DK35 Dead - Won't Start

[WhatIsChazaq]

Nuts. Nothing. I can't make heads or tails of the wiring diagram by just trying to figure out where all the wires run in the tractor itself.

I managed to find the 60amp fuse and it is good, tested it w/ multimeter. I also confirmed full battery voltage to the hot side of the fuse housing. I bumped the turn signal switch by accident and to my surprise it blinked three times then stopped. I kept trying and it wouldn't blink again! A little while after I put the 60amp fuse back in I heard a clicking sound coming from somewhere near the instrument panel. I was moving wires around and I heard it a few times, but all the wiring in the engine compartment side is solid. Well...at least the wires to the starter solenoid, etc.

This sucks.

 

[k0ua]

Nuts. Nothing. I can't make heads or tails of the wiring diagram by just trying to figure out where all the wires run in the tractor itself.

I managed to find the 60amp fuse and it is good, tested it w/ multimeter. I also confirmed full battery voltage to the hot side of the fuse housing. I bumped the turn signal switch by accident and to my surprise it blinked three times then stopped. I kept trying and it wouldn't blink again! A little while after I put the 60amp fuse back in I heard a clicking sound coming from somewhere near the instrument panel. I was moving wires around and I heard it a few times, but all the wiring in the engine compartment side is solid. Well...at least the wires to the starter solenoid, etc.

This sucks.

I know it is hot outside, and you are frustrated, but you are very close to fixing this problem.. that clicking you heard while moving wires around is the key to this problem.. you need to find exactly what makes that happen. You my friend have what is known as an intermittent. Yeah the tractor is inoperative most of the time now. But by moving wires around you have changed that state. Wait until it and you cool down a bit, and try again..Sure you can have someone come winch it on a trailer and haul it off, and have someone else fix it, but it is gonna cost you, and think of the pure joy and sense of pride you will have when you fix it yourself. If you have the time and the will, stay with it. yeah I know, easy for me to say, but friend, I have been there many many times over the last 40 years of working on electronics. Things we Know.. It aint the battery. we also know that sometimes we can make a few things work by wiggling some wires.. Turn on the turn signal switch and start wiggling slowly and carefully. Good luck. stay with it.

James K0UA

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

I was focusing on exactly that. I'm an IT Geek, troubleshooting is my day job. The frustrating thing was I could stand there just eyeballing the wiring, tracing it with my eyes and the flashlight and I'd hear it click. I wouldn't be touching it and it would click. Is there some kind of delay relay? I walked from the barn to the garage to get a screwdriver, when I walked back into the barn I heard it click again as I rounded the corner. Makes no sense.

 

[k0ua]

I was focusing on exactly that. I'm an IT Geek, troubleshooting is my day job. The frustrating thing was I could stand there just eyeballing the wiring, tracing it with my eyes and the flashlight and I'd hear it click. I wouldn't be touching it and it would click. Is there some kind of delay relay? I walked from the barn to the garage to get a screwdriver, when I walked back into the barn I heard it click again as I rounded the corner. Makes no sense.

Maybe some arcing in a connector? This is starting to sound like a really good one. Intermittent's can be a real bear.

Do you have a trouble shooting lamp? You can make one with a tail lamp bulb and some wire and an alligator clip on the ground side and a sharp probe on the hot side of the bulb. The reason this can be helpful is because it will draw current. You may be fighting a high resistance connection. So measuring voltage will not always tell you what you want to know. For example, lets say you have a circuit that must support 5 amps of current, like say that turn signal. The source voltage is 12 volts. but put a 1000 ohms of resistance in series with it and disconnect the bulb.. if you measure on the load side of the resistor it will measure 12 volts.. but that dont mean it will support a load of 5 amps and maintain 12 volts on the load side. Of course it will still have 12 volts on the source side of the resistor.. Now lets talk about corroded connections.. they can be resistors.. source side of the connection 12 volts.. load side something else.. This may be your issue.

James K0UA

 

[Coyote machine]

WhatisC....,

You're headed in the right direction. Maybe bringing someone else into the equation to move wires while you use your meter/ test light to troubleshoot.
I would go to the connectors underneath the tractor and disconnect them one at a time until something changes, hopefully.
You could have a bent or broken pin in a harness connector that only makes a complete circuit intermittently. Your best bet it to start at the battery and work forward disconnecting each and every junction in the harness, each relay, etc.
Something will make the click go away or keep happening. I would turn the turn signal to the position it last blinked and go from there. I would not leave the tractor where anything bad could happen to the harness or tractor overnight until you have found the problem's solution. Thus disconnect the battery ground terminal whenever you're not working on it for now.

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

So we get back from picking blackberries this morning, my wife walks over to the barn, comes back and asks "Is the tractor supposed to be clicking?"

I go over to the barn and find the tractor clicking, hop up in the seat and the turn signal is on. What the heck. I turn the key over to start it, I get lights on the dash! I turn it to heat the plug, it lights up...goes out. I turn the key all the way...click...nothing, no lights. I pull the battery and check, it had been blinking the turn signal all night long and was low. Toss it on the charger for a few hours. Go back and it's at 100%. Throw it back in the tractor and I can hear the freaking clicking again as I reconnect everything.

This time however, and it never did this before...as I wiggled the ground wire the clicking kept at it from the firewall. I pull the ground wire and it checks just fine on the multi-meter. But...I'm going to replace it tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[k0ua]

So we get back from picking blackberries this morning, my wife walks over to the barn, comes back and asks "Is the tractor supposed to be clicking?"

I go over to the barn and find the tractor clicking, hop up in the seat and the turn signal is on. What the heck. I turn the key over to start it, I get lights on the dash! I turn it to heat the plug, it lights up...goes out. I turn the key all the way...click...nothing, no lights. I pull the battery and check, it had been blinking the turn signal all night long and was low. Toss it on the charger for a few hours. Go back and it's at 100%. Throw it back in the tractor and I can hear the freaking clicking again as I reconnect everything.

This time however, and it never did this before...as I wiggled the ground wire the clicking kept at it from the firewall. I pull the ground wire and it checks just fine on the multi-meter. But...I'm going to replace it tomorrow and see what happens.

What is clicking? my initial thought was the turn signal flasher, but surely you canceled the turn signals right? I am a little unclear as to what state the tractor is in now.. obviously power was flowing to flash the turn signal all night. (remember CM's warning about disconnecting the battery when you are not there to observe it?) But you still have something intermittent..I would not leave battery hooked up at all until this is resolved. "Danger Will Robinson" . Does the ground wire look sulphated/corroded (green/white powder) at all? What happens when Pull on it firmly? Crunchy inside the sheath? or seems sound in all ways?.. If it seems sound, the problem is likely further down the line, in the positive path.. corroded connector, or something else.. what is making that clicking sound if not the turn signal flasher. Flasher is on the dash side of the firewall. first thing on the left side up high.
Here is something I would want to know. with battery hooked up, take a test lamp to the hot side of the 20 amp fuse for the Lamps or the 15 amp fuse for the flashers and turn the key to the ON position. with the test lamp ground side clamped to a bare spot on the frame, does my test lamp light to full brilliance. this will test the circuit path thru the AM terminal (hot feed to the key switch) and the M terminal which is the ON position terminal out to these fuses I mentioned and all the fuses for that matter.. Look at the overall diagram. and see how the AM terminal on the key is fed thru the 60 amp fusible link. and of course the battery ground is attached to the chassis. Forget about the starting circuit for now. just concentrate on the main feed. With a good tail light bulb for a test lamp it will pull some current. and if it is not full brilliance then something is wrong heading back towards the battery. Perhaps the key switch. The key switch is a know weakness with these tractors. known to get corrosion in them. But don't let this cloud your troubleshooting. at this point it can be anything. Up to and including the main ground lead from the battery to the chassis. that you are going to replace. You are getting closer all the time. hang in there.

James K0UA

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

The battery is now disconnected.

Interesting you asked...I could not turn off the turn signal!

 

[k0ua]

The battery is now disconnected.

Interesting you asked...I could not turn off the turn signal!

Tell me exactly what you did to try to turn off the turn signal.. centered the turn signal switch? and turned the key to off? both? or what?

 

[k0ua]

also was it left turn signal or right turn signal actuated?