hard starting b7100/puzzled

[drrelaxx]

I have a b7100HST. Battery is good.
Tractor cranks very slow, and not fast enough to start.
What I have checked so far.
1. Battery checks good, under load
2. terminals are clean and tight
3. I did notice wires attached to starter was touching metal guard.
loosened guard, and repositioned wires. Started right up, only once
since then (yesterday)
Question: how can I verify starter is getting enough current to start tractor?
appreciate you assistance.

 

[meanjean]

Although electrical isn't my bag I will venture a guess.
Use a multi meter at the starter and crank it over.
You should see 12 volts when cranking.

 

[MMudd]

a poor ground can cause slow crank speed or a worn starter can also drag and cause slow cranking speed If battery is good, wires and connections are good, I would look at starter.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Am I reading your post right, in statement #3 you said you rerouted wire and then it started with no issues?

If that's the case then your problem was grounded wires.
If that's not the case, you have little to deal with to check for a amperage loss, If you have the battery load tested, and not just voltage tested then That eliminates that.
Next would be main cables, and I'm not leaning that way because you usually won't even get it to crank with bad cables, but clean and check both ends of both cables, also take not of corrosion on the wire to terminal connection point too as that can raise the amperage needed greatly.
You can take a set of jumper cables and jump from battery to both ground and directly to the starter, if that speeds the starter operation up then you have a bad cable or connection.
Are the battery cables getting real warm/hot while cranking it?
If it is then you have a bad starter or a semi sized motor, I would lean to a bad starter.

 

[meanjean]

Often enough someone posts a "hard time starting" issue and often enough it's solved by cleaning ALL electrical connections. Great place to start.

 

[85Hokie]

I have a b7100HST. Battery is good.
Tractor cranks very slow, and not fast enough to start.
What I have checked so far.
1. Battery checks good, under load
2. terminals are clean and tight
3. I did notice wires attached to starter was touching metal guard.
loosened guard, and repositioned wires. Started right up, only once
since then (yesterday)
Question: how can I verify starter is getting enough current to start tractor?
appreciate you assistance.

tractor cranking slowly is directly proportional to tractor starting. Sooooo....
Either you have a battery that is running out of juice, or a wiring issue. A good battery will read about 12.6 volts before turning the key, butttttt there is no guarantee that it has enough cca (cold cranking amps) to start the tractor. The fact that it started, did it turn over slow and then start? Or did it start like normal? These little pieces of the puzzle explain a lot of what is going on and what IS NOT going on.

To ramble on and answer your question, take the battery out of your truck/car and hook it up to the tractor, true a diesel is harder to turn over than a gas, it still should tell you that the old battery is the problem.....or NOT.

AS others have pointed out, the ground is suspect, you would not think that one wire could be such a PITA.......check it, then check it again.

report back when you find the "problem"

 

[drrelaxx]

Although electrical isn't my bag I will venture a guess.
Use a multi meter at the starter and crank it over.
You should see 12 volts when cranking.

MeanJean,
Thank you. I will check starter with multimeter. And do the jumper from battery to starter.
that was also mentioned in this thread.

 

[drrelaxx]

a poor ground can cause slow crank speed or a worn starter can also drag and cause slow cranking speed If battery is good, wires and connections are good, I would look at starter.

MMudd,
Thank you. I will investigate and report back.
Doc Relaxx

 

[drrelaxx]

Thanks to all my friends out here in Orange land, who replied.
All are good suggestions, and your knowledge far exceeds mine.
I will check/investigate all items mentioned, and report back this weekend.
Probably Sunday evening..

 

[drrelaxx]

Thanks NIW.
I will def investigate that. and report back.

 

[drrelaxx]

85 Hokie,
will do. let you know what it is..
thanks!