Husqvarna Mower Dies When Blades Engaged - Solved! (this is why) (2024)

By:Author John Cunningham. Published: 2019/07/06 at 7:33 am

The first time this happened to me, I was preparing my yard for a family gathering. Time was not on my side, and I needed the yard done yesterday. I found a quick fix for my problem, and I’ll share it here in this post.

A Husqvarna riding mower commonly dies when blades are engaged because the grass box is not fully closed. Other possible causes include:

Grass Box Misaligned
Grass Box Sensor Wiring Loose
Grass Box Sensor Faulty
Bad Gas
Carburetor Dirty
Carburetor Faulty

That’s a list of all the most likely reasons that the engine dies as you apply the blade button or lever. Now, let’s take a look at how we can quickly figure out what’s going on and how to fix it.

Grass Box May Not Be Fully Closed

As you already know, your mower is designed with several safety features built-in. Various sensors are attached to components of your mower, which relay their position to the main control panel.

Only if a set procedure is followed will the control panel allow the engine to start or stay running. The grass bag is one of the components that’s monitored by the control panel, and its sensor lives at the rear of the mower, between the mower and the grass bag.

As the grass bag/box closes, the frame of the grass bag presses on the sensor and closes it. This tells the engine control panel that the box is closed and it’s safe to engage the blades. Check that the box is closing fully, and clear any grass that might be jamming it.

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Box Open – This grass box is not fully closed and will cause the engine to shut down as you engage the blade lever or button.

Grass Box Misaligned

This often happens when you accidentally reverse into something, and the grass bag support arms get bent out of shape. This as you’ve probably guessed, causes the grass bag frame to no longer press on the gasbag sensor.

The fix here is to straighten out the arms so that the grass bag fits squarely. This can be a tedious job, but worth doing because a misaligned grass bag will be a right pain in the jacksie. You’ll have grass trailing and clumping – Horrible!

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Quick Fix – If your grass box doesn’t close properly, removing the wiring from the back of the sensor and connecting them together will bypass the sensor.

Loose Grass Bag Sensor

I know you’re already up to speed on what a grass bag sensor does and where it lives; now, let’s take a look at the wiring. This isn’t at all technical, so stay with me here. At the rear of the sensor, you’ll hopefully find the wiring connector; depending on the model, it may be a single block or two push-on connectors.

Check that they are fully connected; sometimes, they can come loose, or the wiring may be damaged. Remove the connector and check for corrosion, as you know, which will prevent a proper signal from being sent to the control panel.

If the wiring terminals are dirty, try cleaning them with an electrical contact cleaner and use a small amount of silicone grease that prevents moisture from getting in.

If the wiring terminals are corroded, then we’ll need to replace them. You can buy a handy wiring repair kit at the auto parts store; it will have all you need: new push-on connectors, joiners, and tape, or if you want to go the pro route, then buy a soldering iron.

Grass Bag Sensor Faulty

This is not very common; the Husqvarna sensors are well made and tend to go the distance; nonetheless, we’ll need to check its function and output. For that, we’ll use a voltmeter. We can test the grass bag sensor in place; first, remove the block connector, and if you’re using a voltmeter, set it to continuity; that’s the symbol.

With a test lead on each of the terminals of the sensor, press the sensor closed by hand; no change in the reading indicates a faulty sensor. Replacing the sensor is a simple two-minute job to release the old one, push in the plastic wings, and push the sensor out from the wiring side.

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Grass Bag Sensor – The Husqvarna grass bag sensor is a four-pin, although some mowers will only use two of them. The same sensor is fitted to other components that utilize the four pins.

Testing The Sensor – Set the voltmeter to ohms and check for continuity when the sensor is pressed. The meter should read close to zero ohms; if not, replace it.

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Check out Husqvarna safety sensors (also known as interlock switches) on the Amazon link below.

Bad Gas Causes Poor Running

Stale gas is a common problem for all small engines. The problem with stale gas – it’s less combustible than fresh. Although your mower may seem to run OK, stale gas will likely cause it to hesitate and stall when extra demands like running the blades or climbing a steep hill are placed on the engine.

The fix here is simple enough: drain out the old gas and fill it with fresh; use a gas stabilizer if you’re going to store your gas either in the mower or in a gas can for more than a month. Check out the “Carburetor troubleshooting guide”(internal link).

Dirty Carburetor

A lawnmower engine is very simple and forgiving. The carburetor that’s bolted to it is neither of those things. It’s a finely tuned piece of kit. Any slight change in the air/fuel balance will cause the mower engine to run poorly. A carburetor has two jobs: mix the gas to air at a ratio of 14.7:1 and supply the correct amount of this mixed gas to the engine for any given engine load demand.

Dirt in any of these components will cause fuel starvation, which in turn causes the mower to not start, lack power, or stall when the engine is loaded.

Common causes of fuel starvation are:

Gas tank outlet blocked
Gas filter blocked
Gas valve faulty
Gas lines blocked
Needle valve dirty
Fuel bowl dirt
Fuel jet blocked
Failed fuel pump

Check out the complete “Carburetor troubleshooting” guide, or check out the “Carburetor cleaning video” here. The videos are walk-behind mowers, but the tractor mower carburetor cleaning process is identical. (internal links).

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Carb Cleaning – Cleaning the carburetor and fresh gas will have it running sweet.