TL1900 Starter Issue

[Bearschoice]

Hi All,

Hope someone can help as there seems to be a number of clued up folks here.
Having moved in with my other half, I have inherited an Iseki TL1900 and some very long, wet grass to mow (as well as land to rotovate and a host of other jobs). The TL had been standing outdoors for some time (getting on for years) prior to my getting involved and was a very reluctant starter, requiring a tap to the starter motor before finally giving up the ghost.

After several enquiries and an unusable replacement (right starter cog and gearbox fitting, wrong body size so fouled on the steering linkage as I have seen others have found), I have had the original repaired and allegedly working on the bench.

I've put it back on the beast and now, although I have power at the starter from a freshly charged battery, I have no glow plug action when I warm it up and not even a click when I turn the ignition.

I'm a complete newbie to the whole farming life and would appreciate some advice as to what I need to check. If anyone has an operator's or service manual for the TL1900 that they could scan, even better.

Thanks in anticipation
Neill

 

[cowboy357]

I think I would look for Ground cable problems first . Preferablly where the Battery ground strap connects to the frame . Thats been a Problem for me Before. The lights would work but as soon as I tryed to start it , Nothing. Might be worth a look unless You,ve allready eliminated that problem. Welcome BTW & good luck. Bob

 

[Bearschoice]

Bob

Thanks for the swift reply. I have replaced the ground strap and I will check again that it has a good connection. There is about 0.3 ohm showing between the negative terminal and the earth connection on the starter motor, maybe this is enough to kill everything.

I opened the instrument cluster last night to check the ignition switch to see if there is a problem there. There are 5 connections on the back, 4 around the edge and one toward the centre. This one has 12v plus running to it all of the time, the rest show no voltage. As soon as I turn the key in either direction, this 12v drops to 0 and there is no voltage anywhere else. Is this normal? I would have thought it should be sending voltage to the other terminals depending on the switch position. I'm concerned that something else got fried when the starter motor was dying in my efforts to get the thing running.

As I say I am a novice at this stuff so maybe I'm missing something obvious. It's been a while since I was able to start the beast so just to check, if I've connected everything up right all I should be doing is holding the clutch down and turning the ignition key to the left until the dash coil glows, then starting by turning to the right. There are relatively few controls to use so I can't think of anything I've missed!

Thanks again
Neill

 

[cowboy357]

Hi Neill , That does sound strange . Sorry to say I,m not very good when it comes to electrical problems , Sounds like You,ve covered all the bases though .

I had a heck of a time getting a good ground connection even after installing a new strap & bolt , I ended up Drilling a new hole & Grinding down the area around the strap itself & have had no problems since .

I,m Wondering if Maybe Your switch might have got fryed itself ? Or Posablly Something not quite right inside the starter itself ? I dont have any types of Manuals so I,m also no help there , Hopefully Someone else might pop in to help, Or You might try to post this under parts & repair at the top of the main forum , Because this is kind of a lonelly forum . Best of Luck & keep us posted if You get it figured out . Bob

 

[Bearschoice]

I've had a word with the guy who rebuilt the starter and he says the switch sounds like it's shot. Hopefully, as we're having a dry spell after a ridiculously wet July and I need to get mowing, he's coming round in a little while with another switch. If that doesn't work I'll take your advice and give the repair forum a go.

Thanks again
Neill

 

[DennisArrow]

Seems your switch is fried or wired incorrectly. When just sitting with the key off do I understand you to say that several of the connections are "hot"........This should not be........When you turn the key to the left and hold it does this get the glow plug indicator to glowing after perhaps 10 seconds?........Dont hold it to long as you will burn it out........If you have no voltage here, that is the little coil like thing on the dash you have a problem getting that voltage down to the actual engine........let me know.......will watch this a couple times a day........God Bless.......Dennis

 

[ampa]

I replaced both switches with an all in one key switch from a Kabota dealership...the original key switch has only 4 conections while the Kabota has 5...I installed a cigarette lighter in place of the old key only ignition and installed the Kabota key switch in the remaining old glow plug / starter switch only...works super "great".....AMPA

 

[DennisArrow]

Glad it worked out........hmmmmmmm .........my tl2300 has only the key switch all built together.......something has been adapted?........good luck......Dennis

 

[tatra805]

fwiw

The TL series have a glow wire indicator on the dash that should start glowing after a couple of seconds of holding the key in the left position / pre-heat position.

If your key switch is bad or you have a problem with the glowplugs it is possible a short circuit happens over this wire and burns it.

Check on the backside of the instrument cluster if the spiral wire is intact. If not your pre-heating will not work as this spiral wire is in series with the glowplugs.

As a temp fix you can put the 2 wires on one terminal at the spiral wire mounting frame and live without an optical indicator but make sure that you know the cause as this wire also acts as (the only) fuse in that part of the tractor electrics.

If you decide to put the wires on one terminal measure the current when pre-heating AND in the other positions of your switch (including with engine running) Current should be 15Amps while pre-heating and 0 in all other positions.

These indicator wires are hard to find and expensive. I put a 20 amp push button between the terminals. That way i do have to press the button and turn the key simultaniously but i know that if the keyswitch would burn out at least my expensive glowplugs are not connected or turned on continously.

just my 2 cents.

 

[ampa]

When I turn my key switch to the left.....only the resister glows red feeding power the 3 glow plugs....when I turn the key switch to the right the starter engauges and the tractor starts...with the switch in the neutrol position the accessories are on lights/etc...you must leave it in this position for the alternator to charge the battery.....I've checked and rechecked...to be sure the battery is bein' charged and it is...... if I remove the key it does not charge and none of my accesories work at all.....hope you can fix your problem......Ampa