Countax A230D

[Whips22]

Hi there,

I am after some assistance. I have a Countax A230D Deisel ride on mower which was given to me as it wouldn't start. I replaced the magnetic pick-up that reads of the flywheel. This was broken. Replaced it for the exact same part that was on there. On fitting it, the engine actually fired up immediately and ran for around 10 minutes. Managed to drive it up the garden then it died. Now all it does is, turns over goes to fire up then just cranks over. I get FLT0004 on the display. This I assume is a fault code. I am getting a reading from the pick-up. I have tried Google but to no avail. Any ideas would be extremely helpful. Thanks

[Mick]

Hi Whips22, and welcome to TGMForum.

Unfortunately my knowledge of this particular model of Countax is limited. I only ever saw one off those A230D's in the showroom, and when they went to pdi the machine for sale it wouldn't start.

If I can remember correctly we found the Countax wiring loom was very badly connected to the engine loom, wrong sized and loose fitting connectors in various places. We cured it by changing those. 

I think there's a group on facebook for Countax stuff, that might be a little more helpful than I can be if I'm honest.

Countax / Westwood Mower Owners - tips, advice, spares. UK. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1143907236785561

[Whips22]

Thanks Mick,

I will look on Facebook. Thought I'd ask on here. The FLT0004 on the dash is obviously an error code and was hoping somebody on here might have come across this before. Thought it would save me some time. I am an engineer so will have to pull it all out and meter the wiring.

[Mick]

I can only apologise,

That machine wasn't a very common one for us, we sold thousands of the other models, but this was the very latest diesel they made where they went from vertical shaft engine to inline horizontal. 

And this forum has a lack of active members to help share their knowledge, something I'm trying to improve on, but don't think people like forums as much as social media platforms these days. 

Hope you get it sorted though. 

[Whips22]

No worries. I'll look on Facebook and hopefully find something on there. Thanks for your help

[Whips22]

Mick. An update

Well, today I have had every connector off, cleaned and blown out with the airline. Every electrical component metered ok. Relays all ok and working. From the dash to every component I had continuity(no broken wires or shorts). I removed the fuel shut off solenoid and the engine fires up and stays running though the fuel shut off solenoid energizes and the FLT0004 comes up but because the solenoid isn't connected to the unit, it works perfectly. Drives, steers, cuts. Everything works as it should. Charges perfectly. Switch the lights on and the charge remains constant at 12.99/13v. I can only put it down to the module/PCB in the dash. No signs of electrical damage, or visible signs of a dry track on there. A view cobwebs and a dead spider in there so maybe it shorted out one of the processors. Going to make a blanking plate for where the solenoid goes and fit a plunger to manually shut the engine off, fit an oil pressure and water temp gauge and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the input. Never worked on a ride on lawnmower before but after stripping it down, cleaning it as I went I now have a better understanding. The Deisel engine is a peach. Very basic barn door engineering so easy to check

[Whips22]

I did go on Facebook Countax group but some of the answers weren't really that useful. Just got my multimeter and tools out and went back to basics.

[Mick]

I did go on Facebook Countax group but some of the answers weren't really that useful. Just got my multimeter and tools out and went back to basics.

Does sound like the board has gone bad, it's not uncommon for them to fail.  It was always useful to have a good spare board lying around to test with. The trouble with that from a service dealer point of view was there was so many different boards for the various models it became extremely expensive to hold all of them. Most of the faulty boards showed no signs of damage.

Glad you're making progress though.   

[Whips22]

Yes, the board can be the only culprit. It runs ok so that's how it will remain.

Cheers

[Whips22]

Also with oil and water guages fitted I can monitor the engine

[Mick]

Yes, the board can be the only culprit. It runs ok so that's how it will remain.

Cheers

To be honest, if it was mine and used by myself I would rip most of the electronics out or at least bypass the troublesome parts. 

Obviously it's not something I can advise others to do for safety reasons. 

[Whips22]

Exactly. It's mine. It was given to me gratis as a non runner. They knew I was an engineer and they had just gone out and purchased a new one. I'll be fitting a hidden kill switch/isolator on it to stop anyone(mainly the kids) from jumping on it if I'm not around. Like you said. If I'm at a customer's then I would be exactly the same. You just can't risk it nowadays

Been a pleasure with your help

[Mick]

To be fair I wasn't much help, but thanks for sharing your progress, I'm sure like me others will find it interesting. 

[Whips22]

Any help is better than no help. Even the help I was getting on Facebook was helpful in its own way.