I think my starter is bad. What else should I be looking at before buying a new starter?

[Bruh44]

Ran the tractor for about two hours earlier today. Came back three hours later, it won’t start.
All the lights come on without dimming. The glow plugs appear to be active. I turn again to start and get a loud click. The starter does engage the fly wheel but I doesn’t seem to be trying to turn. The fly wheel is not locked up, I can turn it manually.
Would there be some sort of safety that is engaged? Any other ideas?
I just messed with the gas pedal. It’s not that either.

 

[mendonsy]

Check ALL of the connections between the battery and the starter including the grounds.

 

[Bruh44]

If it was shorting wouldn’t I lose power too?

 

[85Hokie]

I agree - could be several things, but let's knock out the obvious.
Have you tried a jump? That would point to a bad battery or connections.
You can remove battery and have it tested free at most auto part places.
Take off ALL connections - and sand lightly and replace and tighten.

 

[lmichael]

Likely low voltage at the solenoid. Had the same issue, bought a new starter, wasted my $$$. Traced every wire and switch I could, got fed up. Kubota has some weird means of wiring IMO. I simply did what they should have done and installed a helper relay in front of the solenoid. It will switch full battery voltage to the solenoid with as little as 7 or 8 volts to the solenoid circuit. EZ to do and saves yourself chasing ghosts

 

[BruceP]

Likely low voltage at the solenoid.

Most often, a SAFETY SWITCH causes the low-voltage.

Any other ideas?

Use VOLTMETER to take "Voltage Drop" measurments whilst attempting to crank engine. It should not take more than 10 minutes to isolate the root cause.

 

[Bruh44]

I will try that, and test the battery too. I don’t know about ten minutes. I think you underestimate my lack of electrical knowledge.
Lmichael, do you have a link to the relay your talking about?
Thank you all,

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If your getting a loud clunk from the starter, yes most likely it's got an issue.
There is a connection from the starter solenoid to the starter, make sure that connection is good and tight.

then if that connection is good, super simple test, set the brake, make sure tractor is in neutral.
Go to the starter there will be a small wire going to the solenoid on the starter, Usually black with white stripe, remove that connection, then jump from the battery cable connection on the starter (not the connection above) to the small solenoid connection, and it will engage the solenoid and the starter if it's good.

 

[lmichael]

I will try that, and test the battery too. I don’t know about ten minutes. I think you underestimate my lack of electrical knowledge.
Lmichael, do you have a link to the relay your talking about?
Thank you all,

So these are what I bought. Amazon.com: 5 Pack - EPAuto 30/40 AMP Relay Harness Spdt 12V, 5-PIN SPDT Bosch Style : Automotive I only needed one for that but I also have added things to my machine like an electrical connection for my tow behind pump sprayer and some better lighting and so on. So I have made use of these relays for that circuitry as well. Allowing me to use a smaller switch to switch loads on and off. I don't believe in putting higher electrical loads directly through a switch. So I also added in relays and fuses for those circuits I added. The safety switches still do their job. The machine will not start if one of them is out of position. The issue is Kubota (not sure about other makers) insists on running all this higher current demand through these tiny little unsealed microswitches. They still pass voltage but not enough current to do their job. So adding in the helper relay it will activate and switch full current with as little as 7 volts. They can handle up to 50 amps IIRC and the starter solenoid does not draw anywhere near that. And my machine fires right up.

 

[Pawnee]

Most often, a SAFETY SWITCH causes the low-voltage.

How is an interlock switch going to cause low voltage at the solenoid actuator terminal?
if all the switches are 'Go' then the starter relay is actuated and Batt+ is switched to the solenoid.
It's pretty much binary.

 

[Wull]

Just test the starter itself to rule it out.

 

[Bruh44]

Ok, it’s not the starter. The battery is constantly 12v even when I turn the key. When I connect to the positive on the starter, it's 12. When I turn the key, it drops to almost zero. That connection was loose but that didn’t fix it.
I was able to jump it and get the bucket off of it. That’ll be a big help working on it. It needs to be serviced before I run it again anyways.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

So if it's loosing voltage at the starter, it's got a bad battery cable or connection, check both positive and negative cables.
Or you have a battery with a dead or shorted cell, they will show 12V but when a load is put on it they go dead.
Pull the battery and have it load tested.

 

[Dave_eng]

Ok, it’s not the starter. The battery is constantly 12v even when I turn the key. When I connect to the positive on the starter, it's 12. When I turn the key, it drops to almost zero. That connection was loose but that didn’t fix it.
I was able to jump it and get the bucket off of it. That’ll be a big help working on it. It needs to be serviced before I run it again anyways.

Here are common locations for poor connections on the battery cables.

Here is feedback on another forum:

Dave

 

[lmichael]

If it's only 12v it's either in need of charging or going bad

 

[Bruh44]

So I’m getting 12 volts at the battery when it attempts to turn.
Its 12v at the starter connection with the battery on, but drops when it attempts to turn. If the cell was dead or shorted, wouldn’t it die out at the battery when I try to crank it?
Also I was having connection issues a while ago where it wouldn’t start. When I got it going, it wouldn’t shut off. I replaced the ground line directly to the battery, it’s worked great since. That was different in that when it attempted to turn, everything lost power. So I don’t think that line would be part of the issue. I replaced it with a Due Hard battery wire.
What do they do when there is an issue with one of the safety switches? Isn’t this what happens?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

So I’m getting 12 volts at the battery when it attempts to turn.
Its 12v at the starter connection with the battery on, but drops when it attempts to turn. If the cell was dead or shorted, wouldn’t it die out at the battery when I try to crank it?
Also I was having connection issues a while ago where it wouldn’t start. When I got it going, it wouldn’t shut off. I replaced the ground line directly to the battery, it’s worked great since. That was different in that when it attempted to turn, everything lost power. So I don’t think that line would be part of the issue. I replaced it with a Due Hard battery wire.
What do they do when there is an issue with one of the safety switches? Isn’t this what happens?

No it's not a safety switch if your loosing voltage at the starter end of the battery connection.
You have a bad battery cable or connection, period can't be much else.

 

[Wull]

No it's not a safety switch if your loosing voltage at the starter end of the battery connection.
You have a bad battery cable or connection, period can't be much else.

Exactly this. A short can also cause this, not necessarily within the wiring itself but a short within the starter can cause this. As I always say test the starter itself to rule that out then look elsewhere.

I had a similar issue recently and it was the main battery feed cable to the starter which was at fault.

 

[Bruh44]

Ok, thanks all. I’ll mess with that one tomorrow.

 

[Wull]

Ok, thanks all. I’ll mess with that one tomorrow.

if you are not sure on how to test a starter in frame I have a video showing you how to do this, this is much better as sometimes starters will work when bench testing but when under load they don’t.