I picked up this Scotts riding lawnmower last year. The weather has been fantastic, so I figured why wait until spring? We might as well dig into it to see what’s wrong.
Towards the end of last summer, I created a post on the Next Door App looking for free equipment to fix. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, but within a week or so I had managed to score 5 riding lawnmowers, 6 push mowers, 1 pressure washer, and a couple of snowblowers. Oh, and two boats!
To date, I’ve had way more luck getting equipment from this app rather than Facebook or Craigslist, for what it’s worth.
Not a bad haul, eh?
Tools Used (Commissions earned)
This Scotts riding lawnmower was one of the first machines that I got. The previous owner didn’t know a whole lot about the machine, but he was on hand to help me load it into my truck.
I was so busy picking up free equipment that I didn’t even have a chance to really look at any of them.
I was busy getting our property ready for winter. Only, the snow really never came. This has been the strangest winter that I can remember. We normally have several feet of snow this time of year, but we’ve only gotten a few inches this year – and it’s melted right away.
Scotts Riding Lawnmower
So back to this machine. Initially, I couldn’t do a whole lot of testing because it was missing the ignition key.
Using a remote starter switch, I could at least test the starter and the start solenoid. Which is a good thing because the start solenoid was completely fried.
The good news is that the start solenoid can easily be replaced by a generic solenoid. In this case, it’s a three post solenoid that grounds to the machine.
I was able to tell that the engine turned over freely, it had oil, and the gas tank was empty – all good signs.
Unfortunately, that was about all I could test. I had to order a solenoid and an ignition switch, as well as two tubes for the front tires as they kept going flat.
Repairs Done To Date
- Ignition switch replacement
- start solenoid replacement
Repairs/Parts for the next video
- Front tire tubes
- battery holder
- possibly one coil
- I have to look into the carburetor
I have gotten some of the parts in, but even with the new solenoid and ignition switch, I’m getting a weak spark out of one of the coils. It possibly needs to be replaced.
I also wasn’t able to get the engine to fire with carb cleaner through the air box. This should have bypassed the carburetor unless the choke valve is stuck in the closed position.
Scotts Riding Lawnmower Repair Video
For those who’d rather just watch the video instead of reading about it, you can find that here:
I’ve decided to kind of break the videos up into smaller segments. I’m still trying to be thorough with my explanation, so this video is still around 40 minutes.
I’ll continue with this project and post more videos and articles as I make progress, but I’ve also been hired to repair some other machines, so it’s not at the top of my priority list at the moment.
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