Castlegarden XF 140 HD

RichieGreen

Hello all, I have a problem with my Castlegarden XF 140 HD. It won't start for me. Ive done the basic checks, it's in neutral, the blades are disengaged, choke is on. When I turn the key to 'on' the light blinks, so there's something wrong. One thing I've noticed is that the seat makes a harsh metallic clank when I sit on it, I know there's a sensor linked to the seat so I'm wondering is there something wrong with this. Anyone got advice. It would be much appreciated.

Gun Monkey

Not a good day for the xf140hd's I'm on here looking for advice on my own one which is giving problems today, I was about to open an thread of my own but I might just add to yours if you don't mind, we might even have the same problem. I can make a suggestion that might help you anyway?
You are correct, there is a switch under the seat, if you pivot the seat forward you will see the 2 springs the seat sits on which are under a black plastic cover that is split in two parts, the front part just clips off if you pull it gently, the back part has two bolts holding it on, you will need a 10mm socket to remove them, they are located in 2 recesses near the 2 big springs, the recesses are usually full of grass seeds and dust but have a look and you'll see them, once removed the black plastic cover comes up and you should see 2 wires going to a switch Midway between the big springs that the seat sits on. There are spade terminals on the end of both wires going to this switch so just wiggle them gently to pull them off, once removed you can short the two wires out with a piece of wire or even a standard car blade fuse will fit nicely- be sure to keep this loose wire up so it can't get caught in the top of the engine immediately below it. Once you have gotten this far, try your ignition again and see if it will start? If it does, you have a faulty switch and it needs replacing. For safety's sake I wouldn't recommend leaving the switch shorted out as I've described above, it was put there for safety reasons in the first place. Hopefully this fixes your problem and you might not have any further trouble once you replace this switch.
I got this far today and unfortunately my mower still wouldn't turn over or start using the key. I've had trouble with this switch before and sometimes in the past I have turned the key to start my mower and it refused to turn over but if I just bounced around a bit on the seat the switch would close and the mower would turn and kick into life. Today that didn't work for the first time so I did as I have suggested above and still the mower wouldn't turn over. Next I suspected my battery was almost flat and couldn't turn the mower over so I tried a spare battery I have that I know to be good and that didn't work either so I returned the original battery to its place in the mower, turned on the ignition and put 12v straight to the starter + terminal and the - to the mower chassis using this spare battery and it fired straight into life and cut my lawn without fault for the next 90 odd minutes. I should mention, I had checked engine oil and knew it was ok. On finishing I returned it to the garage and turned it off at the ignition key. Out of curiosity, I tried to start it again immediately after shutting it down and same story, it wouldn't turn over.
My query at this point is does anybody else have experience of anything similar on a castlegarden ride on? I'm wondering is it a bad ground somewhere or a broken wire or even a bad ignition switch? Also does anybody know how to remove the whole red plastic panelling/body that covers the chassis and engine? It's going to be impossible to trace any wires or problems without uncovering the cassis, engine and wiring.
Thanks in advance for any response.

Gun Monkey

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.lawn-king.co.uk/downloads/xf140hd-96384107239440768.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj-16jev-HoAhWVunEKHUS2DTEQFjAMegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw14hPO8MeQd0lw-tQN-BRU7

Parts catalogue available here.

RichieGreen

Thanks Gun Monkey, I'll follow up on that suggestion. Of course, it's lashing down today, so there'll be no grass cut either way You seem to know quite a bit, so do you mind if I ask another question... How do you know/test if the battery is fully charged. The front headlight comes on, does that mean that the problem isn't my battery?

Unfortunately I'm not much help to you as you can probably tell from my questions. Hopefully you'll get a helpful response.

Thanks again

Gun Monkey

If your light is coming on it is unlikely to be your battery but it's hard to say that with certainty. Even if the battery was partly discharged you should prob hear a click when you turn the key that last bit to engage the starter and start the mower. It might make some small effort to turn the engine over. But having said that, if this is the first time you have started your mower after it being sat up all winter there is a reasonable chance the battery may be discharged. How long since it was last started?
There are a couple of ways to test a battery, the first and best is a drop test using a specific tool for testing batteries but I'll assume you don't have one of those, I don't either. The next is using a multi meter which you may have, a lot of people have them as they have many uses around the house for diagnosing any number of electrical issues and you can buy one online or in most hardware shops or motor factors for as little as 15 euro- but I will say if you are working around electricity be sure you understand what you are doing or you can get seriously hurt or killed, mains electricity in a house etc is no joke and not for the inexperienced. A 12v battery like we are discussing here is less dangerous but still be careful and carry on at your own risk! U have been warned!
If you select DC voltage on the meter, DC voltage, indicated with a solid line and a dashed line above a letter V. Set the dial to 20, which will allow you to accurately measure between 0-20 Volts. Put the two probes of the meter on the 2 battery terminals and if the battery is charged you should get a reading of 12.6v, if the battery is half charged you would expect a reading of about 12.2v. If you have had the engine running on a vehicle (car or in this case mower) the engine will have been charging the battery, or if you had a battery charger connected, it will give a false reading after shutting it down so a reading should be taken after letting the battery sit overnight. Also worth mentioning is that you should never jump start a mower from a car as the charging systems on mowers may be different, not all mowers are compatible with cars and you could damage your mower by doing this.
As I mentioned in my post above I had a spare battery that I knew was good and had charged last week when I took the mower out for the first time after the winter so I swopped that in and tried it just to be sure.
Do you mind if I ask where in the country you are? Im in Wicklow.

RichieGreen

I'm in Ireland or Cork to be exact. When it stopped raining today I went out and did the basic starting checks again, turned the key and nothing. Then before checking the seat sensor I checked the grass collector bag. I removed it and the mulching plug that I use. On a hunch I left the mulching plug out and put the grass collector back on. I hopped on and low and behold it started?? So I was wondering if the mulching plug could be responsible for giving a sensor reading?? Have you ever heard of that or did I just get lucky?

Gun Monkey

I'm not aware of any sensor in the grass chute apart from the one immediately below the exit from the chute that lets you know when the collector bag is full by beeping, but I don't use a mulching plug so am unfamiliar with them I'm afraid. Hopefully it was a one off problem for you and you don't hear from it again.
Has anyone out there go got any other thoughts to offer, even a stab in the dark???