GC1720 died, won't restart

[SteveM70]

Your right about the fuse, it is there to protect the circuit but the wire is a conductor, never designed to transfer and build heat till separation.

Every gauge wire has a amp rating, easy enough to find on a Google search.

What I think may have happened here is the dealer took a calculated risk when they told Fiziksgeek to use the 15 amp fuse knowing that it would either cause his problem to go away, such as could be the case when water inadvertently finds its way into places it shouldn't be. Or it would cause a dead short or ground making the problem easy to find. Remember, this problem started intermittently, something that could drive a troubleshooter nuts and take hours to find if found at all at $70 an hour.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Interesting question. A wire operates differently than a fuse. A fuse is designed to break while a wire is designed to transfer and "build heat till separation".

Wiring harnesses that are "homerun" designed operate differently than harnesses that duplex outward to different items frpm a fork. I've seen copper braid blow thru insulation from sudden voltage surges . . And oversizing fuses is one method of creating voltage surges.

What is confusing is that Fiziks has had instant blows and then he can go 3 hours on 2 fuses. In those circumstances when nothing is predictable . . I've learned ti err on the side of caution as I've seen equipment damaged too often by others good intentions on my customers.

Just to clarify, until yesterday, I was always able to replace the fuse and restart the tractor. Now, the fuse pops before it turns over.

A fuse is really just a wire engineered to break at a certain point once enough amps go through it. A wire will do the same thing, but the break point will be unknown. If you replaced a fuse with a wire, the system could draw power until something broke. A good electrical system will be designed such that the fuse is the weak point. The concern I had about upsizing the fuse was that the weak point might be unknown.

My suspicion of the problem being heat related might have been proven by the fact that I am able to get some..significant work done before popping the first fuse of the day.

Thursday I was mowing, full RPM, mid and rear PTO going, ran for a half hour.
Sat I was using the loader and backhoe to move some soil/rocks, running lower RPMs, 2000K or so, ran ~1.5 hours.

It was also >10 degrees warmer on Thursday afternoon when I was mowing than it was when I started working Sat morning.

Subsequent fuses then popped quickly, within seconds or minutes, until I upsized the fuse to 15A on Sat. When I did that, I got some additional run time. But eventually the problem continues to worsen, and I popped the 15A. Now, not being able to start the tractor without popping any size fuse, leads me to believe the faulty component was permanently damaged by the extra power it was allowed to draw.

 

[s219]

I think you have a short to ground that was intermittent, but now continuous. This should be easy to find if you have time to poke through all the wiring. Pay particular attention to anyplace the wiring runs through, across, or along the metal frame.

Better yet, if you can identify the wiring color of that particular 10A circuit, follow that directly, starting at the fuse box and going downstream.

 

[ray66v]

My suspicion of the problem being heat related might have been proven by the fact that I am able to get some..significant work done before popping the first fuse of the day.

I think you proved the opposite.

Whatever was failing intermittently, probably just did so, to the point it shorted completely.

It's like resetting a circuit breaker that keeps tripping. Eventually, it's damaged to the point it will not reset.

Based solely on the wiring on my 2310, (I have never seen the diagram for your tractor, so I don't know how much it differs), The first place I would look is, the fuel shut off solenoid, and the timer that controls it. They both have the ability to cause the problem you described.

I realize you are going to make this the dealers problem.

For reference, from what I see, there is a timer/relay, which energizes the fuel shut off solenoid for ten seconds when you turn the key off. The solenoid, is an electromagnetic switch, that grounds the fuel pump, and causes the fuel pressure to drop below the point it can run, which shuts the engine down.

It appears that you could diagnostically test it, by disconnecting the solenoid, and relay, and running the engine. If it runs fine, the solenoid, or the relay may be bad. With the relay being more prone to failure, than the solenoid.

Keep in mind, you wouldn't be able to shut the engine off, with the key. You'd have to use a rag to choke it. Or, rig up a wire to ground out the wire from the solenoid to the fuel pump.

If it still won't run at all, or it still quits running with that stuff disconnected, I'd start looking at the fuel pump.

It's pretty easy to fix stuff, with your mouth though.

Hopefully, there is a service bulletin, for your problem.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

Just heard form the dealer. They reported that the harness for the seat switch was a little too long, and not secured well, so it bulged out and was rubbing underneath the seat somewhere until it shorted. They replaced the offending wires, secured them better, and the tractor started up no problem. Went to drive it around, and it died. The short blew the seat switch itself, so that was replaced also. Said they put an hour on the clock playing around out back making sure that there were no additional problems and everything ran fine when hot. No cost to me, other than transportation. Should have it back home in the next day or two.

 

[cglaser104]

Just heard form the dealer. They reported that the harness for the seat switch was a little too long, and not secured well, so it bulged out and was rubbing underneath the seat somewhere until it shorted. They replaced the offending wires, secured them better, and the tractor started up no problem. Went to drive it around, and it died. The short blew the seat switch itself, so that was replaced also. Said they put an hour on the clock playing around out back making sure that there were no additional problems and everything ran fine when hot. No cost to me, other than transportation. Should have it back home in the next day or two.

Glad to hear it!

 

[ray66v]

One of the drawbacks to a subcompact tractor is, clearances are very tight.

Hose rubs, and chafed wires, are something to keep on the look out for.

Glad they got it fixed quickly.