Craftsman LT1000 stall when engage blades or gears - any help?


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Old 03-02-08, 10:40 AM
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Craftsman LT1000 stall when engage blades or gears - any help?

Hello, found this forum today, bookmarked it.
Way cool.
I need help, I fixed a sputtering problem by clearing the vent holes and cleaning the carb this morning (thanks to this forum) but when I went to engage the mower to drive it, it acts like it is under too much of a load and wants to stall if I continue. Same problem if I try to engage the blades. Tried both to see if they were related.
Another thing is, if I have the mower in neutral, parking brake engaged, and realease the foot brake it wants to do the same.
It seems like something is not disengaging to allow the belt from the motor to the transaxle spin while sitting still.
The seat switch is a common issue on this forum, but it is not that. It is as though it is too much of a load on the motor and wants to stall. Motor runs smooth and steady since the maintenance this morning.
2 years without rain here in Southern Cali and now it's time to mow. Grrrr.
It is a Craftsman Lawn Tractor, 2003
model 917.273140
17.0 HP Kohler motor
Electric Start Auto Transmission Hydro Gear Transaxle
Any help would be great.
 
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Old 03-02-08, 11:20 AM
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If the engine dies from simply releasing the parking brake with out putting the mower in a driven gear, then there may be a problem with your safety interlock. Since you don't think the seat switch is the problem, it could be a bad grounding circuit through the safety interlock, or a faulty relay module.
 
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Old 03-02-08, 12:13 PM
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Hi AAWrench,
I was trying to explain it is not an electrical issue. Got a little long winded and may have not said that. The stalling occurs in two areas:
1 if I release the foot brake (not parking) after starting.
2 if I put it in gear and try to let up on the foot brake.
And as you may know, raising the foot brake slowly as you would a clutch to slowly engage the gear. When I do that slowly, it acts like it is going to stall because it sounds overloaded, RPMs slow, etc.
Typing this makes me see it is apparently in the foot brake, but do not know why it would do that in neutral, but it does seem like it's not in neutral?!?!
 
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Old 03-02-08, 01:03 PM
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Look up under the unit and see if the drive belt has jumped off a pulley and jammed in a belt guide,
Possibly a idler pulley has locked up....
 
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Old 03-02-08, 01:13 PM
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Hi 31,
Nope, just came in to check answers here, and checked the belts, checked the brake to make sure it's not locked up.
Also, checked the linkage to the inside of the trans, bolt tight, and as I move the linkage, the head of the bolt moves with it.
Weird thing though is that I push the brake in to start it, when running I slowly release the brake pedal and it boggs down and will stall if I do not push the pedal back down.
No matter if in neutral or forward or backward.
When I (sitting on ground behind mower) reach in and pull the belt to the tranny the tranny fan blade/pulley moves no matter which direction I pull the belt. So it is not seized up. There is oil too by the way.
Hmmmm Help!
 
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Old 03-02-08, 01:28 PM
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Well, If the belt is fine it has got to be a safety switch shutting the engine down, Take the belt off the engine pulley and I bet you find it still will bog and shut down.

Either the seat or clutch pedal switch is where I would start. Make sure the seat switch plug is pushed on tight because there is a smaller switch inside this plug that is activated once it is plugged up.
 
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Old 03-02-08, 01:30 PM
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The reason I suggested it's electrical is that there is a switch on the brake / clutch pedal. If you let the brake out and your not sitting in the seat the engine will die and it does not matter if it's in a drive gear or not, since you alluded to the fact that it also does this when trying to engage the blades it makes me think that the problem lies in the safety interlock. If you can find the kill switch lead to the engine and disconnect it You can then try letting the pedal up or engaging the blade to see if the engine still dies. This will tell you whether or not the problem is in the interlock or not.

You can also try pulling out on the choke a little, this will give it a little richer mix and then try putting the blades on or moving the tractor. If it's stalling due to a lean fuel condition you may have a little success and this will tell you if you need to look at the fuel system.
 
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Old 03-02-08, 01:41 PM
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AA, and 31,
I did not know about the clutch/brake switch, but will go out and check it now.
I can get off the mower if the emergency brake is on and it will still run fine.
But take off the E brake and release or engage the blades and Phhhht, it want to bog down like it's cutting through 20" of weeds.
So off I go....
Check back soon!
Thanks
 
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Old 03-02-08, 03:50 PM
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Success!.... Some what...

It was the switch, although I am not sure which one!
I took the clutch switch and closed it, with good old duct tape.
And it started and worked great! Drove it around a cicle and then when I went to start the blades.... It wanted to die again!
So I thought, "Tape it too!"
I did and it worked!
I mowed for a half an hour, to make up what I lost wrenching today and now I need to see, what switch could it be?
There is 3 right?
Seat
Clutch/brake
Blade
Which one do you think and do you know how to check them, I mean are they normally open, normally closed, or combo of both?
Your help has been invaluable!
 
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Old 03-02-08, 04:33 PM
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They work both ways, Open and closed. It's probably the clutch switch since it wants to shut down when you let it up.
 
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Old 03-02-08, 04:37 PM
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It's probably the seat switch or the connector that plugs into the seat switch. Since both switches seem to cause the engine to die when activated, the system is not sensing anyone sitting in the seat. There is a small switch in the plug that attaches to the seat switch to prevent the switch from being unpluged and the unit operated. Take the tape off of the other two switches and reinstall them. Then simply test the seat switch with a continuity tester to see if it's working or not. If it appears to be ok then look at the switch in the plug, it's right in the center of the plug and you can activate it by pushing it in with a small screw driver.
 
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Old 03-02-08, 08:23 PM
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Thanks guys!
Can not tell you how much you've helped.
I had the seat switch jumped for an earlier battery issue and bet I did something when I connected it back up.
Did not know there was an internal switch too.
Those stinkers! (engineers)
Well the next day I can get out there I am going to check it out.
Will let you know.
Thanks again!
 
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Old 03-04-08, 12:24 AM
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It's the seat switch or the smaller switch between the terminals on the connector not being fully depressed when the switch is plugged in.
 
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Old 04-06-08, 06:13 PM
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Similar Problem...

I have a similar problem (when I let the clutch out the engine stalls). Here's my scenario: with the engine off, if I manually depress the clutch relay I hear an electrical click as if something is happening; the seat interlock has been clamped off for some time (inherited the tractor in this state) so I'm wondering if I should replace the seat interlock instead of the clutch relay.

Jim

This is a great thread, thanks to all who contributed.
 
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Old 04-06-08, 10:10 PM
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What kind of mower? Model#? On the original mower in question, there is no "clutch relay".
 
 

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