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Mower will not start except when I jump solenoid. Jump black spade terminal on solenoid to negative battery terminal, the engine starts fine using ignition key. Also, lights and hourmeter do not work when running. Lights do work when connected to 12v direct and the light circut at the pull-apart connector is getting 12v when grounding meter to frame. Thought it was ignition switch and bought new one but same problem. The carb solenoid (clicks heard on first turn of key) and blade clutch are working. Seems the start solenoid, lights and hour meter are not getting a return ground. Any suggestions?
Sounds like you’re going to need to go in, and physically trace the wires for them. Do continuity checks to make sure a ground hasn’t broken inside insulation so that it LOOKS good but isn’t actually doing its job. You’re gonna have to do this with all the ground wires for those. What if you disconnect the ground from the chassis and hook it straight to (-) on battery? If that makes them work them might but need cleaning up to make good connection.
