if anyone can help

joe, July 2009

Absolutely correct, Mr. P.
However on these smaller engines, the battery charge lamp is lit when current is leaving the alternator and that is the guide to all being well, whereas a car system does indeed refer to the ingoing exciter current. Regards John

John, July 2009

Purely a guess based on a Wikipedia article about Alternators... But if your machine has an alternator for charging you might consider checking the charging lamp...

"Once the engine is running and the alternator is generating, a diode feeds the field current from the alternator main output, thus equalizing the voltage across the warning light which goes out. The wire supplying the field current is often referred to as the "exciter" wire. The drawback of this arrangement is that if the warning light fails or the "exciter" wire is disconnected, no excitation current reaches the alternator field windings and so the alternator, due to low residual magnetism in the rotor will not generate any power."

I am not qualified to volunteer an answer...

Peccavi, July 2009

Quite a complex charging system on these as garden tractors go...the only thing I can suggest is to see that all of the connections are clean and tight, and any fuses in the dashboard are intact....sorry, don't have a manual for these or one of these machines in at the mo.

John, July 2009