still stumped on hot 1415 hot ammerter wires

dleblossom · #1 01-15-2010, 07:36 PM

After receiving the wire diagram and making all the changes back to original, the wires are still hot. I've narrowed it down to unplugging the magneto wire harness and the hot wires go away. When plugged back in the wires are hot on the ammeter..............bad magneto?

Matt G. · #2 01-15-2010, 08:02 PM

The mag has no power to it...the only wire that goes to the magneto is a kill wire to ground it to shut off the engine. 'Magneto wire harness' doesn't really tell us what you unplugged. Do you mean the plug at the engine or at the ignition switch. If it's the one at the engine, the alternator wire is probably shorting somewhere, or it could be one of the wires that the ammeter is connected to. At any rate, you have a broken/shorted wire somewhere.

dleblossom · #3 01-15-2010, 11:21 PM

Now I feel stupid! LOL I guess this is how we learn. Maybe it's the alternator I'm thinking of? It has a 3 wire plug on it and one runs to the spark plug wire magneto? One runs down into a 2 wire plug that i was referring to as the magneto wire harness before. The other wire runs up inside the flywheel. When this 3 wire plug is disconnected the engine will crank but not fire and the wires on the ammeter are hot, when this 3 wire plug is connected engine will fire but it the wires on the ammeter and the black wire on the ignition switch get hot. I've pulled the harness out once and inspected it for faulty wires maybe I missed something

#4 01-16-2010, 03:33 AM

Agree with Matt - you've got a short somewhere where battery voltage is able to get back to ground - causing high amperage flow in those wires which in turn get hot.
If nothing else, try to find a friend who is competent in using a volt-ohm-meter (VOM) or at least a 12 volt DC test light.. have the friend to help you locate the short problem.
Or take the tractor to a competent service shop. Continued use w/o repair could result in additional wiring damage or even a fire.
Good luck.

R Bedell · #5 01-16-2010, 09:35 AM

I am curious, there is a 20A fuse in the circuit. Isn't that opening up...???

Pictures would be great to see.....

Matt G. · #6 01-16-2010, 10:53 AM

Roland might be onto something...there is supposed to be a fuse between the solenoid and + terminal of the charge indicator. Has it been bypassed?

Are you SURE you've got the wiring right? There are two diagrams depending on the serial number of your tractor. I just looked over one of them, and I'm guessing this must be one of the mid '90s lawn tractor models, as it has overly complicated wiring like all of the cyclops garden tractor models.

What really sucks is the output from the alternator goes through a dozen things before it gets to the battery, so there's a LOT of things to check that could be shorted.

dleblossom · #7 01-16-2010, 12:17 PM

i took the harness out last night and ohm tested each circut according to the wire diagram i recieved and it all checked out fine however roland and matt are right about the fuse....there isnt one! whoever had it before must have bypassed it and i do see in the wireing diagram where it calls for it. the pics i took are of what i now think is the alternator, 3 wire alternator clip that when unplugged the hot wires go away, the second wire clip is of one of the alternator wires and a yellow wire that goes to the ingnition switch and lastley the hot ammeter wires.....i hate being new! lol but thanks guys for all the support!

Matt G. · #8 01-16-2010, 12:32 PM

The alternator is under the flywheel. That's the regulator that converts the AC output of the alternator into DC to charge the battery.

Just because you have continuity between all of the correct wires doesn't mean that one isn't chafed and shorting against the frame somewhere, which is something you cannot easily discover with the harness out of the tractor.

ol'George · #9 01-16-2010, 02:52 PM

let me throw something out here--
First i'm not familar with your system, but I'm thinking that if the regulator is internally shorted to ground, that would provide a path allowing the 12Volts from the battery to backfeed through the regulator causing the hot wires.
----Do the wires get hot with the regulator plugged into the harness plug, but the regulator housing not connected to anything??? ( bolted to ground )
---if the wires don't get hot, I'm thinking it would be a faulty regulator.

dleblossom · #10 01-17-2010, 02:51 PM

while i had the harness out i took all the electrical tape and plastic covering off of it and inpected each wire one by one! no wire jackets were cracked/worn thru and no signs of shorting on any wire anywhere. once agian im an ammature at best and just trying to learn......what i now know as the rectifier/regulator, that is what i unplug and the hot ammeter wired go away i havent been able to locate the specifics on the regulator but when i ohm tested it just for fun i have a complete circut between the center post and one side of the regulator (white) wire but not the other side white wire