My father has a L3400 that won’t start. All it does is click when trying to start it. I replaced the battery, seat safety switch, starter relay switch, with no luck. I’m able to jump the tractor from the battery to the starter and it runs fine. Checked all the fuses with a light test and they all work. Checked the ignition switch and it seems to work. No power going to the starter from the wiring harness(the part on the starter that you jump). Is there any chance it could be the engine stop solenoid? I have the WSM but I’m at a loss now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
L3400 won’t start non HST standard transmission.
- Thread starter Corey1945
- Start date
Did you check the PTO switch? It is amazing how many times a no-start is either the pto engaged or the switch out of adjustment. No, it is not the engine stop solenoid.
No I hadn’t checked the PTO switch. I will do that next. One curious thing is that with the tractor in neutral and the parking brake applied and the forward and reverse in neutral. When I jump the tractor and it’s running when I get off the seat it shuts down. It supposed to stay running with all those things done but it doesn’t. Could that be a PTO switch?
Yes it could! If the pto is engaged or the circuit sees it as engaged the tractor will stop if you get off the seat. If you tip the seat forward it is supposed to stay running with the pto engaged.
You need to do this pretty quick, like one smooth motion... only other thing I thought about is cleaning the negative cable where it attaches to the frame.
If it clicks when trying to start it probably means the safeties are satisfied. You don't say whether it's one click or multiple clicks. I would begin by cleaning the battery terminals and the clamps that attach to them. Replace and tighten securely. Follow the ground wire to the frame. Be sure you have a clean securely tightened connection there. Once this is all done we can start troubleshooting if the problem persists.
just got the two PTO switches in and replaced them. Still nothing any other ideas? Battery replaced and tested, seat switch replaced, all connections cleaned and reattached, all fuses tested and working properly. The tractor can be jumped with a jumper wire. Relay switch also been replaced. Tractor clicks one time when trying to start. Still shutting down when getting off seat. Even with parking brake on all gears in neutral PTO disengaged. Didn’t use to do that until the problem started.
Just want to make sure... but when you replaced these safety switches, you adjusted them correctly per instructions?
I just took the old ones out and put the new in. I don’t think you could do much adjustments to them. You just screw them and connect them to the wiring.
Thanks for trying to help out. I finally fixed the problem. I finally thought the only thing left to replace safety wise was the neutral safety switches. I replaced them and still the problem was there. Then I thought to bend the small metal plate on the gear handle to ensure that it was putting enough pressure on the neutral safety switches. That was the problem. The metal plate somehow had got bent back just far enough so it didn’t put enough pressure on the switch. $400 dollars later and it simply fixed in 10 seconds by prying the plate closer to the switch.
Thanks for trying to help out. I finally fixed the problem. I finally thought the only thing left to replace safety wise was the neutral safety switches. I replaced them and still the problem was there. Then I thought to bend the small metal plate on the gear handle to ensure that it was putting enough pressure on the neutral safety switches. That was the problem. The metal plate somehow had got bent back just far enough so it didn’t put enough pressure on the switch. $400 dollars later and it simply fixed in 10 seconds by prying the plate closer to the switch.
Hopefully you kept all the old parts. It's great you have it working but the logic was all wrong. Test each part to determine if it's good or bad. Being a parts changer is not the right way to troubleshoot. Way too expensive.
I did keep the old parts. As you can tell I’m not a mechanic just trying to save my parents a tow in to the dealership,diagnostic fee, and who know how much labor. In the end I learned a lot and it was a good learning Experience for the future.