Can't find a good fuel shutoff solenoid for L3400 that actually works.

[Wag87]

So i have 3 L3400s and i have been having a heck of a time with these fuel shut off solenoids over the years.

Not one issue with my 5060, but every one of my 3400 solenoids have died at some point, it's part number 1A021-60017 that it calls for and i've tried Kubota's solenoid (lasted about a year, $190 at the time) and tried many others from lasting about 2 years to being bad right out of the box.

Just ordered the top rated one from Amazon and it was bad right out of the box, ordered one from complete tractor (it died within 6 months) got one from my local tractor store, it lasted about 1 year 4 months before it died, and cost more than the OEM one.

Has anyone here had any lock with any of these part numbered ones 1A021-60010, 1A021-60013, 1A021-60015, 1A021-60017

Only thing i've been able to figure out is i've modified one solenoid by cutting the plastic cover off, welding 2 pieces of metal on both sides, using another rod from another solenoid, cutting it down to the right size to push the other one in and hold it with a piece of metal welded to the other pieces so i can just flip it up to cut the fuel pressure off, just have to keep opening the hood to start and cut it off each time.

There's gotta be a better way.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

when you say 'it died' .. how so ?
I had a quick google and it looks like an 'electromagnet' with a rod... apply power and the rod moves ??
Does it require 12 volts to stop the fuel or 12 to keep engine running ?
If the coil doesn't show some resistance(say it's 'open' ) then it's an electrical failure. There are possible cures to that. just need to know more about it.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

The stop solenoid you have stops the fuel supply when the voltage is off. It has two coils, one with very low resistance of 0.375 Ω for pulling in the plunger and a second one with 15.6 Ω to hold the plunger while running.

The low resistance coil is disconnected by an internal contact when the plunger is pulled in (engine running). A fault in this disconnect contact would burn the winding, but then the 30A fuse would blow, I would think. Did that happen?

Another reason could be the holding coil dissipating too much power, for example when your alternator voltage is too high. Have you measured the battery voltage while the engine is running?

And yes, the question from GreensVilleJay: what happens when the solenoid dies? Did you measure the resistance of the two coils? Is it possible that there is a problem with the connector contact and at some stage the pulling in coil does not get enough current and the engine does not start?

Is it possible that the mechanism connected to the plunger is not running freely, so that it takes a while for it to engage and the pulling in coil gets too hot and evetually burns out? Or some of them cannot pull in the plunger at all and hence the 30A fuse blows?

Questions over questions, but remote diagnostics is difficult enough, so please answer them all best to your knowledge.

I believe that problem lies somewhere with your tractor and not with the type of solenoid. It is used in thousands of tractors and works reliably there (ok, there may be the very odd failure, but a single engine eating solenoids by the dozen as in your case is not common, I believe).

p.s.: I just read you have 3 L3400, is that correct? And how do the failures distribute over the 3 machines?