Briggs & Stratton lawn mower was working fine, but it won't turnover now(batt fully charged). It has a safety feature, or kill-switch, that doesn't allow the mower to go in reverse while the blades are engaged. When I was backing up, the mower deck dropped down and engaged the blades, and the mower shut down abruptly. Now the mower won't turn over at all. Any troubleshooting tips?
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@stormy, thanks for your reply. The weather was fine, and the grass not very long, and not bagging the clipping. It did scalp part of the lawn, but only briefly before shutting off. The spark plug is new. The mower is about 14 years old. I have not tried to turn the mower over, its been raining the past few days and I don't have a garage. I do use non-ethanol fuel. My father-in-law mentioned that it might have something to do with a diode in the electrical system. thanks for the tip of hanging around the mechanics, i'll be sure to do that. ;)– wellingtonMar 28, 2017 at 17:57
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This is sorta lame but you can UP VOTE me. I've made our discussion into an answer, we'll see if that is OK. I had to learn on the spot to fix these GREAT machines as foreman leading crews. I found a super shop that helped me make my routes and fixed the stuff I could not fix within hours. Helps to waggle the eye lashes, too. Not saying you should do that but build their egos and you shall get far better service and learn stuff so you don't have to use them so often!!– stormyMar 28, 2017 at 18:48
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Can you post the model of the lawnmower? I'm not quite sure what type of safety interlock it has in place. If it were simply a switch (say, connected to the drive selector) then moving it out of reverse (or disengaging the blades) should disable the kill switch.– HariMar 31, 2017 at 21:13
1 Answer
What was the weather like, the lawn when the deck dropped in reverse? Did you see any scalped lawn when you moved the deck? Take the spark plug OUT and turn this mower over (towards the oil input). Take the blades off and examine the flow mechanisms. I am concerned the deck dropped down. The mower shutting down is a very sensitive sensor which is good. How long had you been running this mower (Briggs & Stratton is the best or at least used to be the best)? How LONG was the grass you were cutting? Were you bagging clippings? Clean out anything hampering the flow; plastic, clogged grass – stormy 22 hours ago
Inspect your spark plug. Do you have a replacement you could insert to rule out the plug? How sharp are your blades? Was there a grass plug to the bag? Did you try to turn it over AWAY from the oil tank? Do you have replacement gas and air filters? Cool thing about these 2 stroke engines is if you keep the dirt out they will last forever...replacing filters and perfect oil gas mixture. Are you using NON ETHANOL gasoline? If and when you take this in, don't leave the store. Hang around and KISS ASS with the guys that fix...they LOVE TO teach you the basics. Sounds like a plug. – stormy 22 hours ago
@stormy, thanks for your reply. The weather was fine, and the grass not very long, and not bagging the clipping. It did scalp part of the lawn, but only briefly before shutting off. The spark plug is new. The mower is about 14 years old. I have not tried to turn the mower over, its been raining the past few days and I don't have a garage. I do use non-ethanol fuel. My father-in-law mentioned that it might have something to do with a diode in the electrical system. thanks for the tip of hanging around the mechanics, i'll be sure to do that. ;) – wellington 45 mins ago
You've pretty much done all you can and very well I might add!! Please add a postscript when you are done making best friends with those mechanics! If they aren't amenable find another shop...seriously!! btw, I've NEVER found a 'mulching mower' that actually worked. There are great fertilizer formulations that add bacteria whose job it is to decompose those clippings. I threw out leaving the clippings altogether. Bag and use those clippings as mulch behind your plants and thinly. Great stuff for that application! Check out Dr. Earth Lawn Fertilizer as an example. Worth every penny!! – stormy 30 secs ago edit