Mountfield R28M ride on Mower not starting (Again!!)

sujsuj

Thank you all very much for the detailed responses. I truly appreciate everyone's time and support—this has been incredibly helpful.

I've managed to record two videos showing how the shaft behaves when the key is turned:

• Video 1: The shaft rotates and then moves upward, attempting to turn the larger wheel, but it seems to lack the power to do so. Once it rises, it stalls. (For context, before this test, I manually rotated the larger gear more than one full turn without much difficulty.)
  

        https://youtu.be/NMULXI4FP7c

       I then removed the cover again, pushed the shaft back down, and recorded a second video.

• Video 2: Similar to the first video, but in this case, the shaft manages to slowly rotate the larger wheel every time when I re-try rotating key.

       https://youtu.be/_N_CF8SIlmg

I've also attached some photos of the starter motor. I hope all of this helps in guiding the next steps.

Thanks again for all your help!

Section62

sujsuj said:

Thank you all very much for the detailed responses. I truly appreciate everyone's time and support—this has been incredibly helpful.

I've managed to record two videos showing how the shaft behaves when the key is turned:

• Video 1:
  

Is it me, or is there no audio on those clips?

sujsuj

Section62 said:

sujsuj said:

Thank you all very much for the detailed responses. I truly appreciate everyone's time and support—this has been incredibly helpful.

I've managed to record two videos showing how the shaft behaves when the key is turned:

• Video 1:
  

Is it me, or is there no audio on those clips?

sorry no audio..every time when I rotate key that make vibration and noise that in the earlier video..

Section62

sujsuj said:

Section62 said:

sujsuj said:

Thank you all very much for the detailed responses. I truly appreciate everyone's time and support—this has been incredibly helpful.

I've managed to record two videos showing how the shaft behaves when the key is turned:

• Video 1:
  

Is it me, or is there no audio on those clips?

sorry no audio..every time when I rotate key that make vibration and noise that in the earlier video..

Hearing exactly when the noise starts and stops and what (if anything) is moving at the time is vital to diagnosing the problem.

If nothing on that end of the starter motor is moving (or not moving much) when the noise happens would point towards the solenoid/relay and/or the battery.

But I'd guess that pinion is being moved into position by a solenoid rather than inertia, so the fault could be with that.  We also need to rule out the gears failing to mesh properly, but the lack of spinning suggests that probably isn't the issue.

FreeBear

Section62 said: If nothing on that end of the starter motor is moving (or not moving much) when the noise happens would point towards the solenoid/relay and/or the battery.

I'd be inclined to remove the lead from the negative pole on the battery and give the earthing point on the chassis a good clean. Judging by other photos, this machine is suffering from quite a bit of corrosion, and the symptoms suggest a possible earthing issue.

WIAWSNB

Page 5 - and where are we?

SS, could you please repost the video clips along with their associated sound tracks. (I'm curious - why is the soundtrack actually missing - were you cussing?)

And, have we agreed on the identificaion of the starter motor? It is the thingie that's under the starter motor pinion, yes? This:

Cool. Ok, You were asked to "look very closely at all the cables that go to it. Take photos of this too, please." And, instead, you posted this:

Have you done the other things asked of you - such as tracing the 25A fuse cables each way as far as they go? Checking the fuse doesn't have any signs of damage? Following ALL the cables from the battery to where they go, and then how clean the end connections are?

sujsuj

Section62 said:

sujsuj said:

Section62 said:

sujsuj said:

Thank you all very much for the detailed responses. I truly appreciate everyone's time and support—this has been incredibly helpful.

I've managed to record two videos showing how the shaft behaves when the key is turned:

• Video 1:
  

Is it me, or is there no audio on those clips?

sorry no audio..every time when I rotate key that make vibration and noise that in the earlier video..

Hearing exactly when the noise starts and stops and what (if anything) is moving at the time is vital to diagnosing the problem.

If nothing on that end of the starter motor is moving (or not moving much) when the noise happens would point towards the solenoid/relay and/or the battery.

But I'd guess that pinion is being moved into position by a solenoid rather than inertia, so the fault could be with that.  We also need to rule out the gears failing to mesh properly, but the lack of spinning suggests that probably isn't the issue.

I'll record and share another video soon. Thanks again!

sujsuj

FreeBear said:

Section62 said: If nothing on that end of the starter motor is moving (or not moving much) when the noise happens would point towards the solenoid/relay and/or the battery.

I'd be inclined to remove the lead from the negative pole on the battery and give the earthing point on the chassis a good clean. Judging by other photos, this machine is suffering from quite a bit of corrosion, and the symptoms suggest a possible earthing issue.

I will check. Thanks.

sujsuj

WIAWSNB said:

Page 5 - and where are we?

SS, could you please repost the video clips along with their associated sound tracks. (I'm curious - why is the soundtrack actually missing - were you cussing?)

And, have we agreed on the identificaion of the starter motor? It is the thingie that's under the starter motor pinion, yes? This:

Cool. Ok, You were asked to "look very closely at all the cables that go to it. Take photos of this too, please." And, instead, you posted this:

Have you done the other things asked of you - such as tracing the 25A fuse cables each way as far as they go? Checking the fuse doesn't have any signs of damage? Following ALL the cables from the battery to where they go, and then how clean the end connections are?

Yes, I’ll post a new video with sound soon. I’ll also take a closer look at the starter motor shown in the photo above (marked with an arrow) and report back. Previously, I misunderstood and thought you were asking for a photo of the part that the key turns—that’s the photo I shared earlier.

I've already replaced the 10A fuse at at that time also replaced  25A as well. I’ll also retrace the wiring and provide an update shortly. Thanks very much.

sujsuj

Thanks very much again. I managed to have another go at it. This time, I noticed the knob was in the up position initially—possibly left that way from the last attempt—and it didn’t rotate at first.

I opened the case, pushed the knob back down, and then tried again. The video was recorded after that. I’ve also included a closer photo for reference.

I checked all the wiring as well and didn’t find anything unusual.

Thanks again for all the help!

https://youtube.com/shorts/HRe3MqNBqk4