Deere 3038e won't start, just a click, but not the good click.

[gimmodog]

you can start this manually by disconnecting the spade terminal connector on the bottom of the start and touch the spade terminal on the starter with a jumper wire to the hot terminal behind the red protective cover on the starter wires

went out this morning and check the battery, it was at 12.08.. so I did what you suggested and jumped from the spade to the hot terminal and it cranks.

I assumed I could start the tractor this way but it wouldn't ever start. it just kept cranking. I tried turning the key at the same time and made sure all the safety switches were in the correct position. checked for fuel and there is fuel.

So I'm getting it to crank this way but now I'm lost even more lol.

metered the seat safety switch as well and it was open but when I turned the key i would get 12.[/QUOTE]

if it cranks and you had the key to run position and did not start then the the fuel shutoff is not opening to let the injector pump pump fuel or not getting fuel for some reason. I've never worked on this model so I don't know how the fuel shutoff works BUT the older JD tractors that I have has a 3 wire shutoff. wires are 1-pull in 2- hold in and 3 ground. Test the pull in and hold in wires to see if they are getting voltage.

If they are getting voltage and the shutoff does not click then the shutoff is bad. If one of them is not getting voltage then you can jump the one that is not getting voltage. The shutoff solenoid should give a fairly loud click when the key is turned to run when it energises.

If it energises and still does not get any fuel then there could be a problem with the injector pump (I just had to have a injector pump rebuild cause it had stuck in the closed position). I will look on JD Parts and see if yours has the 3 wire shutoff.

From JD Parts the fuel shutoff solenoid looks to be the same type as mine. It does not show the wires but I suspect it is the 3 wire.

If you could post a pic of the the fuel shutoff connector that would help me help you

could also be that one of the safety switches is stopping voltage from getting to the furl shutoff solenoid. You would have to follow the electrical diagram to see which switch is not passing voltage.

Jumping the solenoid will bypass all the safety switches

 

[gimmodog]

If you remove the shutoff solenoid then that puts the injector pump in the open position (run position) and should start as long as its getting fuel. The only way to shut it off if solenoid is removed is to stick your finger or short stick in the solenoid hole to push the lever to the closed position.

 

[gator]

you can start this manually by disconnecting the spade terminal connector on the bottom of the start and touch the spade terminal on the starter with a jumper wire to the hot terminal behind the red protective cover on the starter wires

went out this morning and check the battery, it was at 12.08.. so I did what you suggested and jumped from the spade to the hot terminal and it cranks.

I assumed I could start the tractor this way but it wouldn't ever start. it just kept cranking. I tried turning the key at the same time and made sure all the safety switches were in the correct position. checked for fuel and there is fuel.

So I'm getting it to crank this way but now I'm lost even more lol.

metered the seat safety switch as well and it was open but when I turned the key i would get 12.[/QUOTE]

Read these two threads on another site about 3038E and the thermistor in the gauge cluster. It is responsible for pulling in and holding the fuel solenoid so it will run:
THREAD 1 ,
THREAD 2

 

[ericstac]

If you remove the shutoff solenoid then that puts the injector pump in the open position (run position) and should start as long as its getting fuel. The only way to shut it off if solenoid is removed is to stick your finger or short stick in the solenoid hole to push the lever to the closed position.

I'm getting fuel, when I crack this bolt (see image) open fuel is being pumped freely when the key is turned on. I removed the fuel relay to see if it made a difference and it didn't. it is cranking like no fuel/fire though.

Back to my original problem, me jumping the starter gets it to crank, so what am i bypassing that could cause it not to crank with the key? On a car we would do this when the starter solenoid was bad but we would no this from the clicking noises..

 

[ericstac]

went out this morning and check the battery, it was at 12.08.. so I did what you suggested and jumped from the spade to the hot terminal and it cranks.

I assumed I could start the tractor this way but it wouldn't ever start. it just kept cranking. I tried turning the key at the same time and made sure all the safety switches were in the correct position. checked for fuel and there is fuel.

So I'm getting it to crank this way but now I'm lost even more lol.

metered the seat safety switch as well and it was open but when I turned the key i would get 12.

Read these two threads on another site about 3038E and the thermistor in the gauge cluster. It is responsible for pulling in and holding the fuel solenoid so it will run:
THREAD 1 ,
THREAD 2[/QUOTE]


good gosh i hope its not this lol.. if im getting fuel pumping then it pretty much eliminates this issue tho right?

funny thing though about those threads, I bought this tractor new 10 years ago and it has sat outdoors its entire life, beat to death.. abused.. and only time i had an issue was running out of fuel and trying to figure out how to get the pump to get fuel bad to the carb lol.. finally figured out it was electric and i just have to crack open that plug and let the fuel pump click on until i see fuel. lol.

 

[larry08]

Sounds like the thermistor. Loosening that nut on the injection pump only proves that you're getting fuel up to that point (your lift pump is working properly). The fuel solenoid on the injection pump is still closed and preventing it from injecting any fuel into the cylinders.

 

[searcyfarms]

most pumps have a manual kill linkage on them once you bypass the solenoid and it starts - I ran mine that way a while until I figured out where to get a solenoid for my pump on my perkins pump - also if the thermistor is bad up in the dash it could be contributing to other power getting to other places so I wouldn't sweat that part either

older pumps were manual for the most part as they didn't use a key for starting they used power for lights/starting/etc..... but you pulled a lever to kill it, only issue with that is, if you ever blow the seal in some pumps they will flood the crankcase with diesel - that's a crapper!!!!

 

[ericstac]

just tested the three replays and all three are switching properly..

 

[ericstac]

so me jumping the solenoid on the starter and it cranking is saying i need a new solenoid or could there be some other reason why it wont crank with the key but will crank with a jumper?

 

[radios1]

from another post. "If you really want to eliminate the thermistor, my suggestion would be to change to what Deere used on the x55 tractors like my 755. The pull-in coil is simply connected to the starter. Solenoid has power as long as you crank the engine, and goes away when it starts and you turn the key back from Start position." https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/john-deere-owning-operating/181040-thermistor-replacement-3.html this will work, I'm just an MSEE, but this looks good..

 

[ericstac]

from another post. "If you really want to eliminate the thermistor, my suggestion would be to change to what Deere used on the x55 tractors like my 755. The pull-in coil is simply connected to the starter. Solenoid has power as long as you crank the engine, and goes away when it starts and you turn the key back from Start position." https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/john-deere-owning-operating/181040-thermistor-replacement-3.html this will work, I'm just an MSEE, but this looks good..

wow okay I'm reading thru it now.. so yall are really thinking its a bad thermistor?

Something isn't right with my dash, but its been happening for years. I know I've had other lights come on along with the LCD screen when I turn the key on but the last couple years or so everything has pretty much gone away.. I have the engine oil light that comes on now with the power turned on and i know i have the pto warning light that will come on when im running it.. also the RPM guage works 60% of the time.

is this another sign I need to replace the cluster (which includes the thermistor apparently).. or could it be I need to remove and clean it all up real good and reinstall and it will all work again?

 

[radios1]

wow okay I'm reading thru it now.. so yall are really thinking its a bad thermistor?

Something isn't right with my dash, but its been happening for years. I know I've had other lights come on along with the LCD screen when I turn the key on but the last couple years or so everything has pretty much gone away.. I have the engine oil light that comes on now with the power turned on and i know i have the pto warning light that will come on when im running it.. also the RPM guage works 60% of the time.

is this another sign I need to replace the cluster (which includes the thermistor apparently).. or could it be I need to remove and clean it all up real good and reinstall and it will all work again?

do the modification, it's better, but a tractor sitting outside in the rain for years, like yours is going to have rust /corrosion problems from the moisture, clean up what you can, and maybe most/all instruments will work..

 

[gimmodog]

if there are occasional problems with the instrument cluster then you are having electrical connection problems sometimes making sometimes not. take apart all the electrical connections you can find clean them coat them with dielectric grease and reconnect. This may be the only problem or may not but still needs to be done

 

[ericstac]

do the modification, it's better, but a tractor sitting outside in the rain for years, like yours is going to have rust /corrosion problems from the moisture, clean up what you can, and maybe most/all instruments will work..

I'm not 100% sure what that modification is lol.

 

[atsah]

if there are occasional problems with the instrument cluster then you are having electrical connection problems sometimes making sometimes not. take apart all the electrical connections you can find clean them coat them with dielectric grease and reconnect. This may be the only problem or may not but still needs to be done

I would do this first, it's cheap and could be a contributing factor..

 

[radios1]

I'm not 100% sure what that modification is lol.

connect the pull-in coil of the fuel solenoid to the starter small red lead on the starter solenoid instead of going through the thermistor circuit. it will then get power only when the starter solenoid is activated, which is what is needed, once the tractor starts running, that will be disengaged, and the run coil will stay activated until you shut the ignition off, thus stopping the engine..

 

[searcyfarms]

ok radios, I think I got it, now if I had a tractor to do the mod to ;-) wish this guy was closer id run over n help him - I know the maddening part of trying to get something to work and beating my head :mur:

 

[radios1]

ok radios, I think I got it, now if I had a tractor to do the mod to ;-) wish this guy was closer id run over n help him - I know the maddening part of trying to get something to work and beating my head :mur:

yeah, I used to enjoy things like this, which would only take a few minutes in this case, too far away though, and with a bad back injury, I have to be very careful how I travel, a little bump, and extreme pain!..

 

[ericstac]

ok guys a little update. I went ahead and ordered a new cluster to fix this issue but then between Thanksgiving, vacations, bad weather and junk I couldn't get around to pulling the steering wheel and replacing it.

Today I decided to get out there and the darn thing turned over lol. Battery was a little tired so I hooked up a charge to it for a little bit and sure enough it finally fired up after a few cranks.. purring like it never had an issue now. Just ran for about 15 minutes and stopped and started it about 5 times to see if I could get it to not start but it starts every time.

So besides just leaving it alone for a couple months in the weather one big difference is today its a chilly and wet 50 degrees and back when it wasn't working it was 90 degrees and hot..

Would this have something to do with the thermistor?

I'm happy my deere is working but its too dang muddy to do any work lol. I'm going to start it daily and see if I can reproduce, trying to decide if I should return the $337 cluster or just replace it.

LCD with hours is working on mine, but I did notice the green left turn light is slightly illuminated on the panel at all times, so something is squirrelly with it.

 

[atsah]

ok guys a little update. I went ahead and ordered a new cluster to fix this issue but then between Thanksgiving, vacations, bad weather and junk I couldn't get around to pulling the steering wheel and replacing it.

Today I decided to get out there and the darn thing turned over lol. Battery was a little tired so I hooked up a charge to it for a little bit and sure enough it finally fired up after a few cranks.. purring like it never had an issue now. Just ran for about 15 minutes and stopped and started it about 5 times to see if I could get it to not start but it starts every time.

So besides just leaving it alone for a couple months in the weather one big difference is today its a chilly and wet 50 degrees and back when it wasn't working it was 90 degrees and hot..

Would this have something to do with the thermistor?

I'm happy my deere is working but its too dang muddy to do any work lol. I'm going to start it daily and see if I can reproduce, trying to decide if I should return the $337 cluster or just replace it.

LCD with hours is working on mine, but I did notice the green left turn light is slightly illuminated on the panel at all times, so something is squirrelly with it.

I have seen cold weather stiffen up an otherwise collapsed fuel line. Run the tractor for an hour so that the warm fuel coming back to the tank from the return line mixes and runs back through the lines, the hour should give the line time to warm and collapse again and not start if you have a line issue. You may have more than one issue.

Good luck..