21 replies to this topic

[Husky]

When you disconnect the wire you eliminate the harness as your problem.  So if you still don't have spark don't bother chasing the blue wire.

 

That is not a ground lug to the engine - it's an external connection to the wires under the shroud.  If you don't have spark with the blue wire pulled the wires under the shroud might be the problem.

 

When I get to the shop this morning I'll throw an ohm meter on mine and see what it reads with the harness wire disconnected.

 

*****EDIT*****

 

My kill lug on the engine reads 148.9 kilo-ohms to ground.

 

Thank you for that info. I'll start off with disconnecting that blue wire and see if I get spark. If I get spark then there is something shorted in the harness right? It has to be some sort of a short because the last few times I started it the thing cranked and would not start. I opened the hood and did not really do anything else and it started. That happened two times before it finally just stalled one day and got into the state that it is in where there is just no spark. 

[MiCarl]

Thank you for that info. I'll start off with disconnecting that blue wire and see if I get spark. If I get spark then there is something shorted in the harness right? It has to be some sort of a short because the last few times I started it the thing cranked and would not start. I opened the hood and did not really do anything else and it started. That happened two times before it finally just stalled one day and got into the state that it is in where there is just no spark. 

 

The key switch shuts the engine off by grounding that blue wire.  If you get spark with the blue wire disconnected from the engine then your issue is on the chassis rather than the engine.

 

I'm not familiar with your tractor.  Any safety switches it has will also ground the blue wire to kill the engine.  For example, my Speedex was set up so if the operator seat was unoccupied it would ground that wire and kill the engine.

 

Your symptoms with the hood sound a lot like a pinched or worn wire.

[Husky]

On this 1669 typically when a safety switch is not on the starter will not even crank over i,e. brake not on, pto switch on, etc... i'm leaning towards a shorted wire. Hopefully my test will eliminate 1/2 the problem. I'll keep you posted.

[tater195]

I have seen key switches get wet and short the kill circuit and still crank, PTO switches can do the same thing. They have separate circuits for kill and crank. One could be working fine and the other be shorted. 

[Husky]

Well I put the spark tester on this morning and pulled that wire from the connector and walla, I've got spark. At least I can now move it around till I figure out what has shorted out or where it shorted out. Thank you for all your suggestions much appreciated.

[Husky]

So that blue wire goes into the harness. The short could be most anywhere I'm guessing. I have a feeling that this is going to be tough to track down. The only good thing is that it was very intermittent before it failed for good. I'm going to start by crawling below the tractor and look for any obvious worn wires. I wonder if the ignition switch could be bad. 

[MiCarl]

Check the harness near any pinch points.  The hood hinges and latches are the first place to look.

 

I'm not sure how your switch is wired.  If it's got individual connectors you can disconnect the blue wire there to eliminate the switch.

 

If all your wires in one connector and it has a recoil starter you can unplug the switch and give the cord a pull.