Gravely not starting

I just bought a commercial 12 walk behind and at first it started great. I had to jump start it but if I removed one of the jumper cables it would cut off. After new battery it ran fine until I stopped it after 20 min. It would not start again and I noticed that fluid was coming out of the coil and it was very hot. The solinoid just clicks. Any suggestion as to what is wrong?

Sounds to me like the ignition was still on for whatever reason after it was shut off. The juice running through the coil drained the battery. I saw the top blow out of a coil once when the ignition was left on.

(quoted from post at 19:40:59 06/12/15) Sounds to me like the ignition was still on for whatever reason after it was shut off. The juice running through the coil drained the battery. I saw the top blow out of a coil once when the ignition was left on.

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I noticed the coil leaking as soon as I turned it off. Is the coil toast now? I'm really bad with electrical issues.

I am no expert on coils but if it was mine I would replace it. Leaking tells me it has been hot for some reason. What do the points look like? If the contacts on the points are black they will need to be replaced. The clicking solenoid is a sign of low voltage, either from a loose or corroded connection or a run down battery. With a charged up battery and engine not running and the ignition switch off pull one of the cables off the battery and lightly touch it to the battery post or lightly rub it on the battery post. You will need to at least be in the shade but inside a dark building is better. If you see the slightest spark at all something electrical on your Gravely is drawing power. Rubbing the cable on the battery post might give you a better chance to see a spark. It is a quick and rudimentary test anyone can do.

(quoted from post at 20:24:52 06/12/15) I am no expert on coils but if it was mine I would replace it. Leaking tells me it has been hot for some reason. What do the points look like? If the contacts on the points are black they will need to be replaced. The clicking solenoid is a sign of low voltage, either from a loose or corroded connection or a run down battery. With a charged up battery and engine not running and the ignition switch off pull one of the cables off the battery and lightly touch it to the battery post or lightly rub it on the battery post. You will need to at least be in the shade but inside a dark building is better. If you see the slightest spark at all something electrical on your Gravely is drawing power. Rubbing the cable on the battery post might give you a better chance to see a spark. It is a quick and rudimentary test anyone can do.

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Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow.

I would replace a leaking coil, but that may or may not be the source of your problems.

The Gravely Commercial series was made during the period when Kohler was using both breaker point ignition system and breakerless (trigger switch) ignition systems. The breaker point ignition system uses a round coil while the trigger switch system uses a much more expensive odd looking coil.

If your engine has breaker points, leaving the ignition switch in the ON position while the engine isn't running could fry your points, overheat your coil, and run down the battery IF the points happen to be in the closed position. I don't think that this situation could happen if you have a trigger switch ignition system.

It sounds like you MAY have a problem with your charging system. You said that (with the old battery) you could jump start the engine, but the engine would quit when the jumper cables were disconnected. This suggests that the old battery didn't have sufficient current to run the engine. If the charging system was functioning properly, it should have supplied sufficient current while the engine was running. Your new battery seems to have run down quickly, suggesting a problem with the charging system.

A problem with the charging system could be a component of the system or it could be a loose, corroded, or broken wire.

It also possible someone messed with the key switch wiring or that the switch is bad throwing current to the coil when off. The coil is going to have to be replaced.

Sounds like you may have more than one issue going on. As far as the clicking solenoid run this simple test to check for possible bad starter brushes. Just tap the starter with your pocket knife or wrench. If it starts then, your brushes are bad.

There is a [email protected] that has a lot of experts on these units.