Mahindra Max 22 Won't turn over

[FrankInSC]

Hi folks, I'm looking for a little help. I have a 2012 Mahindra Max 22 with 490 hours. Only problem before my current issue was a bad fuel shut off solenoid in 2015. The problem I'm experiencing is that when I turn the ignition switch to warm up, the tractor it goes through the usual chattering then a click and the glow plug and battery indicators illuminate. At this point I used to go to start and the solenoid would engage and the engine would turn over. Now I get the solenoid click but the starter doesn't start and I hear some relay chatter and the battery light goes out and the glow plug indicator goes dim - about half of normal intensity. Some additional data, when the key is off I have 12.8 volts at F1 and F2 nothing at F3-F6, battery is 12.8 v. When I place key in warm up voltage is 12.5 volts at F1-F6.
Another observation is if I try to start again in quick succession to the first attempt I see the following: Key off F1-F2 12.8 volts F3-F6, 0 volts (battery 12.8 v). Key on warm up F1-F6, 4.5 volts glow plug indicator dim, battery indicator off, (battery still 12.8v)
A little recent history, battery died over summer so it was replaced with a new battery which worked great until the recent problem. I am pretty knowledgeable with ICE engines but not great with diesel (but I want to learn). I have a background in electronics/electrical work but am now retired.
Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[seville009]

I can’t answer your questions, but I always try to see if it’s something simple first. If it were me, I’d try a known good battery first before trying anything else. You never know……

 

[FrankInSC]

Thanks for the suggestion. I do suspect that it is an electrical problem so just to eliminate the possibility I swapped in a different battery even though the tractor battery is new...strange things sometimes happen...but unfortunately, with different battery, same result.

 

[Peter 315]

Did you check the ground cable to make sure its good..

 

[FrankInSC]

Ground cable was easy to trace out and is in very good condition. Thanks

 

[YanmarFever]

As Seville mentioned, check the ground cable where it attaches to the frame.

Remove the cable and wire brush (the frame and cable end,) simple things first.

 

[arrow]

Could be you have a wire fray or short at the start position.
Mice are very good at creating electrical havoc.

 

[FrankInSC]

As Seville mentioned, check the ground cable where it attaches to the frame.

Remove the cable and wire brush (the frame and cable end,) simple things first.

I did a resistance check between the engine and negative battery terminal and it was zero ohms but in a high current situation it's possible that there is a breakdown in the connection. I'll give this a try as well. Thanks

 

[FrankInSC]

Could be you have a wire fray or short at the start position.
Mice are very good at creating electrical havoc.

I spent quite a while going over the electrical drawings last night and came up with a few ideas to check...mice wasn't one of them. However, I do seem to get some unwelcome visitors every fall and winter so I'll have to add that to the list. My experience in life is that anything that moves is likely to fail at some point. Do you think the timer or relays could be my problem? Thanks for the suggestion. I see a lot of voltage checks in my future.

 

[RjCorazza]

Remove and clean all high current cable connections, including on the starter itself. A high resistance connection will cause those symptoms.
Another possibility is cumulative resistance in the safety switches, ignition switch, and starter solenoid. Get a voltage reading at the solenoid (while in the crank position) to see if the voltage is adequate to fully engaged the solenoid. A work around typically done for low voltage on the trigger wire is to add a relay that provides the solenoid with 12v directly from the battery. I installed several relay kits on my zero turns to fix "click click" starting problems.