Kioti not starting. Oil and Battery light.

[cneelyii13]

Hi all. I am new to the forum. Thought I would join since I have a ck20, and am now experiencing problems. So I tried to start my tractor for the first time a few weeks ago, and it didn't start. All I heard was a clicking sound, and the oil light and battery light was on. I had no headlights or anything else working. I did some research and found out that the wiring harnesses on the ck20 do not hold up well to the elements, if left outside. In the post that I read, someone said it was the main wiring harness that had corroded. Guess what, I checked mine and it was too corroded. Not only that, the spade for the main power cable was broken off. I have attached some pics to show you all how bad it was. To make a long story short, I needed my tractor. Had no money for a new wiring harness. So, I cut the main power cable out of the wiring harness and connected the two with a single 12 gauge butt connector. I also disconnected all of my wiring harnesses and sprayed them with dielectric grease. What a job. Installed everything back, turned the key, and the tractor fired right up. I can now use my tractor until my new wiring harness comes in.
I have also taken some pictures of the teardown to get to the harnesses. I will post those soon.

 

[kattywumpus]

What year is your tractor?

 

[grsthegreat]

yeiks...that is ugly.

i have always tried to keep anything of value under cover. I have sheds and overhangs for everything.

there expensive, but i HATE to have to fix things.

I am glad ya got the little guy running again,. thats using some ingenuity. great job.

hopefully the replacement harness wont be too hard to install.

 

[cneelyii13]

What year is your tractor?

It's a 2006.

 

[cneelyii13]

yeiks...that is ugly.

i have always tried to keep anything of value under cover. I have sheds and overhangs for everything.

there expensive, but i HATE to have to fix things.

I am glad ya got the little guy running again,. thats using some ingenuity. great job.

hopefully the replacement harness wont be too hard to install.

Thanks. I wouldn't know what I would do without my ck20. It's been running just fine after the fix.

 

[cneelyii13]

Teardown pics.

One picture shows the overall cockpit section with the dash removed, steering wheel removed, and relays removed.

One picture shows the location of the main wiring harness and the corrosion.

The other picture shows the fusible link location that is hard to find sometimes.

The last picture shows the back of the dashboard.

 

[malk315]

Hi there-

I was one of the ones who posted a lengthy thread about intermittent flasher lights. When I saw your picture of the harness with the ugly light green/blue crud that's exactly what I had on the harness plug that contained the flasher circuit and many other things. I had one tiny pin and one large pin that had the crud. I should have taken pictures.

My advice to people on here if you suspect flakiness in various electrical things (lights, start, dead dashboard turning key etc.) you can easily check the many harness plugs by just removing the 6 bolts that hold the cover on below the dashboard. Remove cover, vacuum if loaded with dust (if you mow on dry days you'll be loaded w/ dust!) and then unplug each connector one at a time and inspect -- 10 minute job. If you've got crud, a shot of Napa brake + electric motor cleaner will clean and dissipate completely (no residue like WD-40). Then perhaps di-electric grease and plug back together. Be careful as some of the high-density plugs have lots of tiny pins that are easy to break!

The other common problem is the key switch -- for that I think you have to remove the dash and in my case my dealer after installing the new harness took it apart and cleaned it all up nice.

Lastly before checking either, it's common for battery terminals to need cleaning, so do that 10 minute job first before suspecting key or lower panel harness plugs.

My tractor was new in 2006 like yours. I think I picked up my corrosion from sitting on the dealer's lot outside. I've heard if the harness cables aren't installed with the slit facing down to help water not find it's way in, that can lead to pre-mature corrosion.

Hopefully they've addressed this in the newer CK20S models or by having a quality check at the factory to make sure the harness covers are oriented when installed to keep water out as gravity brings water through that might find it's way in during bad weather, washing your machine.

Good Luck!

 

[cneelyii13]

Hi there-

I was one of the ones who posted a lengthy thread about intermittent flasher lights. When I saw your picture of the harness with the ugly light green/blue crud that's exactly what I had on the harness plug that contained the flasher circuit and many other things. I had one tiny pin and one large pin that had the crud. I should have taken pictures.

My advice to people on here if you suspect flakiness in various electrical things (lights, start, dead dashboard turning key etc.) you can easily check the many harness plugs by just removing the 6 bolts that hold the cover on below the dashboard. Remove cover, vacuum if loaded with dust (if you mow on dry days you'll be loaded w/ dust!) and then unplug each connector one at a time and inspect -- 10 minute job. If you've got crud, a shot of Napa brake + electric motor cleaner will clean and dissipate completely (no residue like WD-40). Then perhaps di-electric grease and plug back together. Be careful as some of the high-density plugs have lots of tiny pins that are easy to break!

The other common problem is the key switch -- for that I think you have to remove the dash and in my case my dealer after installing the new harness took it apart and cleaned it all up nice.

Lastly before checking either, it's common for battery terminals to need cleaning, so do that 10 minute job first before suspecting key or lower panel harness plugs.

My tractor was new in 2006 like yours. I think I picked up my corrosion from sitting on the dealer's lot outside. I've heard if the harness cables aren't installed with the slit facing down to help water not find it's way in, that can lead to pre-mature corrosion.

Hopefully they've addressed this in the newer CK20S models or by having a quality check at the factory to make sure the harness covers are oriented when installed to keep water out as gravity brings water through that might find it's way in during bad weather, washing your machine.

Good Luck!

Did you order a new harness? How much did you pay for the harness? It looks like it will be a task to install a new one. I have taken it upon myself to service my own tractor. The dealer that I purchased it from is now closed, and the only tractor service center nearby sells and services only John Deere. Heck, the way I see it is, it's mine, I paid for it, and I need to know how to fix it. I love working on these little beast. Now as far as the hydraulic system goes, I'm not touching that.

 

[Coyote machine]

Here's what I would do to improve on the original design flaws of the harness install which then results in corrosion. I would get the new harness and coat the back of each plug connector with either dielectric grease or copper anti-seize, which is also available at most auto stores. You still want to maintain a way for the connector to 'breath' in case of condensation in the connector- thus the slit through which condensation, or in worse case water can escape. Then I'd coat all male pins with dielectric grease and smear some on the entire inside of the mating plug's inner housing allowing the slit to remain so it can drain each connector. Then if necessary I'd put some sort of liner material under the dash housing, over the harness area to keep water and dust out as much as is possible. Something like the foil lined bubble wrap they make for insulating hot water tanks etc. I just thought of what I would use as a material: the floor pan rubber that H. Depot and other places sell for shower pans. One can buy it by the foot/yard and cut it to fit. Another less effective solution might be to use a larger diameter corrugated plastic loom similar to what the harness is already encased in and attach it in locations to cover the connectors and cable tie the loom to the areas in question.

 

[malk315]

I had my dealer install two new harnesses -- the one that services the front of the tractor and the one that services the back. I think these all mate under that dash panel so the tractor can be split in half for service. I'm thinking each harness was between $50 and $100 for just the part but I can't remember. That dealer in Swansea, NH is no longer in business unfortunately -- the mechanic there already had experience in changing harnesses on other machines, so that is why I chose him to take care of mine.

Aside from the harness job he also did my 200 hour service including changing HST oil (per kioti's new guidelines my HST oil didn't get changed at 50 hour service, just filters and cleaning of the magnetized drain plug) and he also disassembled and cleaned the key switch.

I think the total bill was like $300-$400 but I can't remember. I'd have to dig up the invoice. I was happy it made the tractor electrically sound.

If I remember correctly Michigan Iron and probably Rick Wallace would be happy to quote you the harness prices and ship them to you so you can install.

If you don't have the Workshop manual and Parts Manual, I would suggest you get them since they have schematics, exploded diagrams etc. of the entire machine. I have them and right off the back the part numbers are:

Workshop Manual Part # S196-W00 printed OCT. 2006
Parts Manual Part # S196-P04 printed JUN. 2006

Good luck and let us know who the job turns out!

Did you order a new harness? How much did you pay for the harness? It looks like it will be a task to install a new one. I have taken it upon myself to service my own tractor. The dealer that I purchased it from is now closed, and the only tractor service center nearby sells and services only John Deere. Heck, the way I see it is, it's mine, I paid for it, and I need to know how to fix it. I love working on these little beast. Now as far as the hydraulic system goes, I'm not touching that.