Electrical problem

[nobleswood]

Having trouble starting my kubota tractor.

It started nicely after winter after charging the battery & checking oil levels etc, 2 weeks ago. I have run it 3 times since, again with no starting problems.

This time turn the key on, oil & battery lights come on bright, turn the key to the preheat setting, it's a 2 cylinder diesel, then after 10 seconds pull the de-compression knob & turn to start it. Nothing.

Turn the key off & on again. No oil & battery lights.

Take battery out & put it on the charger.

Instal the battery & after turning the key to the start position. Nothing.

Brought in a second battery & it did the same thing.

It's as if I'm shorting out the battery. There is a solenoid on the starter which I don't hear engage at any point.

Suggestions?

[twhitaker]

Sidestand switch? Seriously, there are safeties, one of which may have failed in a safe. It 's all I got.

[nobleswood]

Sidestand switch? Seriously, there are safeties, one of which may have failed in a safe. It 's all I got.

I dis-abled the sidestand switch when I put on the deck mower 

Pulled out the starter





Attached the + as shown from a battery & touched the negative cable to the spade terminal. Nothing.

So. Open up the solenoid & see if it's frozen ? Should the starter have spun into life when I touched the jumper cables to it ?

Or just pronounce it dead ?

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Make the sign the cross and say " Dominos two bits and up.  Its dead."

[nobleswood]

Make the sign the cross and say " Dominos two bits and up.  Its dead."

Bugger !

Now I�ll have to push start it ! 

[Tom]

Take the starter apart and check for corrosion.  Sounds like it's frozen.  Clean and bench test.

[nobleswood]

Take the starter apart and check for corrosion.  Sounds like it's frozen.  Clean and bench test.

I will. Cheers

[Tom]

Make sure all the contacts are clean.  Check your ground lead contacts and your positive cable contacts.

[Guzler]

I dis-abled the sidestand switch when I put on the deck mower 

Pulled out the starter





Attached the + as shown from a battery & touched the negative cable to the spade terminal. Nothing.

So. Open up the solenoid & see if it's frozen ? Should the starter have spun into life when I touched the jumper cables to it ?

Or just pronounce it dead ?

Leave the Pos cable where it is, Clamp Neg cable to mounting ear.

JUMP from the Pos cable to spade lug.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I dis-abled the sidestand switch when I put on the deck mower 

Pulled out the starter





Attached the + as shown from a battery & touched the negative cable to the spade terminal. Nothing.

So. Open up the solenoid & see if it's frozen ? Should the starter have spun into life when I touched the jumper cables to it ?

Or just pronounce it dead ?

I only see 1 wire on the starter, you need ground, Hot and a trigger wire to the solenoid to make it pull in.
Can you find an on line diagram for your model that you can post us?

[Wayne Orwig]

But you said the oil and battery lights are out too. How would a dead starter take out those unrelated lights?

[BikeMike]

It might be the PTO interlock switch that prevents starting with PTO engaged.  Or the seat switch.   I have both on my B3030 but it  depends on what model Kubota you have.

Mike

[nobleswood]

All ( both ) lights work as the ignition is turned on & when the glowplugs are preheating. Once I have turned the key to the start position, after that the lights are either not on or a very faint light.

After disconnecting the battery & putting it on the charger for 1/2 hour or so then when I re connect & turn the ignition on the lights are bright again. As if when I turn the key to the start position the battery is discharged. As if I have a short.

I'll look up the wiring diagram in the morning.

[Murray]

All ( both ) lights work as the ignition is turned on & when the glowplugs are preheating. Once I have turned the key to the start position, after that the lights are either not on or a very faint light.

After disconnecting the battery & putting it on the charger for 1/2 hour or so then when I re connect & turn the ignition on the lights are bright again. As if when I turn the key to the start position the battery is discharged. As if I have a short.

I'll look up the wiring diagram in the morning.

A previous poster said check you connections especially earth where it bolts on the chassi, do this before you waste anymore time.

[Toystoretom]

What Murray said. If that is OK, suspect your ignition switch. Turn the key to the start position and hold it there, and wiggle the shit out of the key. This may get dirty switch contacts to work temporarily and your lights may flicker on and off or it may even start.

Buy a test light. You can piss around forever or trace it down with a wiring diagram and a test light.

On your starter.... the large stud is for the main battery cable that supplies the large current. That spade is for the signal wire, if the starter were installed in your tractor the wire that connects to that spade would show hot when you turn the ignition switch to "start". The starter gets it ground by being bolted to the engine. Be careful. If you were to bench test the starter by putting the positive on the big main lug and clipping the negative to the body of the starter the starter would spin over. The problem is that the starter puts out about a million pounds of torque and it will fly off your work bench and hit you right in your pie hole. I would pre dial 911 then test it. LOL Take the starter to a auto parts store and have them test it or at least secure it in a vice. It's probably not your starter anyway. I doubt you cooked your starter the way you hooked it up because you didn't complete the circuit.

[nobleswood]

Toystoretom, advice heeded !





The starter works so I'll open up the dashboard.

[Kiwi_Roy]

There are all kinds of diagrams on the web but we can't guess what model you have
I googled Kubota tractor wiring diagram, they show an interlock switch and mostly needing a positive to the starter solenoid trigger terminal.

[nobleswood]

Roy,
Thanks for looking. After getting the starter going on the bench, which I got to show to my son  , I followed one of your mantras; clean the contacts. As I couldn't see anything broken or damaged it seemed to be the most frequent solution to electrical problems.
And it worked.
After lunch we'll see if it works again.
Cheers all

[delrod]

My experience with my older Kubota was very similar to yours. Make sure the connection at the solenoid is as good as you can make it even renewing the connector if any doubt.Kubota in general suffers from incredibly conservative wire sizing and unnecessary complex wiring pathways. My guess is more than one poor connection.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Kubota wiring diagram shamelessly stolen from another site:

[Muzz]

If the nain lead from the battery is the type that pushes on over the post make sure that the inside of the contact has not got a layer of lead sulphate on it, not just the battery terminal itself.

Not only is the layer an insulator, when it gets hot from the resistance it can further break any contact with the post.

Don't ask me why I would suggest this......

[nobleswood]

If the nain lead from the battery is the type that pushes on over the post make sure that the inside of the contact has not got a layer of lead sulphate on it, not just the battery terminal itself.

Not only is the layer an insulator, when it gets hot from the resistance it can further break any contact with the post.

Don't ask me why I would suggest this......

That's definitely one of the issues I had.

Great wiring diagram !

[Kiwi_Roy]

That's definitely one of the issues I had.

Great wiring diagram !

I’m sure I’ve said it before, put Vaseline on the battery terminals and the sulphate will never be a problem.
Any grease will work but Vaseline is not so messy.


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[leroysch]

Look for any defects about connectors in the lines going to stuff requiring power. I was wrestling with an idiot light on a JD2305 indicating the battery wasn't charging. The problem was intermittent...at least until wiggling a wire (huh, why does this wire appear to be "loose") going into the back of a connector made it a non-intermittent failure mode.