Quote:
Originally Posted by Ambush
Late in the fall I was doing some fairly heavy ground work when the engine quit on a steep bank from lack of fuel. I refueled and when trying to restart the starter wouldn't catch like it had a dead battery. I tried a booster pack, but that didn't work either. Eventually I just started it, the next day by using jumpers from a good battery straight to the starter. The ammeter has been swinging wildly ever since. Sometimes it will start, sometimes it won't turn over. Yesterday it had the dead battery symptoms again so I fully charged the battery, but still nothing. Just the odd time I'd hear a click from the solenoid.
I'm wondering if I have a voltage regulator issue as well as maybe a solenoid issue. All connections were removed and cleaned this spring.
Now here is the strange thing (at least to me); with the battery still in the system I connected boosters from the battery, ground to the engine block and positive I touched to the starter terminal to turn it over, key on. It started. BUT, when I touched to ground to the engine block initially, there was a visible spark. Why would the ground spark on the engine block? The positive booster clamp was not connected yet.
Could a malfunctioning voltage regulator cause that?
Its a 1973 149.
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I'm not clear on what you were doing. It sounds like you were using jumper cables (NOT a jump box) to bypass the battery cables from the battery to the chassis ground. It also sounds like you got a spark when you bypassed the battery ground cable from the battery to the engine block.
Is that correct?
If so, then it sounds to me that you have either an open or high resistance battery ground cable. Yes, it could mean a bad regulator, but those symptoms may also indicate the ground battery lead being intermittent.
Maybe verify the integrity/continuity of the ground side battery cable and replace it if needed. Then troubleshoot the regulator.
Fix one problem at a time, then look farther if needed.
Maybe somebody with more Cub Cadet experience that has run into this problem could understand your problem better than I can get from your post?