4300 PTO Light staying on

[lgjhn]

It's been raining here the last couple of days so I didn't go back down there until today to try to work on it.
Today, it had stopped raining and so off I go.
Pulled the plastic cover off and STILL couldn't see it. Came back up here to the shop and looked at the pics again.
Drove back down there and, sure enough, there it was: live and in person, buried in dead grass and debris. I felt like an idiot.
I pulled the cable connector off and made a wire jumper to stick in it, PTO light went out and she cranked right up like she always does!!!!
The PTO seems to be working fine so I guess it's just a bad switch. Looks like it's gonna take about 7/8" wrench, but man, getting a wrench/socket in there is gonna be tough.
Looking at the parts catalog...almost $40 for that switch and o-ring.....geez. Part# M132725 on the switch and R26448 on the o-ring. I may just leave it permanently jumpered out.
Anyway, a BIG thank you to every one of ya'll for the help, especially to jthibodeau89 for the pics.

 

[sixdogs]

Good to hear.
Small point but when I have to work on something covered in dirt, grass or whatever, I hit it with my leafblower. It's enough air to clean things out but not so much like a compressor to damage anything.

 

[beenthere]

Good to hear, but it likely takes a metric wrench/socket.. not SAE.

I use compressor air with a 2' blow gun to blow off debris. Blows dust off the electronics boards very well, and the radiator fins.
Never experienced any damage. Just sayin...

 

[lgjhn]

Good to hear.
Small point but when I have to work on something covered in dirt, grass or whatever, I hit it with my leafblower. It's enough air to clean things out but not so much like a compressor to damage anything.

Yes...very true.
I got it up out of the field, got the box blade off and headed to the shop where I have access to tools, electricity, compressed air, etc. I "gently" blew out all the debris from all over the tractor and barely got it inside the shop before the bottom of the sky fell out....a heavy downpour.
I removed the left side rock shaft lift bar to gain access, then took some brake cleaner and cleaned around the switch to get all the grime off the case and the switch as best I could before attempting removal. Getting a long 6-point socket on it is a challenge. There's lots of stuff in the way, primarily the wiring harness. I went ahead and unhooked the harness ends (seat switch, mid-PTO switch, ROP lights) and gently pulled it back far enough to get some clearance for a thin ratchet wrench head to fit over that long socket. Once I broke it loose with the long 6-point socket, I used a stubby 12-point box hand wrench to easily get it out out the rest of the way. Checked it with my ohmmeter and sure enough; it's stone cold Louisiana dead. New one should be here in a couple of days. In the meantime, I stuck a clean rag in the hole till it gets here. Thank the Lord the PTO is ok. I had visions of having to pull that case down and replacing the clutch. Fortunately, it's just this switch.

 

[lgjhn]

Good to hear, but it likely takes a metric wrench/socket.. not SAE.

I use compressor air with a 2' blow gun to blow off debris. Blows dust off the electronics boards very well, and the radiator fins.
Never experienced any damage. Just sayin...

I basically do the same, but I try to be careful around the the dash. FWIW, I used a 6-point 7/8" wrench to get it out. I tried several metrics, including an M22, but the 7/8" seem to give me the best fit.

 

[larboc]

I gave up on all the starter interlocks on my 4300 and just pulled the interlock relay and jumpered the contacts with a piece of 2" piece of wire with two 1/4" male spade terminals crimped on the end.