7520 Starting problem - Help!

[brisimon]

My 7520, which I've been very pleased with in my first 240 hours, is stuck out in the woods with 4 popple trees winched up behind it. It was working just fine when I turned it off to stop and limb the trees. Now it does nothing when turning the key.

My first assumption is the electrical wiring in place to not allow starting in gear got disconnected or damaged somehow and the tractor thinks it's not in neutral. I can assure you I have checked and quintuple checked that the transmission and PTO are in neutral. I did find a wire terminal plugging into the bottom side of the speed shift stick below the floor, which I'm assuming is the safety switch for the transmission. It appeared loose, but tightening it did not help. The puzzling thing about the plug was it had just one prong, but two terminal ends on the wire leading up to it, so one sits unplugged. I doubt that's the problem, but it seemed strange to me.

Also there is a plug-in next to the pto shaft which appears to be in place as it should.

Perhaps the switch itself has gone bad? I suppose it could be the starter switch or the tranny or PTO switches on the other end of the circuits?

On my meager list of mechanical skills, electrical troubleshooting is near the bottom, so I'm hoping to get my brother-in-law the electrician out there unless someone can tell me a bypass to the electrical system, just to get it out of the muddy woods before asking someone to help me with it.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.

 

[Patches]

I'm not familiar with your unit, but to simply get it out of the woods;Make absolutely sure the transmission is in neutral and the key switch is in the on position,so as to activate any solenoids in the system and "jump" the starter teminals with an appropriately sized screwdriver or some such tool(the small wire and the large "HOT" wire).This should activate the starter motor and start the tractor. I can't emphasize strongly enough to "MAKE SURE IT'S IN NEUTRAL"

 

[mr mopar]

I had a similar problem with my 4530 I did what Patches has suggested and the problem went away.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Are the instrument lights coming on and have they the normal brightness? Perhaps theres a bad connection from the battery. Or it may be dead. The 7520 has an intake heater that is powered thru a relay that sometimes sticks closed. This draws 50Amps for the heater constantly! Thats more than the alternator puts out so the battery can go pretty darn dead even while the engine is running without you noticing. Then you turn it off and that stuck relay feeds the heater all that is left. Be absolutely sure your battery is charged. Check it with a voltmeter. It should hold at 12V or above with the headlights on. If it doesnt Ill talk you thru disconnecting the power to the relay. Then you can charge the batt and be on your way just so you get the heater circuit fixed before it gets in the 20s.
larry

 

[brisimon]

Larry,

I think the battery is OK, because the dashboard seems to have normal brightness, and I had just started and moved the load about 200 feet and then shut it off. There was no hesitation when starting it successfully for the last time and I drove it for maybe a minute or so before turning it off again. But we will check the battery if we don't find a simple fix before we get that far.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[DavesTractor]

Larry,

I think the battery is OK, because the dashboard seems to have normal brightness, and I had just started and moved the load about 200 feet and then shut it off. There was no hesitation when starting it successfully for the last time and I drove it for maybe a minute or so before turning it off again. But we will check the battery if we don't find a simple fix before we get that far.

Thanks,
Brian

Brian, the PTO switch has been a problem more than once. It is under the panel near the PTO lever. You can make a simple jumper test wire, or use a paperclip. You can unplug the switch and shove it up through the slot where the PTO lever goes and jump it with the pliers on your Leatherman (must have tool!)...I've done that before. It will probably start right up. It's a $5 part, but can sure cause a problem. Sometimes you can hold the key to start and jiggle the PTO lever a bunch and it will start. Let us know, and make sure you have the PTO disengaged.

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

Brian,
As Dave said on the pto safety switch, jumper the 2 wires going to the neutral safety switch. I believe from what you said one of the terminals on the neutral safety has broken off. Good luck with it and let us know what you find.

 

[BigTy]

not to insult your intelligence or thoroughness, but an oft-overlooked step in starting the 20 series is the shuttle lever. More than once that has been all that is standing between an operator and a running tractor. Might make sure it is in neutral as well. Good luck!

 

[brisimon]

Just an update for everyone - I have been able to use the tractor by jumping
the starter, after having no luck trying the jumper method on the PTO switch, which I guess means that switch is not the problem.

I've been hurrying to get a project done, but hopefully tomorrow I can take a break to try to jumper the safety switch on the transmission, to see if that might be the problem.

Regarding the shuttle lever, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't thing I've ever had to worry about that lever being in neutral to start the tractor - just the speed selector shiftstick needs to be in neutral, right? And under the speed selector stick is the wire I think I need to jumper to test that switch. If I'm wrong on that, please let me know.

But to BigTy's point, the first day I had problems getting started, I made sure everything was in neutral.

Thanks again, everyone!

 

[rustyjeep]

You said your nuetral safety switch only has 1 terminal? My 7520 has two wires and two terminals and one of them comes off all the time,it really gets annoying. If I were you I would look in that direction because my tractor has all of th same symptoms yours has when it does that. I may have to tie those two wires together if continues when i get back