B2650 suddenly won't start

[GreensvilleJay]

it'd be nice, and proper , to get flat or lock washers under those nuts. that way when you tighten th enut the switch won't move 'out' on you.

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

Looks like the rubber boot is a bit chewed up too ... do I see a hole in it? If so, you might want to replace the boot if you can ... help keep water and muck out of the switch itself. Like Bill, it made me smile to see you found the problem. So satisfying. I suspect that you can get the switch tightened up sufficiently with just a single box end wrench. Grasp the switch body with your left hand and use your right hand to tighten the nut on the right side of the bracket.

I zoomed in... I'm pretty sure that's just a drop of water on the bottom of the boot. It looked in good shape to me.

I think you're right, an open end box wrench might be the only thing that can tighten in there. It is a TIGHT space. I tried using some adjustable pliers to tighten it. As you can see from the picture, the handles are the same size as the opening, so no room to turn with those.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

I don't think a socket is going to fit there. But a Harbor Freight El Cheapo wrench can be ground down on the sides to be thin enough to fit in some pretty tight spaces. I have a few of those for specialty situations.

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

I don't think a socket is going to fit there. But a Harbor Freight El Cheapo wrench can be ground down on the sides to be thin enough to fit in some pretty tight spaces. I have a few of those for specialty situations.

Heh, harbor freight. i'd forgotten about them, we only got a store in our town a year ago. That's a great idea! This is definitely going to be a special use tool, and grinding it to fit makes perfect sense. I'll try that this week.

 

[ejb11235]

Keep in mind that the threaded part of the switch body has flats on it that you can also put a box-end wrench on

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

I can report a complete success!

I went to Harbor Freight as was suggested. I took the nut with me so I could learn its actual size. I was able to determine it is 26mm...but the only way to get a 26mm wrench at HF was to buy a 10 pack of huge wrenches for $40. I wasn't interested in that. So I looked on Amazon, and found a ratcheted box wrench for $20 that I figured would help me. And THEN....I scrolled down a little bit, and there was this little beauty:

It was only $10 bucks and was for removing the battery on some Dynabrade somethingorother...who cares...it's 26 mm, $10, and just 6" long. Perfect!

I got it and finally got out to the tractor to tighten the safety switch. I turned the key to On so I could hear the relay click on and off as I moved the treadle peddle, to make sure the safety switch was positioned correctly, and then this wrench was just the perfect length to fit in that area and tighten it good. I used a small amount of thread locker on the nut too, hopefully that slows its progress of loosening again. This little wrench now goes into the tractor-specific toolbox....

Thanks for all the help all.

 

[ejb11235]

When I saw the Dynabrade, the first thing that crossed my mind was "bicycle tools" ... found the Park Tool SCW-26, also $10. Park Tools makes an entire set from 13mm to 28mm