vibedrivermatt - 2009 Vibe 2.4l

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:04 pm

hey guess I should make one of these, figured this would be a good place to post the latest happenings with my vibe as well as to document the happenings of the past.Anyways here it is. My vibe is a carbon grey 2009 2.4l with manual transmission, sun and sound package and power everything. ah these bring back memories. These pics were taken when my vibe was still brand new, just a couple days old wayyyyyyy back in 2008! ohh I can still remember the sounds of three free months of XM satalite radio.at this time vibe my vibe was still very new looking and smelling. hey this reminds me its time to change my cabin air filter to cure its current state of funkedness.The first accessory I purchased for my vibe was a california car cover. At the time I thought, what better way to protect my new investment. Currently the cover doesn't get used very often but it's good to have when needed sometimes. One thing I noticed about the vibe after driving it for awhile was its less than spectacular handling. After some research and help from people on genvibe, I decided to install an aftermarket rear sway bar. TRD is one of the few aftermarket parts manufacturers I learned of that seemed to make items specific to the 2009 Matrix. While their selection is limited they had a few goodies that I wanted to bolt onto my vibe. the next thing I tried was the TRD quick shifter (only for 2.4l matrixwith manual tranmission)I ended up not liking this part and removed it. It did give the shifter a cool shorter throw and made shifting seem quite fast. I just didn't like it because it made shifting feel a little crunchy and made the shifter harder to move. I guess this is just a personal preference kinda thing. next part was a TRD strut brace.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 4:56 pm

My latest parts for the vibe are a set of alloy wheels and summer tires. I sorta splurged to get these. I also did a set of lowering springs to round out the look and further improve handling. heres the look after the TRD springs. these springs are specific to 09. The spings and wheel/tire addition have added a whole new level of goodness to the vibes handling. The downside of using the lowering springs though has been a less comfortable ride, especially on long drives. Despite this I still give the springs a

A Psycho Martyr · Post by **A Psycho Martyr** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:18 am

sikkk thread on those tires. I bet you can really grip some road now. I wouldn't be able to resist on the circle exit ramps

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 12:47 pm

Looking good as always!!!And those rims are sweeeeeeet!!!

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 1:18 pm

^ Oh thanks! yes I like my black painted rims. according to tiretack they weigh 20.8 lbs. I was going to compare my steel wheels and alloy wheels with tires mounted on a bathroom scale to see if I shed or gained weight. never got to it last time my wheels were removed.

lovemyraffe · Post by **lovemyraffe** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:59 pm

I love the black wheels, just please don't paint it green like your sig.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:30 am

^ hehe don't worry I wont. A Psycho Martyr just made that for me for fun.

ponta2147 · Post by **ponta2147** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:37 am

I think a green car would be awesome. Then again, I also think a hot pink car would be awesome, so I think that renders my opinion invalid!

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:50 am

You know I love it Matt ! Can't wait to see your future plans come to life here.

lowincash · Post by **lowincash** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:30 am

nice work man =] notice any difference with the rear sways on?

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:55 am

You know, think I have noticed a difference. My vibe seems to track very straight, although that could have been because of the vibe having a good alignment. but this part wont fit for those of you who have independent rear suspension. 09+ GT's all have IRS which is actually a nicer rear suspension than the base vibes.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:03 am

OK well, I just installed an Injen cold air intake today. This part is meant to go on an 09 Corolla XRS 2.4l. This still went on the vibe OK, its just the filter touches the fog light cutout making for a tight fit. I found out about this part from seeing one over on the matrix owners forums. I also had to learn how to remove my front fascia to do this.what comes in the box. here is the fresh air supply tube and water reservoir bottle. I was sad to take this out of my car because I think this prevents my engine from getting water in it.all installed! I had to adjust the couplers a lot to get all the parts in suitable position.When driving with this thing I can definitely hear the difference. Its just much louder when going from 3000 to 4000 rpm and up especially in 3'rd and 4'th gears. Its nice to hear cool engine sounds coming from my car.

A Psycho Martyr · Post by **A Psycho Martyr** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:10 am

sweet, sweet, sweet!Injen is the way to go if you got the funds I'll probably jump on one of those Bomz Racing intakes in October.I bet that sounds effin mean!Nice job man! You got a new pic of the whole engine bay?

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:38 am

yeah sure here's one! I have attached a larger picture here

Attached files

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:07 am

Cool!!! Was it a lot of work to get the fascia off???

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 10:44 pm

No it wasn't hard. I have just recently removed it and took a few pics of the removal procedure! Its over in the tech section.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:02 am

Looks good Matt ! Hopefully you don't have any issues with hydro lock .

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 6:35 am

Thanks! hope I don't either!well today I decided to tinker with the injen intake on the vibe. I was sorta unhappy about it not having a perfect fit so tried a few ways to modify it. It took me a couple of hours but I think I've got a fix that works pretty good with this intake. I made some marks with a white-out pen on the silicone tubing and the metal mount that attaches the pipe to the vibra-mount.My idea here was to remove some of the material so I could change the position of the air filter a little. I just needed it to move it about an 1-1/2" inwards to clear the fog light mount. I started by removing a little off the parts at a time. the hose was shortened easily by some kitchen shears. I changed the vibramount attachment point by drilling a hole then used a dremel with cut off disk to cut out the rest. I had to use a mask and eye goggles when using the dremel. Then I had to wash off the part because it got covered in aluminum dust.my dremel with cut off disk.after test fitting everything the first time I still needed to remove material. another 3/4'th inch came off the other end of the silicone tube.further hacking away at the mount. here's the total I ended up taking off the mount. I lengthened the notch to almost 2 1/2" from the end. I then had to cut off some from the ends for clearance. total removed from silicone tube. approx 3/4" from top part and 1/2" plus 3/4" from the bottom or 1-1/4" from the bottom. I suppose it would work just as well to just remove 1" from each end.after doing this I had clearance with the air filter. I sorta looks like its touching the other side in this pic but its not.I went though all the trouble to do it because I was becoming paranoid that vibrations from the air filter touching the fog light mount would eventually lead to the clamps coming loose. But it appears to me that the filter is becoming wet from hood gap drip. that really needs to be fixed in some way.

A Psycho Martyr · Post by **A Psycho Martyr** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 10:21 pm

Nice clean work manGood job

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:38 am

Well doing that did give me some piece of mind but unfortunately not enough. Having this CAI has got me too worried about having problems with water getting into it. Since I've learned that the filter can become wet after doing a car a wash, I've had a hard time justifying having this on the car. It's been removed today. Think I'll stick with my OEM intake for a little longer until I figure out what to do with this. intead I'll be using the K&N drop in filter just got this it appears very high quality.I've heard of a few crazy ways to free up air flow in my stock intake and make it the slightest bit louder so here's what I did.I removed the silencer tank and plugged it with a cap that I got from the plumbing section of the hardware store. I tested this out to make sure the cap had an airtight seal.I had this awesome hot pink duct tape that I thought would be good for securing the plumbing cap to the tube. Plus this awesome color adds hp instantly! next I removed the charcoal filter that was in my stock air box. I've seen others do this and its supposed to free up airflow. This is held in with plastic welded rivets that I had to drill holes through to remove the filter. Then I had to make sure there were no loose plastic bits hanging on in the air box. This is a permanent alteration to this part. ohh my!I didn't really think doing this through 100% soo it might have been stupid!! All finished! I feel better knowing my car wont be able to suck up water anymore. It just doesn't sound cool like it did the the CAI. doh EDIT winter!!!! I didn't quite think this was cool enough to bump my thread to the top of the list but still wanted to show it.Well it turns out my method of using the pink duct tape to secure the plumbing cap was not a foolproof one. Upon a recent inspection of the plumbing cap I realized it was able to move around and twist pretty easily. Perhaps the colder winter months have caused the rubber intake tube to shrink a bit allowing the cap to become a little loose. Any after discovering this I had fix it so there wouldn't be any chance of my engine running on unfiltered air I also nixed the pink duct tape in favor of a much more toned down spray painted black plumbing cap. Although I still did think the pink duct tape was cool while I had it. thats better!

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:33 am

Matt, you crack me up ! So, are you wishing now that you had just gone with the K&N short ram like the rest of us, that way you'd have the great intake sound without having to worry about hydrolock ?

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 12:24 pm

Quote, originally posted by J_TO_ENVY Â»Matt, you crack me up ! So, are you wishing now that you had just gone with the K&N short ram like the rest of us, that way you'd have the great intake sound without having to worry about hydrolock ?Well maybe a little bit yes. I would like to try the short ram style and see how it works with the car for myself. On the other hand I still think it will be fun to mess with the stock intake a bit more. We'll see how my intake ends up in the future.

vibenvy · Post by **vibenvy** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 2:48 am

Well, I definitely enjoy seeing what new things you come up with. You have been one of, if not the most, innovative '09-'10 Vibe owners as far as not being afraid to try new and uncharted mods. I look forward to what other factory air box mods you will come up with in the future ! Keep it up Matt !

ou.grizzly · Post by **ou.grizzly** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 3:28 am

Matt, There is a thread floating around here where a member purchased a Injen CAI for a 2003 Vibe and ended up cutting it down and using a silicone sleeve or elbow (like you have in the picture) to create a Short Ram CAI.

A Psycho Martyr · Post by **A Psycho Martyr** » Sun Aug 22, 2010 5:10 am

peace of mind is most inportant!same reason i'm going with cai

Dushibagels · Post by **Dushibagels** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 9:04 am

hey nice info you have. I'm trying a few things with my intake system as well. I don't want to pay a huge markup for a piece of hose and a filter. Can you just take your CAI and cut off about 4 inches after the mass air flow sensor and couple on the cone style filter? Is there enough room where the stock box is?So far I have just removed my huge hose section which is what I thought was the silencer. I bought some random parts from autozone and I'm trying to make a cone short ram from all my other parts.I used to have an 03 focus zx3. I had a short ram with no problems then went to a CAI and had massive problems with water. I then cut the CAI down back into a shortram setup with no issues. I just want it the awesome sound of a free flowing intake!!!!

Dushibagels · Post by **Dushibagels** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 9:06 am

Oh I just saw someone already posted the cutting down of the cai to short ram, sorry for the same info

Mariachi · Post by **Mariachi** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:27 am

i know im way late on posting but nice job on this thread!

why not get the water by pass and just install it on the intake? You do have to cut up one of the aluminum pieces but its definitely worth it. They also have covers to protect from water coming in to your intake through the filter.

I have the Injen CAI and haven't had a problem with it at all.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:24 pm

Mariachi wrote:i know im way late on posting but nice job on this thread!

why not get the water by pass and just install it on the intake? You do have to cut up one of the aluminum pieces but its definitely worth it. They also have covers to protect from water coming in to your intake through the filter.

I have the Injen CAI and haven't had a problem with it at all.

oh thanks.

yea, I decided stop using the Injen intake. Im sure it may be fine but lately Im just happier with the stock intake. Im still looking for somebody to sell that thing to. So anybody who wants it feel free to hit me with an IM.

I haven't done anything cool at all with the vib in a while but I got some fancy new lugnuts..

The guy at car quest helped me find these. I needed new ones because the last time I changed my wheels I broke maybe 7 of the lugnuts off. My original lugnuts were pretty rusty. Since then all lugnut studs have been replaced. I didnt really feel like taking pics when doing that job.

I want to use some hopefully better lugnuts so I wont have such a problem with rust in the future.

seeing as I no longer want to use my wheel covers I opted to get some cool looking lugnets. I took a bunch of pics when changing my wheels today so people could see how they look... also because I was bored.

these dorman lugnuts are made in china. I was a bit disappointed over this because when I got new dorman lugnut studs, they came in a similar orange box but those were made in USA.

when installing these I found they are not all exactly the same size. For whatever reason the little nub part seemed to be taller on some of the lugnuts. I needed to use a deeper socket to fit around those.

these tires are not appropriate at all for driving in snow.

these tires are not much better. I still have my origianl RSA with about 32,000 miles on them. Perhaps the next cool thing to vibe will be winter tires. That also took longer than I thought it would.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Tue Jun 03, 2025 6:07 pm

Aha. Found you. Im baaaaaaack!

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Wed Jun 18, 2025 8:18 am

The AC and blower fan stopped working on my vibe.

The first thing I thought to try was the fusible link block. This part contains a 50 amp fuse for the hvac circuit. I thought that replacing this may energize the AC controls. this ended up not working. My blower fan controls and AC still wouldn't turn on. To be specific, not only does the blower fan control not work but also the indicator light on the AC control doesn't illuminate when pressed. The two switches appear to not be receiving power. The left most switch is mechanical only. It controls the flaps the redirect air.

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Whelp. That was a bug waste of time and $35
on the fusible link block wasted..

My second try was replacing the blower control switch in the center console. What a peice of cake this one was. This popped into the dash in under 10 minuets.

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My AC is now fixed!! Yay! Replacing this single center switch also restored power to the right AC switch.. I was then able to turn on AC.

So the culprit has been found. The AC blower switch was $30 used on ebay. Only the center switch was replaced.
One thing I forgot: its probably a good idea to disconnect the battery when changing this. The light indicator to the passenger airbag scale is connected to the front panel and needs to be unplugged. Since this is connected to the airbag circuit its probably a good idea to disconnect the battery. I forgot this! Luckily my airbags didnt go off..

Im glad about this as I just had the AC recharged two years ago.. but that one i didnt diy. It still blows nice cold AC.
I'll need it this summer

tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Wed Jun 18, 2025 11:02 am

Nice find & fix. I had to "top off" the AC in my 2004 Vibe GT as it was low BUT not low enough to have the low pressure cutout switch prevent the compressor from coming on. I usually have to do this every couple years BUT as the car gets older, I'll likely have to do it sooner. My 2009 Vibe GT is still great!

Now on my son's 2009 Vibe GT, he has a cable snagging issue of some sort as his ventilation control knob/cable is VERY hard to rotate and get working. Not sure if this is a common problem OR something behind the dash is blocking physical movement of the cable. He doesn't drive it much anymore so we haven't looked into it in detail yet.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Fri Jun 20, 2025 2:33 am

Im very glad to have found the fix. I was really taking shots in the dark at it. Had the replacement switch not worked I was about ready to go to a professional.

Concerning your sons vibe GT climate control switch. All I can suggest is taking a look at the some of the replacement knobs and cables. Heres some pics for reference.

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It doesn't look too hard to get that new cable in there based off the lenght. But maybe the cable is fine. Id want to look at the plastic teeth on the gears of the climate control dial and cable to see if any of those were broken off.. there may be different lenght cables for left and right hvac controls dials.

Im basing this off a GM parts list i found on the internet.
Its actually listing two different part numbers for the hvac control cables.
https://g.oempartsonline.com/v-2009-pon ... components

Of course, like anything else with our vibes, you're usually better off just looking for the toyota matrix parts..

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sat Apr 25, 2026 1:32 pm

I had to put new struts on the vibe. Honestly, I should have done years ago. The left front strut was beyond gone.
The replacements cost about $160. The replacement parts were nice as they are complete strut assemblies. Its comes assembled with new strut, spring, bumper, bellows and strut mounts. There was no need to mess with spring compressors or take apart strut assemblies. The car has about 135k miles on it.

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Everything went pretty smooth expect one of my sway bar links couldn't be unbolted. The center hex had rusted out.

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Had to cut through it with angle grinder.

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I was unhappy to fork over $75 to order a new sway bar link from advance auto. Those can be ordered a lot cheaper. Oh well. I needed it in a pinch.

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In case anyone is wondering the torque spec for the sway bar link is 55 ft-lbs. Its not actually possible to put a torque wrench on these nuts anyway. The center of the sway bar links ends needs to be held with a hex wrench in order to be tightened.
So I just guessed what 55 ft-lbs is. To me 55 ft-lbs is pretty friggin tight but not killin it.

Those big bolts which connect the strut to the steering knuckle took a lot lf torque. 175 ft-lbs.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sat Apr 25, 2026 2:08 pm

Those large bolts wwre super hard ti break loose too. I forgot about this but I believe we removed these durimg the clutch job ti grt them out if the way. We might have used blue (or maybe red) loc-tight on there. I had to use the jack handle over the end of a breaker bar to break those loose.

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These are cowling parts. It doesnt take a lot of time to remove and makes tightening the struts much easier. I actually torqued the three top strut mount bolts to 37 ft-lbs.

I have the service manual. Its three big pink phone books.

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I cleaned up my old strut brace. It still looks sorta perddy.
Many many years ago after I first bought the vibe I uploaded a how-to on genvibe about to install this. Its simple really..

To the right of this pic: note the new air cleaner box. I replaced that a couple weeks ago becuase the clips which keep the clam shell held together rusted out. $80 ebay.

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After I got the stuts in the car raised by at least 2 or 3 inches. The old struts were really bad. The car looks lifted on the front. It rides so nice now. It feels like its driving on pillows.
Its also much quieter. The old struts made a racket.
Ill replace the rear struts soon too. Those were already replaced once already though.. this car is sorta fun to fix.

My reason for wanting to replace the rear struts is that the car looks uneven now with just the new fronts. Perhaps the front will lower a bit once everything settles.

I ordered a second sway bar link from amazon. $20.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Sat Apr 25, 2026 4:21 pm

vibedrivermatt wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2026 1:32 pm The car has about 135k miles on it.

I'd have expected struts to last more than 135K miles. Do you think its because of hard driving, weather, bad roads, or just general age of the parts?

vibedrivermatt wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2026 2:08 pm
My reason for wanting to replace the rear struts is that the car looks uneven now with just the new fronts. Perhaps the front will lower a bit once everything settles.

I once had an old 66 Falcon. mid 60's Ford Mustangs and Falcons were designed to have higher front than rear. If you don't replace your rear struts, just say you went for that "classic hungry" look

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Sun Apr 26, 2026 3:55 am

joatmon wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2026 4:21 pmI'd have expected struts to last more than 135K miles. Do you think its because of hard driving, weather, bad roads, or just general age of the parts?

It may habe been a combination of factors. Its possible that my struts wore out faster because I had TRD lowering springs. Those went on the car when it was still pretty new. I had those one for a time until the ride became terrible. I had the car at a shop for an aligment and was informed that both of TRD springs were broken. I still had the original springs so I put those back on but kept the original struts. I probably should have replaced them then..

Later, I had brought the car to a mechanic to resolve an issue with my parking brake. I wasnt so enthusiastic to have to climb under there and fix that one myself.

Anyway, they informed me the left front strut was bad. I was already aware. They said it wouldnt pass inspection due to the bad strut.

joatmon wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2026 4:21 pmI once had an old 66 Falcon. mid 60's Ford Mustangs and Falcons were designed to have higher front than rear. If you don't replace your rear struts, just say you went for that "classic hungry" look

Hey, maybe I should keep it that way. Haha.

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tpollauf · Post by **tpollauf** » Wed Apr 29, 2026 4:18 am

Nice work!

I have several "Metabo" brand angle grinders and they're the best tools out of all of them. I even have several scars where "stiches" used to be for the proof!

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Wed Apr 29, 2026 3:34 pm

Ohhh metabo! Those are fine german power tools.. onetime I bought a metabo angle grinder for my dad.
It had a soft start.

The one I have was gifted to me. Its Porter cable brand. Its nothimg fancy but it works.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Tue May 19, 2026 3:50 pm

I got the other sway bar end link on the vibe today.
It turns out I fowled up the first job. After driving around for a while, the first link I had replaced loosened. The sysmptom was a tell tale clunking sound of the front sway bar moving around in ways its not supposed to.

This happened because I mistakenly tightened that first end link up with the car jacked up. I found out later the suspension needs to be loaded before those are tightened up all the way.

To fix this, this I used ramps. While up on ramps the front suspension was loaded by the weight of the car, I was able turn the wheel and get room for my wrenches. Turning the wheel with the car up on ramps proved to not be an issue but I was cautious about it.

I tightend the living begeezus out end links both sides this time. I likely far surpassed 55 ft-lbs. Its been good since. No more clunking.

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Heres some other fun stuff as I'm bored. It seems like I'm always fixing stuff lately. I own a rather cool hot rod. This is a 1995 nissan 300zx twin turbo with manual transmission. Ive had this car for a long time. I bought it before my vibe.. I want to say I purchased this nissan in 2004.. this car is super clean and I try to keep it that way. Right now it has about 74k miles.

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I pulled the exhaust out for some work. It was kinda too loud so I made some tweaks. It sounds awesome now. Not too loud. Aside from that exhaust system its essentially stock. Its fun. We take it for weekend getaways.

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Lasty, my lawn mower is broken. The engine doesnt crank and it immediately blows fuses whenever I attempt to start the engine. The cause? I'm not entierly sure but its likely there is a short within the electrical system. The problem is, I thoroughly looked over its wiring harness and can't find any defects. It is my hope that this $15 mower blade engagement switch is the culprit. The clue? This was the last control I touched on the mower before its malfunction started. I'll find out soon if that's the fix. I hope this fixes it as my yard is beginning to look like Jumanji.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Thu May 21, 2026 6:13 am

Whelp. The new switch arrived. That didnt fix the mower.. in hindsight I probably should have tested it with a multimeter first.. also, its unlikely that 20A current would be sent through that switch anyway. The mower (or yard tractor) uses a single 20A fuse. It keeps blowing it when the ignition is turned on with the key.

a new starter arrives tomorrow from amazon for $50. I'm fairly certain I'm gonna get it with that. I sure hope so. It should as Ive pretty much ruled everything else out at this point. If that doesnt fix it I'm about ready to seek professional assistance for fixing this or hire someone to cut our grass.

: Ahhh! The pleasure of maintaining a mower engine. Fuel filter, oil filter, air filter, battery and rarely spark plugs is all that it ever needs to run like a top. Theres nothing to it. Its analog. No fancy computer stuff here. Theres a relay and a fuse. Theres mechanical linkages and a carburetor. Thats about it.; 20260521_104155.jpg (645.7 KiB) Viewed 1023 times

This is a great engine. Kohler 7000 series. Very strong. This issue of blowing fuses is really its first major mechanical breakdown (of the engine) since I bought.

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This is my mower. Its a husqvarna YT46LS. Its been an awesome little machine to cut my grass. I have about one acre of cleared lawn to mow with this. It features quick release blades. This feature has since been discontinued. The quick release blades have been pretty handy but, once I had to replace one of the quick release mechanisms on the mower deck. It was $70 for that part which was sorta a bummer. Another time, a bracket which holds the mower deck snapped off. I bought a awesome little Harbor Freight flux core wire feed welder ($150). That it fixed up just fine. It was fun to learn a little bit of welding too.

I purchased this around 2015 when I bought a house. Its been pretty great for my needs. The mower is in really good shape. It cuts pretty nice and I kinda beat on it. I frequntly tow around a yard sweeper that gets filled with grass clippings. That gets pretty hefty which puts a lot of strain on the hydrostatic trans.. tuff torq K46. It hasn't broke yet.

I know the zero turns are all the rage but that shiz was sorta too fancy for my needs.

vibedrivermatt · Post by **vibedrivermatt** » Fri May 22, 2026 5:26 pm

The new starter to the yard tractor showed up. That didnt fix it.. I installed a new internal starter solenoid as well. Nothing.

But finally. The moment lf truth.

Huzzah! Its the freaking ignition! I had to hot wire it to make it work. The tractor is fixed!!!!!!!!!

Now the tractor also has a bunch of new parts on it that didnt need replacing but whatever.. its working now. Ill order a new ignition switch for it later. For now hot wiring it will do to mow the lawn.

: Its a few small cotter pins. To crank simply touch the straight pin to the jumper pin. Finally one of my google searches paid off when I searched up the pinout diagram for 7 prong husqvarna ignition switch.; 20260522_173112.jpg (215.12 KiB) Viewed 534 times

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: This image show the male side of the ignition switch. Just reverse it figure out how to hot wire the connector.; Screenshot_20260523_095638_Chrome.jpg (371.73 KiB) Viewed 384 times

I thought I was ok at fixing mechanical stuff but this made me feel sorta dumb. I probably wasted about $85 on unnecessary replacement parts..
This yard tractor really tested my mettle..

At least I learned a some stuff. The starter and internal solenoid can be tested by shorting the big contacts on the solenoid with a screwdriver.. had I known that, I would have known not to change those. it turns out the short within the electrical system was in the ignition the whole time. And
... 20A of current does indeed flow right through that ignition switch. .I wouldn't have expected that. I figured lower current would be sent to there through a relay. Oh well. Learn something new everyday.