Kubota L3010 Intermittently Starts

[ballegre]

Hi,

Long time lurker, rare poster here. Apologize in advance for being a newbie but the dealer I bought the tractor from is out of business years ago. The nearest dealer is over an hour away. I have no other help except this forum.

I have a MY2000 Kubota L3010HST and it's not starting right. It either starts perfectly or not at all. It starts randomly though rarely. I cannot find any pattern. It does not crank or turn over at all. I can hear switches and relays throwing when ignition is on but when I start, nothing. Realize I could short starter to test it but want to ask about safety issues here before I do that.

I removed instrument cluster to see if I can spot something obvious (I didn稚) and then it started many times. During this time I jiggled the PTO lever and it seems to work properly. Now it痴 not starting again. Lights are on dash correctly, seems to be getting power, tractor is in neutral, battery cable connections are solid and clean, battery measures 12V, no fuses in panel are blown.

Here's the really odd part. Earlier that day I had another problem with the shift levers out in the field. Took a little while but was able to pop the shifter back into neutral after reading here that others used degreaser, lube and a little persuasion. Right after I fixed the problem it wouldn稚 start. Luckily it randomly started so I was able to return to garage. I find it very hard to believe that the problems are not related though stranger things have happened.

I noticed an electrical part near the shift lever linkages that looks like the neutral safety cut off. I cannot find the part on the parts list so I don稚 know the name of it or if it could be bad. It was heavily soaked with degreaser. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting, wiping connection, but no help. Here痴 a picture:


Assuming I have an entirely unrelated electrical issue I have questions about other parts. First, the easy one, thereç—´ a 40A fuse that looks like this:


I've not seen a fuse like this before so I cannot tell if it is blown. Would it be obvious?

Also here's another part that I believe is the starter relay or solenoid. Again after hours of looking I cannot find it in parts diagram so I知 not sure. It says DENSO on it and google gives me links to starter and it's clearly not the starter. Here's a picture:


Sorry for the ignorance but it appears I have many questions:
1. Is it safe to short starter to test it? Anything I should be aware of?
2. What is the name of the part in the first image and could it have gone bad from degreaser?
3. How can I tell if the fuse is blown?
4. Is there some way I can trouble-shoot the part in the last image?

Thanks for reading and any help,

Bob

 

[SPYDERLK]

Its sounding like a safety switch. I assume you try wiggling the shift and PTO lever when the problem occurs? This while holding the key to start. ... If you can get a response there you are.
,,,,,Do you have a digital VOM/voltmeter?

 

[SPYDERLK]

Also here's another part that I believe is the starter relay or solenoid. Again after hours of looking I cannot find it in parts diagram so I知 not sure. It says DENSO on it and google gives me links to starter and it's clearly not the starter. Here's a picture:
View attachment 476172

Bob

This looks like a fueling actuator. Controls a valve allowing fuel to the injector pump.

 

[ballegre]

Its sounding like a safety switch. I assume you try wiggling the shift and PTO lever when the problem occurs? This while holding the key to start. ... If you can get a response there you are.
,,,,,Do you have a digital VOM/voltmeter?

Thanks for the reply. Yes, been wiggling those 2 things a lot. Doesn't seem to affect anything. And I do have a voltmeter though I'm not much of an electrician. When I remove the 40A fuse pictured above and probe the wire terminals I reads 12V. When I probe the resistance on the fuse it reads 10ohms (if I did it correct). I expected the fuse to show no resistance so I suspect that it may be/going bad but I'm not sure how it's supposed to work.

 

[ballegre]

This looks like a fueling actuator. Controls a valve allowing fuel to the injector pump.

That makes sense because I can see the manual cutoff is connected to it and controls the switch.

 

[bspeedy]

Had the same issue earlier this year on my L3710. Positive cable from the battery was corroded internally. Made poor contact (sometimes), great contact other times, no contact at other times. No rhyme or reason. Only way i know to check is to take it off and move it around and see if the resistance changes with it's position. Could also be the ground cable with the same symptoms and checks.

Anyway, replaced it and all has been well. Won't talk about the other things that got replaced in my efforts to find the real issue.

I ordered the exact replacement from Kubota, but I'm sure a generic one from the parts store would suffice. I'm just a little picky about stuff like that.

 

[kubotal4200]

On my 4200 kubota the battery terminals are notorious for trying to slip upwards unless you really tighten the **** out of em and they break easy, cheap design. In my case the tractor wouldn't start battery was fine I'd just leave it and come back 30 minutes later and it'd start right up eventually this progressed to the point where the alternator was no longer charging the battery.

the problem ended up being the connections below the steering column which are sealed by a black rubber cover near foot level on the left side they had gotten filled with dirt I believe there was a ground in that set of connections that was working intermediately due to kubota not sealing their connectors... best part the alternator isn't charging the battery again...

so short lived fix for me but I think I can fix it by tracing out where the ground is or making a new ground.. I got a WSM (workshop service manual) online for $15 helped somewhat they had all the models lumped together into one manual and the wire colors didn't match my tractor but the electrical diagrams were otherwise correct

Gotta love electrical problems oh and your maxifuse looks good I should add also my instrument cluster was having issues with lighting up

 

[SPYDERLK]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, been wiggling those 2 things a lot. Doesn't seem to affect anything. And I do have a voltmeter though I'm not much of an electrician. When I remove the 40A fuse pictured above and probe the wire terminals I reads 12V. When I probe the resistance on the fuse it reads 10ohms (if I did it correct). I expected the fuse to show no resistance so I suspect that it may be/going bad but I'm not sure how it's supposed to work.

You must remove the fuse to check with an Ohm meter. It should measure the same value as the meter leads do when the tips are pressed together. Typically a fuse is either good or blown. Blown gives extremely high or infinite Ohms.

Is your meter digital or analog??

 

[Tomtint]

My L 3700 was doing the same thing. I swapped the seat safety switch and a couple others.. It ended up being a loose connection on the back of the starter.

 

[ballegre]

After some long delays due to family obligations, I finally figured out the problem. It is the neutral safety switch around the shift levers (below, not under, seat). After taking apart the dash and fiddling with the connections it still didn't start. Out of desperation I was looking at the shift lever linkage mechanism again and noticed that if I moved the levers into the forward position of neutral the linkage that presses on that switch would move about 1/10 of an inch higher to press the switch a little more firm...starts every single time now!

I thought the problem had to with that switch from the start because of the shifter issues I had earlier that same day. Correlation does not prove causation, except for when it does Thanks to everyone for your help on this!