What a nightmare and it's still not fixed.

[SlugSlinger]

I think the clutch retaining pin broke because of the disengagement and reengagement, especially if the engine was at full throttle.

 

[dennishoddy]

I think the clutch retaining pin broke because of the disengagement and reengagement, especially if the engine was at full throttle.

Bingo!

 

[Foxfire5]

Our 2010 Bad Boy ZT is sick.
When we were gone for the summer we had a friends 9 year old son mow for us. (he bought his lifetime hunting license with the money along with some Dads help)
He shut off the blades coming across the driveway and reengaged the blades when getting to the other side.
The engine died and would not start for about 15 minutes. Dad called me and I thought they had one of the controls in the wrong position, but while on the phone the engine finally started so they moved it to the shop and we got home a couple weeks later with Dad bringing out his mower.
First thing found was that the pigtail going to the PTO electric clutch was broken in half because the pin that holds the clutch housing from rotating was broken off.
Easy fix I'm thinking. spliced the pig tail back together and replaced the 5" grade 8 bolt that holds the clutch housing in place.
Took it to the yard and only one cylinder was firing which has been a problem developing intermittently.
Time to fix that. The 27hp Command Kohler is 12 years old and the factory no longer uses the original coils, offering a replacement. Bought the pair of new ones, did the rewire job for the upgrade and started up just fine.
Took it to the yard, ran fine for less than a minute although there was some difficulty getting the blades started, finally coughing, sputtering and finally throwing the belt twice. Very rough blade engagement.
Turned off the blades and it started up running fine.
So, took it back to the shop and pulled the clutch pigtail, engine off and engaged the blade switch. 12.8 volts DC. Just fine according to the specs found on the internet for that clutch.
Attached the pigtail with the engine off, ignition on, and engaged the blades. Voltage dropped to 11.5 VDC. Factory resistance standard on the clutch coil with an ohm meter should be 2.7 ohms. Mine reads 2.1 with a calibrated Fluke meter. That brings up some questions. Windings going bad?
Fired up the engine and engaged the blades after removing the belts to make sure there wasn't a mandrel bearing going bad. All loose and no slop.
The mower died almost instantly and would not start. Not even a click, so started at the battery with full voltage and spotted a 30 amp control voltage fuse. Pulled the cover and everything inside was melted. The 30 amp fuse blown.
So, what happened first? coils lock up and break the pin, breaking the pigtail or did it rub for awhile after the pin broke from long term fatigue causing heat/partial melting in the fuse block so it wouldn't start for 15 minutes on the initial failure?
Could the already weakened/partially melted fuse block have low amperage causing the clutch to not operate properly? That's my hope as a new PTO clutch is around $200 on top of the $160 in coils.
Looked under the deck, blades worn out. $80 later, new blades.
It's 12 years old, doesn't use a drop of oil and has ran perfectly to this day other than the coil blipping out on one cylinder for a moment or two occasionally.
I'll buy two new fuse blocks tomorrow(one for a spare if the first burns up again) and see if that is the cheap fix. If not, a new Warner PTO Clutch will be on order. I won't buy some of the cheaper chicom knock-offs on Amazon.

Take your or borrow a friends .44 mag and put he dang thing out of it misery! LOL!

 

[montesa]

Bingo!

Interesting. So as far what you know now, can you explain the way the failures came about? I’m just trying to learn what I can and takes awhile to sink in.

 

[dennishoddy]

Our 2010 Bad Boy ZT is sick.
When we were gone for the summer we had a friends 9 year old son mow for us. (he bought his lifetime hunting license with the money along with some Dads help)
He shut off the blades coming across the driveway and reengaged the blades when getting to the other side.
The engine died and would not start for about 15 minutes. Dad called me and I thought they had one of the controls in the wrong position, but while on the phone the engine finally started so they moved it to the shop and we got home a couple weeks later with Dad bringing out his mower.
First thing found was that the pigtail going to the PTO electric clutch was broken in half because the pin that holds the clutch housing from rotating was broken off.
Easy fix I'm thinking. spliced the pig tail back together and replaced the 5" grade 8 bolt that holds the clutch housing in place.
Took it to the yard and only one cylinder was firing which has been a problem developing intermittently.
Time to fix that. The 27hp Command Kohler is 12 years old and the factory no longer uses the original coils, offering a replacement. Bought the pair of new ones, did the rewire job for the upgrade and started up just fine.
Took it to the yard, ran fine for less than a minute although there was some difficulty getting the blades started, finally coughing, sputtering and finally throwing the belt twice. Very rough blade engagement.
Turned off the blades and it started up running fine.
So, took it back to the shop and pulled the clutch pigtail, engine off and engaged the blade switch. 12.8 volts DC. Just fine according to the specs found on the internet for that clutch.
Attached the pigtail with the engine off, ignition on, and engaged the blades. Voltage dropped to 11.5 VDC. Factory resistance standard on the clutch coil with an ohm meter should be 2.7 ohms. Mine reads 2.1 with a calibrated Fluke meter. That brings up some questions. Windings going bad?
Fired up the engine and engaged the blades after removing the belts to make sure there wasn't a mandrel bearing going bad. All loose and no slop.
The mower died almost instantly and would not start. Not even a click, so started at the battery with full voltage and spotted a 30 amp control voltage fuse. Pulled the cover and everything inside was melted. The 30 amp fuse blown.
So, what happened first? coils lock up and break the pin, breaking the pigtail or did it rub for awhile after the pin broke from long term fatigue causing heat/partial melting in the fuse block so it wouldn't start for 15 minutes on the initial failure?
Could the already weakened/partially melted fuse block have low amperage causing the clutch to not operate properly? That's my hope as a new PTO clutch is around $200 on top of the $160 in coils.
Looked under the deck, blades worn out. $80 later, new blades.
It's 12 years old, doesn't use a drop of oil and has ran perfectly to this day other than the coil blipping out on one cylinder for a moment or two occasionally.
I'll buy two new fuse blocks tomorrow(one for a spare if the first burns up again) and see if that is the cheap fix. If not, a new Warner PTO Clutch will be on order. I won't buy some of the cheaper chicom knock-offs on Amazon.

Quoting the OP so everything is in one thread.
FIXED!
Discovered what came first, the chicken or the egg.
After discovering the melted fuse and fuse holder, went to town today and bought a replacement dual blade type that is designed a little different so I could watch the fuse if the element blew.
One side of the pigtail went to the clutch/starter solenoid and the other went into the main wiring harness.
Stripped the metalic wiring jacket back aways, clipping the wire and putting an inline wire connector on it with my Ideal crimpers.
When attaching the other end to the clutch/starter solenoid under a boot, I discovered the nut on the supply side of the solenoid loose that feeds the starter and the clutch. Finger back off loose.
Everything in my mind came together at that time. That connection was loose causing high current and heat. The current will seek out the weakest link that was the inline fuse to generate heat. Weak connection possibly? 12 years of age on that connection which was the fuse holder.
Apparently when the young man was mowing and he shut it off, then trying to restart the blades, the retaining pin on the clutch broke because the poor connection was causing the clutch to engage/disengage repeatedly, breaking the supply voltage and stopping the blades. The inability to start the engine was because the fuse holder was melting with the fuse intact because the mower could restart in about 15 minutes after things cooled off and voltage, along with reduced current was able to pass again.
When I got home, the engine was sputtering and dying when repeatedly engaging/disengaging the blades because of the reduced amperage, causing the belts to come off repeatedly, finally dying for the last time when the blown fuse was located, starting this troubleshooting.
Replacing everything electrically, it ran and engaged the blades great. Better than it has in awhile to be truthful. I think the problem has been a long time coming.
Mowed the entire 3 acres tonight and it ran like a new one but the idea of why that connection on the solenoid came loose, causing a succession of failures after 12 years still bugged me in my mind, so I dove back in.
After another half hour or so of looking around. I spotted a kink in the rubber jacket of the cable running from the battery to the solenoid where the clutch was attached that was adjacent to part of the frame structure finally realizing it was a failure of a stress relief device applied at the factory.
A single zip tie that eliminated the vibration on that cable which was missing caused the entire issue IMHO.
So, tomorrow, it's time for an oil/filter change and some more looking around to see if there are any more issues with stress relief on wiring.
I was fully convinced the clutch coils were deteriorating causing the issue, but it turned out to be a $5 repair along with a lot of frustration trying to figure out WTF!

 

[BrettJ]

Interesting. Thanks for posting all this…I suck at anything electrical, so I enjoyed reading the problem solving process.

 

[montesa]

Awesome. Makes perfect sense. Thank you.

 

[Dumpstick]

Good job tracking down the problem.

 

[GeneW]

Good deal, glad you got old faithful repaired yourself. Great story.

 

[Snattlerake]

Quoting the OP so everything is in one thread.
FIXED!
Discovered what came first, the chicken or the egg.
After discovering the melted fuse and fuse holder, went to town today and bought a replacement dual blade type that is designed a little different so I could watch the fuse if the element blew.
One side of the pigtail went to the clutch/starter solenoid and the other went into the main wiring harness.
Stripped the metalic wiring jacket back aways, clipping the wire and putting an inline wire connector on it with my Ideal crimpers.
When attaching the other end to the clutch/starter solenoid under a boot, I discovered the nut on the supply side of the solenoid loose that feeds the starter and the clutch. Finger back off loose.
Everything in my mind came together at that time. That connection was loose causing high current and heat. The current will seek out the weakest link that was the inline fuse to generate heat. Weak connection possibly? 12 years of age on that connection which was the fuse holder.
Apparently when the young man was mowing and he shut it off, then trying to restart the blades, the retaining pin on the clutch broke because the poor connection was causing the clutch to engage/disengage repeatedly, breaking the supply voltage and stopping the blades. The inability to start the engine was because the fuse holder was melting with the fuse intact because the mower could restart in about 15 minutes after things cooled off and voltage, along with reduced current was able to pass again.
When I got home, the engine was sputtering and dying when repeatedly engaging/disengaging the blades because of the reduced amperage, causing the belts to come off repeatedly, finally dying for the last time when the blown fuse was located, starting this troubleshooting.
Replacing everything electrically, it ran and engaged the blades great. Better than it has in awhile to be truthful. I think the problem has been a long time coming.
Mowed the entire 3 acres tonight and it ran like a new one but the idea of why that connection on the solenoid came loose, causing a succession of failures after 12 years still bugged me in my mind, so I dove back in.
After another half hour or so of looking around. I spotted a kink in the rubber jacket of the cable running from the battery to the solenoid where the clutch was attached that was adjacent to part of the frame structure finally realizing it was a failure of a stress relief device applied at the factory.
A single zip tie that eliminated the vibration on that cable which was missing caused the entire issue IMHO.
So, tomorrow, it's time for an oil/filter change and some more looking around to see if there are any more issues with stress relief on wiring.
I was fully convinced the clutch coils were deteriorating causing the issue, but it turned out to be a $5 repair along with a lot of frustration trying to figure out WTF!

Good Job!

That is usually the way it goes. A minor part failure causing all kinds of death and destruction.

Once a month, look under the food of your car. Check on all those type parts, routing clamps, foam pads keeping wires and hoses off of each other, tie wraps broken allowing the rubbing of parts, PM at its finest!

I don't know how many times I have found an almost failure that would have left me stranded if I had let the condition keep going. Power steering hoses wearing on a bolt or fitting. I have found radiator hoses' foam padding eaten away and padding between heater hoses wearing holes in each other.