John Deere 12volt Ride -on Repair

Fixing a forward/reverse issue

Phillips screw driver electrical tape wire brush, nitrate gloves, dust mask.

Put a bucket under the back end of the car to raise the rear wheels off the ground. Went through the gears forward, low-high and reverse. Reverse was not working, first thought was a bad reverse switch . All three switches are connected as one to the shifter.

Before ordering a new switch I decide to take a look at the motors to inspect them. They were under the panel that was located under the dump bed.

I was surprised to see that a mouse had moved in and built a nest. Using nitrate gloves and a dust mask cleaned out the mouse urine and feces. Notice the mouse got hungry and chewed the wires to the motor passenger side. Replace the motor and repaired the wiring, adding electrical tape, tried the gears again and now reverse is working. Had I not inspected the motors I would have spent $35 on a new gear shift with switches and the reverse would not have worked.