L3130 HST Tractor no electrical power

[TracyJ]

Long story short: Used the tractor, turned it off & when I came back later it wouldn't start. No dash lights or guages were working. No electrical power at all. Battery good, cables good, ground good. I changed clutch pedal switch, neutral switch, pto switch, start relay cube & ignition switch but nothing helped. I had jumped around seat switch yrs ago, so I knew that was not it. Finally bought new starter & installed. Finally got power back on. Went to put tools up came back & No electrical again! Got mad, jumped up & down on the seat and got electrical back. Remember the seat safety switch is by-passed. Tractor started & I worked it all day. I shut it off & restarted about a dozen times during the day with no problems. Finished my work & shut it down. Later decided to move it to a different location. Climbed on, turned key & NO electrical again!!! PLEASE HELP, I'M OUT OF IDEAS!

 

[jaxs]

Have you tried cussing while jumping up and down on seat again? Remove BOTH battery cables at BOTH ends and as W Tiger would say "clean the living #@*&^% out of cable ends AND where they connect.

 

[Sidekick]

I had a problem like that with a Chevy truck once and there was a wire that had broken from flexing and the insulation was not damaged so it was intermittent. The only thing providing contact was tension in the insulation. You couldn't see it but could feel where the internal break was once we located it. May want to check the seat switch wires .

 

[whitetiger]

The seat switch does not control the lights on the dash.
Open the hood and look at the Positive battery cable, there should be a smaller Red wire plugged into it at the clamp on the battery. See if that connection is rusted or corroded. That is what supplies the system with current.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

After you have cleaned and tightened the battery cables and grounds, I would have someone turn the key to the start position and then start wiggling wires.

Just make sure that you keep all your body parts, clothing and tools away from moving parts like fans and belts, or blades.

Electrical Gremlins can be very frustrating.

 

[TracyJ]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I will give them all a try today & post the results. AND yes, a sailor would've been proud of the language I used while jumping on the seat!

 

[TracyJ]

Thanks for all the help gentlemen. After several days of changing out safety switches and starter, it ended up being a simple disconnect running from the battery to the "main" slow blow fuse behind and above the battery. The connector served no purpose other than make it easier for a technician to examine the 4 fuses in this box without having to unbolt the other end that's connected to the positive terminal. The connector did not have a fuse inside like I thought it would but was dirty and rusty on the inside thus making sporadic contact. Anyhow, thanks again.

 

[GrizBota]

Thanks for coming back to share what the root cause was. Too bad it cost you some unnecessary parts swapping. But now you’ve got back ups.

 

[jaxs]

Thanks for coming back to share what the root cause was. Too bad it cost you some unnecessary parts swapping. But now you’ve got back ups.

Spare parts. That's a positive attitude after buying unnecessary parts , I would be back to jumping on the seat and cussing.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Glad you got it fixed, and thanks for sharing the outcome.

Admittedly, I have resorted to unlimbering and firing off the "parts cannon" a few times in my day, so I have a few "back up" parts too.