Help with Dead L2350DT

[FRANKLY]

I'm new here, having recently acquired an old L2350DT. I was having trouble with starting...starter would click but not crank. I cleaned the grounds and connections with no help, so I bought a new starter, and it temporarily solved the problem. However, after a couple of weeks the problem returned. Most of the time you can get the starter to crank by tapping it with a hammer, however, Saturday it would not crank at all. I noticed that the fusible link was very hot after trying to start, and so I replaced it with a wire jumper. It cranked immediately and much faster, and so I dug a post hole and then shut it down. I tried to restart a few minutes later w/o glowing. I heard a pop and everything went dead...no dash lights, no nothing. Battery voltage is good (12.57 V), and all fuses check out ok.

So I purchased a repair manual with wiring diagram and have begun to check out the circuits. So far I have determined the battery voltage is going everywhere it should, however, the ignition switch does not appear to be doing anything with it. Could I have fried it? What is the fusible link there to protect? The manual does not readily tell me what amps it is rated for? It must have been partially blown and was dropping the voltage to the starter? Obviously, bypassing it was not a good idea. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Yes sounds like you have fried the switch, maybe other things as well, but start with replacing the starter and the switch and the fuse link.
Replace the fuse link with a 30 amp cube fuse.
If you hear a click when you try and start that means the starter solenoid is getting power and there for all the right things are happening before it.
It sounds to me if you've got to thump the starter to make it work you have a bad starter, yes the new one you got is bad too, I'm betting it was a after market starter, they are known for doing that, hopefully you didn't buy it that long ago and you can send it back and get your money back.
If you still have the old starter take and have it rebuilt, if you don't get a factory Kubota starter.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I bought my tractor with what was suspected a bad starter.
Wire from safety switch to starter was bad. Replaced it and gas since been 95%.
Ground was bad a few weeks back, just cleaned it and all is good.

Old satoh at work quit while i was cranking, safety switch crapped out.
Was easy fix.

In most cases, tapping a starter rarely helps, and a new one with hammer marks on it is hard to return- even for warranty.

 

[FRANKLY]

Ignition switch checks fine. Having trouble finding safety switch. Expected it to be around clutch linkage? May have been removed? No continuity between switch and starter. It's slow go tracing wires. Anyone know exactly where safety switch is located?

 

[Daren Todd]

Check the opposite side, just in front of the brakes. Look for a rocker and push button switch. If you have someone run the clutch for you while looking by the brake pedals, you should be able to see the rocker moving

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Yes the clutch safety switch is on the right side, it on the far side of the clutch linkage.

 

[FRANKLY]

Will check out this PM. Thanks.

 

[ShaunRH]

Checking for 'bad' starter is pretty simple, just jumper the solenoid with a test wire and if the starter spins nicely (not dragging) the starter is likely fine.

The solenoid is just a beefy relay, so to check it, just put an ohm meter across the terminals and put power to the power lead. If you get only a few ohms resistance (probably 5 or less) or none, it's good. If you get a lot of resistance then the contacts need cleaned or the unit replaced.

There are any number of electrical issues that can cause a modern tractor not to put power to its solenoid and you need to run down all of them. You can either jumper safety switches or test them with a continuity test on a meter.

Get the service manual and run them all down.

Last but not least, a battery can show good voltage but have crappy load delivery. If the voltage is good on it, do a load test, you can get a load tester for cheap from HF.

http://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-612v-battery-load-tester-61747.html

 

[FRANKLY]

I had to go out of town for a couple of days, but before I did I determined there is a short in the #2wiring harness. Wires attached to a 20 amp fuse burned (should be 10 amp). Safety switch and Voltage reg tests good. So when I get home I will put back together and see. The load tester looks great...I need one...thanks. and thanks to everyone who responded. I think I am close...and am learning much about the little tractor.

 

[FRANKLY]

Just a quick followup on my dead L2350. I went through all of the electrical stuff and all I found was a couple of skinned wires in the #2 wiring harness, and they proved not to be the problem. It turned out that the battery ground cable was not making good contact at the connection to the battery clamp. It appeared okay, but would not transmit any current at load conditions. I replaced both cables with new ones and now it cranks with much more speed and starts instantly. The fusible link bypassing was only smoke that hid the issue. I can see now that bypassing the link will not usually cause a problem for a short period of time.

Thanks for all the help. I kept working on the battery connection and the cable connection to the tractor, and but never once thought about the cable connection to the clamp.