[CubbaCudet]

Hi everyone.
One issue has turned into many and im not sure where to go from here.
I used this yesterday and all went well. Cut the grass perfectly. Put it in the garage, next day.. doesnt start. Turn the key, the mower makes a 'grindish' noise in the engine, flywheel doesnt turn, and engine doesnt start. It sounds like it wants to start, but it wont. As soon as I stop turning the key, it dies. It went from running perfect to not running at all literally overnight.

When I first realized it wouldnt start, I checked the ground, that was fine. Battery fine, key ignition, fine. Gas, fine. Brake, fine.

I then worked my way down to the engine and noticed a mouse nest in the air filter. After taking off the hood, one issue snowballed into many. Wires are chewed but not cut through, and the real mystery is a random green wire just sitting there, not connected to anything.

So my question is.. how do I know what the issue is if there are so many things happening at once? Just because I found chewed wires doesnt mean thats the reason it stopped working. I dont know what to do.

Why is there a random green wire with wire connector located near the engine if its not connected to anything? I did not unplug it. The picture is exactly how I found it and there is no device or electrical component close enough to the connect the plug it into anything. (As to its location: It's on the left side of the engine, just under the flywheel area, as if the driver was sitting in the seat looking forward.)

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. How did it go from running fine yesterday with no issues, to not starting less than 24 hours later? How could chewed wires be the issue if the machine was running fine yesterday? Im new here so please forgive me if I didnt post this in the right area, but I believe I did.

PS: I inherited this machine from a family member last year who obviously did not do proper maintenance and I would love to be able fix it seeing it is such a great machine.

Thank you