I have spent the last 7 hours in and out of a sweltering hot storage building trying to pinpoint why my riding mower will not crank and am officially too tired to think.
If anyone can tell me if, and how, the now removed ignition switch I have in my hands now can be tested via a simple continuity check I would be eternally grateful. What I'm trying to do is determine whether the switch itself has an internal problem before going out and buying a new one. In other words, what pins should or should not be making contact with each other in OFF vs START?
The key has 4 positions: 1) OFF, 2) RUN/LIGHTS, 3) RUN, 4) START
So far I know that:
1) pin 6 (ground) and pin 4 (Magneto) appear to be making contact in OFF - connection is clearly dodgy and meter will swing from a few ohms to 5M and is sensitive to key jostling. So does a bad motor OFF connection mean NO START situation?
2) Measuring from pin 2 (Hot lead from Battery) I get continuity ONLY to pin 5 (safety switch to solenoid lead) ONLY in the 2nd position (RUN/LIGHTS). So NO continuity from the Hot lead to any of the other non ground pins at ANY switch position
3) NO continuity from any of the other pins to one another at ANY switch position
So, only 2 continuities: 1) The dodgy one from pin 4 (Magneto) to ground at OFF
2) Solid one from pin 2 (Hot) to pin 5 (Solenoid) ONLY at the RUN/LIGHTS position
Does this sound 100% conclusive of a bad switch?
If anyone can tell me if, and how, the now removed ignition switch I have in my hands now can be tested via a simple continuity check I would be eternally grateful. What I'm trying to do is determine whether the switch itself has an internal problem before going out and buying a new one. In other words, what pins should or should not be making contact with each other in OFF vs START?
The key has 4 positions: 1) OFF, 2) RUN/LIGHTS, 3) RUN, 4) START
So far I know that:
1) pin 6 (ground) and pin 4 (Magneto) appear to be making contact in OFF - connection is clearly dodgy and meter will swing from a few ohms to 5M and is sensitive to key jostling. So does a bad motor OFF connection mean NO START situation?
2) Measuring from pin 2 (Hot lead from Battery) I get continuity ONLY to pin 5 (safety switch to solenoid lead) ONLY in the 2nd position (RUN/LIGHTS). So NO continuity from the Hot lead to any of the other non ground pins at ANY switch position
3) NO continuity from any of the other pins to one another at ANY switch position
So, only 2 continuities: 1) The dodgy one from pin 4 (Magneto) to ground at OFF
2) Solid one from pin 2 (Hot) to pin 5 (Solenoid) ONLY at the RUN/LIGHTS position
Does this sound 100% conclusive of a bad switch?