Craftsman Lawn Tractor Starter Not Working - Fixed Easy & Free

The starter on your lawn tractor is not a complicated device. In my experience, the starter is not the problem. In this video, I easily fix the problem with my vintage Craftsman 917 mower. Hopefully it can provide you with some ideas on how to fix yours as well.

[@ldynasty.5024]

Great video. Thank you.

[@stevenm3141]

The solenoid won't engage until all saftey devices are meet. Putting more power on the starter only rotates the starter motor, won't engage the solenoid. Parameters must be meet and then the starter motor will work. Solenoid is a device that's at the end of the starter gear that slides in and out to engage engine crank gear.

[@garybray3614]

All true, but he bypassed the solenoid. His battery cables acted as the solenoid. I have bench tested many starters with direct 12V and starters completely off the motor.

[@BaptistJoshua]

Couldn't it be a finicky dead man switch? Mine has that problem, so I beat it like a Biden voter and after multiple hits, it works fine. But normally it will start, as long as there is no load. Try to load and it shuts down like a millennial with a miniscule amount of stress.

[@mbrenengen]

Well, no, it was the connector with the two wires that go to the starter was unplugged. My question was what those do and how they interrupt the starter from working.

[@BaptistJoshua]

@@mbrenengen Right. I am saying that a finicky dead man switch can cause a similiar response, at least if you have a load. Tonight I was mowing and my mower just shut off. Tried to restart. No sound. Nothing. Got off and saw water dripping out of my seat. I knew from time past that if it has any water in the seat from rain, it can affect the dead man, so I have to hit it a bunch of times.