This relay grounds the ignition for shut off. If any switch in the series is faulty, the whole series doesn't function. There should be a wiring diagram in your owner's manual to consult. Pretty simple stuff, really. Good luck, Bob | ||
| Buellish |
Well,I bypassed the connector to the seat switch with a jumper but the mower still dies. | ||
| Buellish |
Bob,after reading your post I think I'll jump the drive lever and the PTO switches one at a time and see what happens.Since the seat switch seems to be ok. Thanks | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Reverse lock out switch. My MTD ride-on had the reverse switch stick with the same effect. It prevents you cutting backwards but if it sticks it kills the motor when you engage the cutter. | ||
| Buellish |
Innes,this is a zero turn mower.It has a pair of hydrostatic transmissions operated by two levers.Push forward to go forward,pull back to go in reverse.The only switches on the levers are to prevent cranking when there engaged. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Oooooh sorry, too high tech for me, still in the stone age on mowers at my gaff. You could just bypass all the switches & put a "deadman" on one of the levers. | ||
| Buellish |
"You could just bypass all the switches & put a "deadman" on one of the levers." I'm trying to get the mower and the building I keep it in ready to trade for a Moto Guzzi Le Mans III. It needs to be as close to new condition as I can get it. (Message edited by buellish on March 28, 2010) | ||
| Glitch |
Moto Guzzi Le Mans III, do tell! | ||
| Buellish |
Dave,its a bike that belonged to Glen Bewley, a semi famous Guzzi,Ducati and Vincent guy.I tried to buy it from him back in 1999.We couldn't quite get together on the deal and a friend of mine bought it and restored it. I am going to try and make this happen but if it doesn't I'll sell the mower and building and look for another Guzzi. | ||
| Glitch |
Awesome. I think I've met Glen before, I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about. He's a photographer right? Hope you get the mower up and going. About the seat switch. I run a Kabota with a Bush Hog when there's work, and the seat switch is messed up on it as well. What's wrong with it isn't the switch, but the seat. The place where the switch hits the seat is worn and no longer pushes the switch down. Took forever to figure it out, because everything looks fine, and the switch was new. I had to add to the seat bottom to get it to push the switch all the way down. In that case Duct Tape was the answer. Hope your answer is just as simple. | ||
| Buellish |
Yes,Glen is a photographer.I belive he worked out of Decatur. My seat switch seems to be working alright. You crank the mower and then get up off the seat,it will kill the mower. | ||
| Glitch |
Dang, well, without a milk crate, and some shed time, I can't figure it out from here. It's gonna be simple, a real forehead slapper I'd bet. That sort of frustrating troubleshooting tends to be right in my face once I find it. Best of luck! Wish there were something I could do. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
If the deal doesn't come off, they come up here fairly regularly. This one is on the French equivalent of Craigslist. Lots of time & money spent on it fully restored it says inc new clutch, driveshaft etc etc. http://www.leboncoin.fr/vi/97760388.htm?ca=6_s There's also this street legal race prepped one for not much more money. http://www.leboncoin.fr/vi/89508977.htm?ca=6_s I've no idea how this stacks up to US prices, but if you can't find one there, I can get you one shipped over. Mate of mine has a Le Mans with well over 200k miles on it. Here's a link to one of the big European vehicle sites to give you an idea of everyday prices. They're in € obviously, exchange rate is about 1.35 dollars. But as you can see, they're far from rare here. Bugger! link wouldn't work; Have a look on www.autoscout24.com & also www.mobile.de you can set both up in English. (Message edited by mr_grumpy on March 29, 2010) (Message edited by mr_grumpy on March 29, 2010) (Message edited by mr_grumpy on March 29, 2010) |
