It was running fine, shut it down for about 45 minutes, now won't start. I get one click turning the key. Checked the PTO was in correct position, as well as being in neutral. Seat switch down. Tried jumping the solenoid, starter spins but does not engage the flywheel. Took it off and brought it to Autozone. Tested ok. Put back on, still just the one click. If it was one of the safety switches, would that stop the starter from engaging the flywheel with the solenoid being jumped? I'm counting three safety switches, seat, PTO, and gear shift. Are there any others. Never had to depress clutch to start. Any ideas on starter or what to check next. New starter is over $600. Don't want to spend it if I don't have to. Best way to check the 3 safety switches?
L4400 won't start
- Thread starter Ladyhawkjj
- Start date
What's battery voltage? Where is the click coming from? Starter or fuel solenoid
You had the starter tested and determined it was fine, did you check the voltage at start lead on the starter 1/4" terminal.
Pat
You had the starter tested and determined it was fine, did you check the voltage at start lead on the starter 1/4" terminal.
Pat
Any chance when you jumped starter, you didnt use small terminal? It has two large and one small terminal. Possible bad/corroded ground cable?
North Idaho Wolfman
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I'm with tooljunkie, if you jump the 2 large terminals on the starter together you will get the starter to spin but not engage, jump from the large terminal with the battery cable attached to it and the small spade terminal (normally white wire black stripe).
Make 100% sure it's in neutral and brakes are set, as not doing so can be fatal, either you die or others will from laughter when your explaining how you got run over by your own tractor!
Make 100% sure it's in neutral and brakes are set, as not doing so can be fatal, either you die or others will from laughter when your explaining how you got run over by your own tractor!
Battery was at 13 volts. Click was at fuel soleniod. Did not check voltage at lead, but it had a strong spin. However, it was jumped at large bolts. We brought the starter home, will test it again with a battery. Tractor is 2 hours away, so followup will be next week. Will repost and thanks for this info. Tractor only has 200 hours on it. Didn't think the starter would go out that quick.
My old tractor -non kubota works perfectly if i use it often. Since getting kubota i rarely need the beast. Battery good, even after sitting for months, but connections need attention almost every time i go to use it.
Ok, keep in mind the starter is not on the tractor. Took a fully charged battery. Positive to the rubber booted terminal, negative to the other big terminal. Jumped from the pos to the little nub, nothing. Pos to ground, spins, Neg to little nub, jumps and spins.???
No! Positive to the big terminal, negative to the case and jumper from positive to 1/4" terminal.
Pat
Pat
The body of the starter acts as the negative side of the circuit. Battery positive goes on the same spot the big cable was connected on tractor. Then a wire used to jump from positive to little nub as you referred. I put starter in vise (carefully) as it will jump when power kicks in. Or I put my boot on it.
OK, did that, it spins but does not jump out. My other concern is, on the tractor it didn't even do that. Just the one click on the fuel solenoid.
North Idaho Wolfman
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If you put the Positive on the battery cable location on the starter and put the negative on the body of the starter, and then jumped from the positive to the connection on the small solenoid terminal and the starter spins but doesn't engage, you have a bad starter.
But, it's very very uncommon for that to happen, the solenoid moves and engages contacts for the power to be passed on to the starter motor in order for the starter to spin.
But, it's very very uncommon for that to happen, the solenoid moves and engages contacts for the power to be passed on to the starter motor in order for the starter to spin.
I don't have any electrical or parts diagrams to reference for an L4400, but the original description of the problem still leaves me wondering if this isn't an interlock or wiring matter rather than a bad starter on a 200 hour tractor. Has that definitely been ruled out and I'm just not keeping up (wouldn't be the first time!!)?
Grandad4, that is going to be the next step. Going back up to the tractor, taking off the dash and seeing if maybe some critter got in there and chewed a wire on the ingition that finished breaking off while bush hogging. I had put my hand up in there and felt around the ignition, but didn't trace the wires out. If that doesn't pan out, will buy a new starter and go from there. Hoping it was a critter, much cheaper fix!
Good luck... don't know if any of these rambling thoughts are helpful, but hope you find the problem. Just for clarification, when mounted on the tractor you can only get the fuel relay to click but everything else is dead. Then by trying some jumper wires to the starter you eventually got it to spin but didn't get the solenoid to work. Later, when you had the starter tested at AutoZone it apparently checked out OK. Did that include the solenoid or was it just the starter motor itself?
When you go to start the engine, what are the dash lights doing? For example, do the glow plug indicators work normally?
Does the rest of the tractor seem to have power (i.e. instrument panel, warning lights, lights, flashers, etc.)?
One thing I don't think has been mentioned is there's typically a 30 amp in-line fuse in the main circuit. On my L it's right next to the engine oil dipstick. Add that one (and for that matter, others in the fuse panel), to your checklist.
Always figured the L models required the clutch to be fully depressed before starting... mine sure does.
When you go to start the engine, what are the dash lights doing? For example, do the glow plug indicators work normally?
Does the rest of the tractor seem to have power (i.e. instrument panel, warning lights, lights, flashers, etc.)?
One thing I don't think has been mentioned is there's typically a 30 amp in-line fuse in the main circuit. On my L it's right next to the engine oil dipstick. Add that one (and for that matter, others in the fuse panel), to your checklist.
Always figured the L models required the clutch to be fully depressed before starting... mine sure does.
Happy news! Went back up and worked on the tractor. Took off the dash, big ol' rat's nest inside. Didn't see any chewed wires. Put starter back on, turned the key, started right up. Tried it several times, no problems. No real explanation, maybe something was loose under there, and digging around shoved it in place better? I don't know, just happy it is now running fine. Thanks for all ya'lls help and suggestions.
I'm at my wits end with this starting issue. I've replaced the fuel shut off solenoid. Still wouldn't start. So I replaced the fuel pump, no go. So I replaced the starter and bought new battery, nope.Put in 2 new air cleaners, nope. 3 Safety switches are all working good. Replaced the oil pressure sending unit, nothing. Checked the fuses, they are all good. So I was told to take a hot wire and run it from the battery to the fuel solenoid shut off switch. I did this and it starts. This is a new solenoid so it should be good. So I took the dash off and started checking relays. There are 4 relays. If I take the Glow Plug relay out and ran a hot wire where it plugs in. It will start and run by removing the glow plug relay and running a hot wire. But you can't turn it off at the ignition key. So you have to disconnect the hot wire. So I tried 2 new Glow plug relays. Still won't start. So I replaced the ignition switch, nope still doing the same thing. I also tried a new started relay and it didn't do anything. All the parts are new. I'm stumped. Why will it start and run when I pull the glow plug relay out and run a hot wire? But when I tried 2 new glow plug relays it still wont start? The reason I bought the ignition switch was because if I start the tractor and turn the key off and on the tractor will keep running. So I figured the ignition switch was bad, nope. Put a brand new one in and it still won't stay running for more than a split second. Any advised will be appreciated.
North Idaho Wolfman
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How many wires go to the fuel solenoid?
Sounds like your getting the pull in signal to the solenoid (as it starts) but not the hold in signal (which will keep it running).
Do you own a test light?
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I had a similar problem on my L355SS. When I turned the ignition switch all I would hear was a click. It happened intermittently whether the tractor was sitting overnight or if I had just shut it down after brush hogging.
It turned out to be the ignition switch itself. It always activated the light for the glow plug indicator but it just would be erratic trying to start. I had to turn the switch to start about 3 to 5 times before it would kick in.
It turned out to be the ignition switch itself. It always activated the light for the glow plug indicator but it just would be erratic trying to start. I had to turn the switch to start about 3 to 5 times before it would kick in.