kiotiken
Veteran Member
Buddy, you have a beautiful wife and kids. Your wife can't work on tractors but would you really want her too?. Lol
Thanks buddy, truth is, I wouldn't trade them for all the oil changes in the world.
Another "My Kioti wont start!" thread - HELP!
- Thread starter kyfirestorm
- Start date
- Views: 10397
Thanks buddy, truth is, I wouldn't trade them for all the oil changes in the world.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
Alright if you want to know if it is the battery or not get a volt meter and put the leads right on the top of the posts. NOT the cable connections but right on the posts, have someone else start or try to start the tractor.. If the battery voltage falls below about 11 volts then it is likely the battery. It could be a "draggy" starter, but this is fairly rare. a simple inductive ammeter, you can get at the autoparts store will tell you if the starter is drawing an excessive amount of current. You just hold it up against the positive wire to measure the current draw inductively. If there is a high resistance internal to the battery, the voltage will drop like a rock and the starter will not spin. If the battery voltage stays up around 12 or more volts, then it is something else. Many no start issues are bad cables, caused by internal corrosion inside the plastic sheath. You can not always see it, but you can test for voltage drop across it or you can yank heck out of the cable and see if it falls apart. Inside will often be a green/white powder instead of clean copper wire. Of course we have just covered the most likely issues, not every issue.
James K0UA
James K0UA
ritcheyvs
Veteran Member
Right on James. Get a multimeter and find the real problem vs just swapping parts at random.
Patches
Veteran Member
I agree; a no-start can be extremely difficult to diagnose. Battery, cables/connections, starter itself, relay(solenoid), safety switches, ignition switch, wire harness, plus the fly-in-the-ointment, "decompression knob" malfunction.While the decompression feature is likely not related to the engine not turning over, and may be nothing more than a disconnected/broken cable, I wouldn't run the engine, if I could get it started, with this feature in the open position.
OP
kyfirestorm
New member
Thanks for all the replies guys . . . my father-in-law is coming over this morning . . . he's absolutely sure that's there's no way in Hades it needs new battery cables . . . "I ain't never had to replace battery cables on anything!" :banghead:
Thank you! Hopefully we can get this figured out today . . . or I'll wash my hands of it and let FIL tinker with it.
Hey hey hey guys . . . I'm not a hairy, manly looking gal! I clean up pretty nice if I do say so myself :laughing:! And, kiotiken, I wouldn't let hubby go for all the tractor help in the world so you're out of luck
I actually put the battery meter on the battery yesterday . . . it's showing 12.6 volts just sitting, then when I turn the key it drops to 12.0v. My money at this point is on bad cables or a bad ignition safety switch . . . I was just gonna replace the battery cables anyway while we were in there, but we'll see what FIL says when he gets here. He says we can hook the voltmeter up to that safety switch and see if it's bad or not . . . that's beyond my realm of knowledge so I'll leave it up to him. He cannot remember when he bought the battery that's in it now . . . I can't see the manufacture date on it until we get it out . . . it's an old WalMart battery though.
I agree. At this point I think I'd feel better if we got a new battery and cables once the issue is found (if it's not the battery or the cables) just because it's such an old tractor. Quite a few of the wires "under the hood" are getting powdery and dry-rotted from being out in the weather for the past 20+ years . . . I had a hydraulic line running to the bucket explode in my face this past summer . . . FIL told me not to "waste" my money on 4 new hoses and to only replace the one that burst . . . the other 3 are dry-rotted and ready to go too. I've got a list of things I'm trying to slowly repair and replace just for simple maintenance. :thumbsup:
Thank you! Hopefully we can get this figured out today . . . or I'll wash my hands of it and let FIL tinker with it.
Buddy, you have a beautiful wife and kids. Your wife can't work on tractors but would you really want her too?
Hey hey hey guys . . . I'm not a hairy, manly looking gal! I clean up pretty nice if I do say so myself :laughing:! And, kiotiken, I wouldn't let hubby go for all the tractor help in the world so you're out of luck
I actually put the battery meter on the battery yesterday . . . it's showing 12.6 volts just sitting, then when I turn the key it drops to 12.0v. My money at this point is on bad cables or a bad ignition safety switch . . . I was just gonna replace the battery cables anyway while we were in there, but we'll see what FIL says when he gets here. He says we can hook the voltmeter up to that safety switch and see if it's bad or not . . . that's beyond my realm of knowledge so I'll leave it up to him. He cannot remember when he bought the battery that's in it now . . . I can't see the manufacture date on it until we get it out . . . it's an old WalMart battery though.
I agree. At this point I think I'd feel better if we got a new battery and cables once the issue is found (if it's not the battery or the cables) just because it's such an old tractor. Quite a few of the wires "under the hood" are getting powdery and dry-rotted from being out in the weather for the past 20+ years . . . I had a hydraulic line running to the bucket explode in my face this past summer . . . FIL told me not to "waste" my money on 4 new hoses and to only replace the one that burst . . . the other 3 are dry-rotted and ready to go too. I've got a list of things I'm trying to slowly repair and replace just for simple maintenance. :thumbsup:
OP
kyfirestorm
New member
Thanks Patches. The decompression's complete "deadness" was what threw me off completely. The knob moves in and out and the cable/engine part is moving with it (I've got the hood up and can see it) . . . I just couldn't figure out why it wasn't even attempting to spin.
MikeInEburg
Veteran Member
I had the identical issue on my parents' 20 year old kubota. Cleaned the battery terminal on starter and it fired right up. If it won't jump start, then the primary trouble is something other than the battery.
Cheers!
Cheers!
OP
kyfirestorm
New member
FIL just left . . . SUCCESS! (On several levels, lol)
Turns out it was several small issues causing the problem. We tested the safety switch and it tested good. Battery does have a bad cell, but it is holding a decent charge and still shouldn't have caused it to be completely dead . . . I had the side panels off already so we started checking connections from the battery . . . positive cable had a bad connection on the starter end . . . fixed that but still wouldn't turn over. Tapped the starter a few times with the hammer and viola! we had a working tractor!
FIL is balking and says we don't need a new starter, that maybe it just got stuck. *shrugs* I say better safe than sorry, but conceded the point. I did however get him to agree to some maintenance by saying "Well, since we've got it torn apart already why don't we fix such-and-such." On everything except the starter he agreed . . . he balked a few times and said "I tried two years ago to get that part, nobody has it" to which I'd reply "I'll look online . . . ebay has everything". So if I can find the parts he's agreed to replace/repair/maintain .
The fan has a missing blade and is split completely down the middle. How it has kept from shredding apart and punching a hole in the radiator I'll never know. Actually, I do know. THAT would have been the next thing to break while I was using it. So we're going to attempt to find a new fan. Last summer he let me put some stop-leak in the radiator itself when it was spewing hot antifreeze every time we used it (after he drove it that way FOREVER) so I said "While we've got the radiator off, why don't we take it to a shop and have it flushed and checked over good to make sure it's okay now." He agreed.
He also agreed to let me change the oil (he says it's been at LEAST 5 years, but WalMart quit carrying the filters he needed) and put new battery cables in. I showed him the other hydraulic hoses that have huge split open spots on the loader and and he balked and said "they'll still last for a while . . . these things just rot constantly." I said "But they charge us an hour's labor when we have a new hose made, and it only takes 15 minutes. Why don't we go ahead and spend a little more and get the new hoses made . . . because we'll save that much in labor instead of just doing them one at a time as they fail." He agreed. He also agreed -- FINALLY -- to top off the hydraulic fluid. It's been low since that hose burst in my face . . . actually it's been low since the o-rings on the fittings were leaking FOR OVER A YEAR . . . and he had the new o-rings in the garage! You know when that got fixed? When I told him I was gonna buy some o-rings and fix the darn things. He said "Don't waste your money, I've got o-rings out there in the garage."
So why not replace them?????? :duh: :banghead:
I also tentatively brought up the subject of a cover for when it's at his house. He said "Well, I used to have one that came with it when I bought it, and that doggone thing just dry-rotted on me after a few years. They ain't worth nothin." I smiled and said "But a cover isn't going to last 25 years! And Rural King has some on the shelf . . . " He's willing to look.
I swear I hear angels singing.
The battery was a 2006 model that he bought at WalMart. Now, I'm not knocking WM, but we give our business to a local battery shop and we've gotten in the habit of buying beefier batteries after we went through several batteries when we first got our boat. He's going to go to our store and see what they've got and go ahead and replace it. The old battery had 650cca so he's going to see if he can get something just a little bigger since we use it so much in the dead of winter.
I'm so happy . . . and I appreciate all the help from you guys! I'm going to stick around so I can learn as much as possible . . . hubby and I are eventually going to get our own tractor (FIL keeps pitching a fit and saying it's a waste of money, we've got his whenever we need it) and I know that this site has a wealth of information!
Off to ebay to look for a fan blade (and a starter) for the little Kioti. Thanks again!
Turns out it was several small issues causing the problem. We tested the safety switch and it tested good. Battery does have a bad cell, but it is holding a decent charge and still shouldn't have caused it to be completely dead . . . I had the side panels off already so we started checking connections from the battery . . . positive cable had a bad connection on the starter end . . . fixed that but still wouldn't turn over. Tapped the starter a few times with the hammer and viola! we had a working tractor!
FIL is balking and says we don't need a new starter, that maybe it just got stuck. *shrugs* I say better safe than sorry, but conceded the point. I did however get him to agree to some maintenance by saying "Well, since we've got it torn apart already why don't we fix such-and-such." On everything except the starter he agreed . . . he balked a few times and said "I tried two years ago to get that part, nobody has it" to which I'd reply "I'll look online . . . ebay has everything"
. So if I can find the parts he's agreed to replace/repair/maintain .The fan has a missing blade and is split completely down the middle. How it has kept from shredding apart and punching a hole in the radiator I'll never know. Actually, I do know. THAT would have been the next thing to break while I was using it. So we're going to attempt to find a new fan. Last summer he let me put some stop-leak in the radiator itself when it was spewing hot antifreeze every time we used it (after he drove it that way FOREVER) so I said "While we've got the radiator off, why don't we take it to a shop and have it flushed and checked over good to make sure it's okay now." He agreed.
He also agreed to let me change the oil (he says it's been at LEAST 5 years, but WalMart quit carrying the filters he needed) and put new battery cables in. I showed him the other hydraulic hoses that have huge split open spots on the loader and and he balked and said "they'll still last for a while . . . these things just rot constantly." I said "But they charge us an hour's labor when we have a new hose made, and it only takes 15 minutes. Why don't we go ahead and spend a little more and get the new hoses made . . . because we'll save that much in labor instead of just doing them one at a time as they fail." He agreed
. He also agreed -- FINALLY -- to top off the hydraulic fluid. It's been low since that hose burst in my face . . . actually it's been low since the o-rings on the fittings were leaking FOR OVER A YEAR . . . and he had the new o-rings in the garage! You know when that got fixed? When I told him I was gonna buy some o-rings and fix the darn things. He said "Don't waste your money, I've got o-rings out there in the garage." So why not replace them?????? :duh: :banghead: I also tentatively brought up the subject of a cover for when it's at his house. He said "Well, I used to have one that came with it when I bought it, and that doggone thing just dry-rotted on me after a few years. They ain't worth nothin." I smiled and said "But a cover isn't going to last 25 years! And Rural King has some on the shelf . . . " He's willing to look.
I swear I hear angels singing
.The battery was a 2006 model that he bought at WalMart. Now, I'm not knocking WM, but we give our business to a local battery shop and we've gotten in the habit of buying beefier batteries after we went through several batteries when we first got our boat. He's going to go to our store and see what they've got and go ahead and replace it. The old battery had 650cca so he's going to see if he can get something just a little bigger since we use it so much in the dead of winter.
I'm so happy . . . and I appreciate all the help from you guys! I'm going to stick around so I can learn as much as possible . . . hubby and I are eventually going to get our own tractor (FIL keeps pitching a fit and saying it's a waste of money, we've got his whenever we need it
) and I know that this site has a wealth of information!Off to ebay to look for a fan blade (and a starter
) for the little Kioti. Thanks again!
kiotiken
Veteran Member
Wow, thanks for the update, glad it all got sorted out. What's the saying that comes to mind, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of medicine? I can't believe anything ever did happen when you turned the key, just shows how well they build tractors, but it's bound to catch up eventually. It's probably a good thing your hubby learned to cook and clean instead of learning everything your FIL has to offer! :laughing: Stick around, TBN is useful and entertaining from time to time.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
Glad you got it going, Wow, sounds like you have a lot more , shall we say, "common sense" than the FIL.. it sounds like he is one of those "let it hang" kind of guys.. Just lets things rot down, and wonders why his crap is broken ALL of the time. Anyway stick around, We enjoyed hearing from you, and you can write well and tell a good story. Tell us some more about your FIL, we all could use a good laugh.
You should be proud of your self by sticking with it and getting the early diagnostics out of the way and for noticing the other neglected items on the machine. Take care and happy tractoring.
James K0UA
. You should be proud of your self by sticking with it and getting the early diagnostics out of the way and for noticing the other neglected items on the machine. Take care and happy tractoring.
James K0UA