1864 lost power
 

I was mowing when it sputtered and died. When I turned the key off and back on I had no dash lights. Wiggled the cables and everything was tight. I put a meter on the battery and chassis and had over 12 volts. While I was messing around the dash lights came back on so I tried to start it. It ran for a couple of seconds then died, and I lost the dash lights. Of course this had to quit in the back end of my lot.:angry: Does anyone have any suggestions or a wiring diagram? How far can I safely tow this so I can get it to my garage? Thanks.

Maybe the key switch is bad, I've had to replace a couple of them on various things. Never really towed a hydro, certainly won't hurt it pushing it by hand.

Thanks John. Do you know how I can go about testing it?

You definitely have some sort of Electrical Issue. It may be a tad difficult and time consuming to find. For a lay person, take some to to examine the wiring and look for "discolored" wiring, connectors, or terminals would be my first suggestion to you.

Sounds to me like your battery isn't getting juice to the fuel solenoid and that's what's killing the engine.

I don't have my schematic handy but you can try running a jumper from the battery straight to the engine harness and pick up the solenoid circuit. Then run a jumper from the battery to the small post on the solenoid and that might/should start the engine.

This link will take you to a list of Cub electrical diagrams, click on Garden Tractors (1806-2284) then click on 1864 and you will get the diagram for your tractor.

http://www.ihcubcadet.com/diagrams/E...Schematics.pdf

Thanks for the help. When I got home from work tonight I tried it, it fired up and I drove it up to the garage. Pulled the battery and ignition switch. There are a couple of terminals loose on it so I'm going to order a new one.

That is not a good thing. The new switch should take care of your issue.

I have gotten in a pinch before and cleaned the loose/corroded terminals and soldered them to the rivet just to see if that was the problem or to get up and running while waiting on new parts. I wouldn't call it a fix, more of a Band-Aid until a new switch could be obtained.