CT235 electrical problem

[winston1]

Will ramble some here, not required reading though.

This afternoon I parked my tractor after mowing some. Went back to crank up a little later and nothing. Lights all worked bright, horn blew. Broke out the meter and got 12.75volts at the big starter terminal, nothing at the small solenoid terminal when turning the key to the crank position. I used a remote starter button Search results for: 'remote starter' and she cranked right up.

I tapped around on both battery cables with no good results. They have been cleaned recently.

I'm thinking ok, battery is definitely ok and good connections if it cranks like this. Next thought is to check pto switches and seat switch. All three switches had 12 volts coming to them when the key was turned to the on position. All three switches had continuity. My mind they are ok.

So I switched relays (starter relay and one next to it are identical) and nothing. Next I checked every fuse and nothing.

Last I determine it must be the switch. I remove the battery ground wire thinking I might touch a bare wire while removing the switch. I Get the switch loose but cannot get it by all the throttle linkage, etc, etc. I decide time to quit for the day so I pushed the switch back up in the hole, installed the nut. Put the negative battery cable back on and she cranked right up.

Bad battery connection or bad connection on switch wire or bad switch???? Remote starter test plus bright lights sort of rules out bad battery connection to me. I guess I'll just keep on and hope it continues to work.

I'll welcome any advice. I know I have been long winded.

 

[tman1020]

There has been many posts similar to yours. Many times it was the switch. Fluid film or similar type of spray lube into switch seems to be the fix for the most part new switch for the rest. Do your best to protect switch from the eliminates if possible.

 

[winston1]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't know the former history but she lives in a shed now so protected. Any certain lube advised? Contact cleaner?

 

[gkm]

I don't know if the CT225 has the crappy battery terminals that my CT335 cab has, but they plain out suck! I just replaced both my terminals as there is only a thin ring that contacts the battery posts. They worked ok since new; however, I've had to "play" around w/ them several times and finally got sick of it. Figured I'd throw this out there, but it's probably been posted before.

 

[tman1020]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't know the former history but she lives in a shed now so protected. Any certain lube advised? Contact cleaner?

I believe it's called fluid film i'm not sure but I think it's made by liquid wrench but I would think any type of contact cleaning lube would be fine. I have a cab on mine and it came with a plastic cover over the key when I purchased it before I put the cab on so I have not ran into this problem yet. Hopefully you found the problem and good luck.

 

[powerscol]

Not to throw a curve ball, but if I get a no start on mine it is the foot control. It needs to be tapped to get her to start.

 

[winston1]

Are you saying there is a safety switch somewhere on the foot control?

 

[tman1020]

I think there is a safety control switch on the footpedal to prevent it from being pushed forward or reverse during start up. I have heard people mention this in the past also. Sometimes it gets a little bit off-center just enough so it won't start. So a little tap one way or the other cures the problem.

 

[winston1]

I finally found mention of it in the repair manual. It is not mentioned in the electrical section other than being shown on the schematic. Thanks guys, that very well could be what caused my problem. I'm going to do a little experimenting just to see if I can get my pedal in a position where it will stay and not crank.

 

[MESSMAKER]

I finally found mention of it in the repair manual. It is not mentioned in the electrical section other than being shown on the schematic. Thanks guys, that very well could be what caused my problem. I'm going to do a little experimenting just to see if I can get my pedal in a position where it will stay and not crank.

Three safety switches that i know of that will cause a no start. The foot pedal must be in the middle position. The hydro selector must be in position,not in between. You also have the safety switch in the seat and finally the one that gets me most often is grass or some other debris trapped between the contact point under the right foot pedal. Check for this and I bet you will be good to go.