How to Bypass Ignition Switch on a Riding Lawn Mower? – Explained in Easy Steps!

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You decide to mow your lawn one lovely morning since you’re feeling wonderful. Today you are going to read the complete How to Bypass Ignition Switch on a Riding Lawn Mower? – Explained in Easy Steps! [Essential Information]. Getting ready, you carry the mower outside. You try to turn the ignition switch after fuelling the lawnmower, but it does not work. The battery appears to be dead.

If this, the battery problem, is the case, you can quickly verify it using a multimeter’s battery tester. Some folks advise checking all of the safety switches if the battery is not the issue. But the problem might be in the ignition system, the sparkplug, or the ignition coil, even if the seat safety switch, parking brake safety switch, and fuel safety switch are all functioning properly.

Aside from that, it’s really a good time to look at the fuel level. Fuel availability might be another cause if you’re facing this kind of problem. The best approach is to identify the issues one at a time and rule out any potential causes.

However, if you’re facing a problem regarding the ignition switch, a little repairing fixes it most of the time. But if it’s not working in this case, then you might need to resort to bypassing the ignition switch.

Now comes a million-dollar question! Can you actually how to bypass ignition switch on a Riding lawn mower? The simple answer to that is: Yes. However, a user manual and a strong sense of learning aren’t enough to complete the complex process of bypassing a faulty ignition switch. So, in the best-case situation, you should merely replace the switch or take your automobile to an expert to fix it if you don’t want to make permanent damage to your lawn mower.

How Would You Tell if you’re Lawn Mower has a Faulty Ignition Switch?

Okay, so to actually verify whether you’re having a problem with your lawn mower because of the ignition switch not, you should use an Ohmmeter. Now, what’s an ohmmeter? It’s basically a device for checking whether the wires have a connection or not.

So, coming back to the main topic now, there are two colored wires, you might also know them as the ‘Start’ terminal and ‘Battery’ terminal, or just simply, “S” and “B” wires. Using the Ohmmeter, you should check if those two have a connection or not. Because if they don’t, there’s a 99% possibility that your ignition switch is dead or unusable. And you will need to repair it to have your mower operating normally once again.

What are the colors of the wires on the Ignition Switch?

You can find ignition switch wires in various colors. It varies from company to company or model to model. The main ignition switch wire now comes in four additional colors: Red, Black, White-Red, and White Black.

How do ignition switches actually work?

Okay, let me make this really simple and easy for you. Just a few minutes earlier, remember how I told you about the ignition switch having two wires? Well, guess what, if those wires are connected, then the ignition switch works. But if they’re somehow disconnected, your lawn mower will not start again. Also, you can visit Best Suspension Seat for Zero Turn Mowers

Bypassing Ignition Switch on a Riding Lawn Mower

Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend you to bypass your ignition switch and continue using it. If your ignition switch is not working, you should take it to a repair shop or at least take it to an expert if you don’t want your lawn mower to bail on you permanently.

However, if you must, then let me tell you how this works first! As I said earlier, for the ignition switch to actually work, you need to ensure the connection between the ‘B’ wire and the ‘S’ wire. So, if you can, anyhow make a successful connection, your lawn mower will be up and working in no time at all!

How to Bypass Ignition Switch on a Riding Lawn Mower?

For this bypassing process to be successful, you’ll need – Rubber gloves, Battery post cleaners, Jumper cables, and a set of tweezers. Rubber gloves are essential. Rubber shields you from any electrical shock caused by the battery since it stops electrical current from flowing through it. If you don’t have rubber gloves, don’t try to manipulate the mower’s key switch.

Steps to Bypassing –

  1. Wear rubber gloves on your hand. This will prevent you from any kind of shocks and electric accidents.
  2. To prevent the mower from moving forward without your release, make sure the brake is engaged, the blade is disengaged, and all other safety measures are in place.
  3. You should open the lawn mower’s hood.
  4. Locate the position of the battery and the wires relating to it.
  5. From the two electrical posts in the solenoid, unplug the red and black wires.
  6. Remove any rust or dirt that may have built up on both posts by using a battery post cleaner.
  7. Reattach the wires.
  8. You should wrap the negative post of the battery of your lawn mower, and take the other end on the metal deck of the mower and clamp it together.
  9. While you’re still wearing your rubber gloves, wrap the red wire with the positive battery post of your lawn mower and finally touch the red wire’s remaining end and attach it to the mower’s starter.
  10. Last but not the least, take out the red booster wire after the engine turns over. Then slowly remove the black one as well. And then finally close the engine hood.

Can you complete this process using a Screwdriver?

Of course, you can! This is rather simple. But in this case, also, you’ll have to put on your rubber gloves as well. You can use a screwdriver to bypass the ignition switch on a Riding lawn mower only when the two electrical wires concerned in this case, that is, the wire on the solenoid and the other on the starter, are very close to each other.

You have to take the screwdriver and make it act like a bridge to the mechanism in this process. All you need to do is to take your screwdriver, touch the two wires with it and the engine should start working. Also, you can visit our The Best Trickle Charger for Riding Lawn Mower & Battery.

Final Words

If your lawnmower won’t start because the ignition switch is broken. The easiest, most practical, and fastest method is to bypass. The approach serves as both clarification and an idea to solve the problem stating whether or not the ignition switch is at the fault. This blog post will assist you in resolving the issue and starting your lawnmower if it won’t turn on! So, now you can have a smooth experience in lawn mowing without any issues.