Kubota L3750 Slow crank, not enough to start

[Gerch199]

Posting for a friend
He has a L3750 and the battery and starter are good. But when he goes to fire it up it usually won’t crank over enough to start. Sometimes when it fires and he runs it for a half hour or so then shuts it off, goes to fire it back up and nothing.
Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Jim L.]

Most likely is a bad connection from the battery to the machine. Check for clean and tight connections. Ground cable too.

Battery is supposed to be good. Was it load tested? Was another battery swapped to show it is not the battery?

Engine oil a multi-grade winter weight?

When he goes to crank, measure the voltage across the starter. It should be close to the battery voltage. If not, then measure for voltage(s) around the circuit loop. When cranking, a bad connection will show voltage caused by current running through a resistance.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Sure the battery is good? Good isn't reading 12 volts either. If a battery at rest meters 12 volts, it's DEAD. A properly charged battery will read between 12.8 and 13.2 volts at rest. I'd first check the connections (starter and ground strap) for corrosion and clean them and apply di-electric grease or a good corrosion coating and check the battery. Terminals tight? Not corroded? Clean and tighten. Di-electric grease again or corrosion inhibitor.

Batteries have to be the most neglected part of any system. Until they expire that is.

 

[Russell King]

He should probably inspect or just replace both battery cables. They can get too corroded to work well and that is sometimes inside the insulation so hard to see.

Cables are fairly cheap and easy to replace.


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[GeoHorn]

Posting for a friend
He has a L3750 and the battery and starter are good. But when he goes to fire it up it usually won’t crank over enough to start. Sometimes when it fires and he runs it for a half hour or so then shuts it off, goes to fire it back up and nothing.
Any help would be appreciated!

This describes EXACTLY what I went thru when I first acquired a diesel-engine piece of equipment. I was a used, 1987 Ferguson 5-8B with John Deere 4329 engine in a compactor/roller. Not being familiar with it as new-to-me equip't, it started OK at first...but after a day or so it would behave exactly as you described. The piggy-back starter solenoid was hot as a pistol and so I suspected the starter. Took it off (a PITA) and took it to the local auto/electric rebuilder (the JD part was $380 and backordered) who repaired it by installing a new solenoid and brushes/bearings and charged me $185. I reinstalled it (another PITA) and … no change. It turned over and over and over and over... but no start. The starter began to smolder even tho' I rested it between attempts.
I took it back to the guy and he rebuilt it again and told me the new solenoid was "burned up". I reinstalled it (that was two more PITAs) and I removed the ground cable from the frame and relocated directly onto the engine block. It cranked and cranked and cranked. (If I jumped it from my pickup it would start but not on it's own 1000A battery.)
Then I noticed the battery was dated 5 years old. I took it to WalMart who tested it at 900A and 13 volts and told me it was good.

I left and, for good measure, went to NAPA and they tested it at 13 volts and told me was BAD. That made no sense to me but the NAPA guy (a new employee at that store ...I'd never seen him there before in 30 years) got mad at me when I questioned how the battery could be bad at 13 volts in a system that charges at 13 volts and he shouted "Because it's a TWELVE VOLT BATTERY and it's NOT a Thirteen Volt system, DAMMIT!".

I decided he was a hothead as well as unknowlegeable, so I refused to buy the $140 battery he wanted to sell me and drove down the road to AutoZone and bought the identical Continental 1000A battery for $130. Took it home thinking it was a waste of my time and money and installed the battery.

It's been starting and running beautifully ever since.

Yep. A bad battery might still look good in gasoline equipment...but a DIESEL DAMANDS A GOOD BATTERY AND CABLES.

 

[D2Cat]

Geo. you can tell someone something and tell someone something, but they just won't listen. However, you tell a first person story and they'll remember it!

Let's wait and see what the problem is. I'm betting either a bad ground at the frame, or the battery.

 

[RCW]

My gut says battery or ground also. Betting battery...


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[thepumpguysc]

IDK WHY it is>> but people just wont believe their battery is bad.!!??
Probably because they cost 100.00.??
Those of us that frequent this forum see it weekly.. & 2 or 3 pages of "diagnostics" come to find out> IT WAS THE BATTERY..
I've come to just skip over the threads that start out> "I turned the key & I got nuthin".. cuz its USUALLY just a bad battery.. or a lever in gear.. but for "some reason" instead of heading to the parts store or grabbing a volt meter they feel the need to fire up the computer..??

 

[SDT]

Posting for a friend
He has a L3750 and the battery and starter are good. But when he goes to fire it up it usually won’t crank over enough to start. Sometimes when it fires and he runs it for a half hour or so then shuts it off, goes to fire it back up and nothing.
Any help would be appreciated!

I agree with most posters below.

Most likely the battery is weak. Second probability would be cables/connections.

You need to have the battery tested with a proper carbon pile load tester. Do not trust the computerized load testers which routinely display false good indications.

SDT

 

[SidecarFlip]

HF has a nice one for 50 bucks. Carbon Pile resistance tester.

 

[shootem604]

For some odd reason, I've accumulated an assortment of a half dozen spare batteries that are all good. First step in troubleshooting starting or electrical issues is to swap out the battery.

 

[SidecarFlip]

For some odd reason, I've accumulated an assortment of a half dozen spare batteries that are all good. First step in troubleshooting starting or electrical issues is to swap out the battery.

Not sure that is a good thing. As I said before, any flooded cell battery used or not is living out it's lifetime sitting so your assortment of batteries sitting are just wasting away and I bet some of them are junk.

 

[SRG]

Always check, clean (file or bush clean) and tighten, or redo connections first. Star/electrical washers are your friend too.

I am with the other fella who said it is probably a bad ground connection on either the frame side or battery terminal itself.

So what is it OP, I'm on the edge of my seat here...... I got nothing better to do. Can't go outside, might freeze to death and blow away.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Always check, clean (file or bush clean) and tighten, or redo connections first. Star/electrical washers are your friend too.

I am with the other fella who said it is probably a bad ground connection on either the frame side or battery terminal itself.

So what is it OP, I'm on the edge of my seat here...... I got nothing better to do. Can't go outside, might freeze to death and blow away.

You could always stick your finger in your fuel tank and see how thick the fuel is.......

 

[SRG]

You could always stick your finger in your fuel tank and see how thick the fuel is.......

Yeah but then i might get too excited and not want to leave the barn

 

[shootem604]

Not sure that is a good thing. As I said before, any flooded cell battery used or not is living out it's lifetime sitting so your assortment of batteries sitting are just wasting away and I bet some of them are junk.

Yeah, I built a battery pack for the kids electric jeep from a couple of deep cycle batteries that I was able to revive. The others will bring in decent money for scrap at some point if they are pooched.