BX 1860 died

[medicshawn]

I had been using my BX for an hour or so with the MMM picking up leaves. I was driving along and the tractor died. It will restart fine and run great but if I try to engage the PTO or move the tractor it dies. I tried jumping the seat safety switch but it still dies. The seat switch worked earlier when I tried to get up with the PTO engaged. It's currently 66 degrees I treated my fuel just before starting picking up leaves. Where are the other safety switches? Fuses look good. I'm lost and of course it's Saturday and the dealer is closed.

 

[Barlow Equipment]

I think there is a safety switch on the range lever that may be the culprit.

 

[Barlow Equipment]

Just sent you an e-mail with a parts breakdown of the switches. Good luck!

 

[medicshawn]

Thanks for the suggestion Brady, I can't find one associated with the range lever and tried shifting it from Fast to slow and driving in each. Still doesn't work. Tried the seat switch for seated and raised neither seems to be the culprit.

 

[dennisgw]

Medic.... what Bradyky may be referring to is the interlock switch for the rear PTO only scenario (ie lever all the way forward). If that switch isn't made and the seat is up for PTO, then NO GO. For the combo MMM + rear PTO (leaf catcher scenario), the front interlock switch is immaterial. Make sure you are using right PTO setting

 

[medicshawn]

I was running it with the Mid PTO only for the MMM. I have a tow behind trac vac with a dedicated motor. Still dies if you try to move forward or reverse or engage the PTO lever. I looked for obstructions to the mower deck and PTO and tried moving all levers.

 

[OrangeRidge]

Have you still got warranty on this ?

 

[dennisgw]

Medic. Did a little searching on the forum. Used stalls instead of dies. Came up with this long thread.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/166707-bx23-starts-right-up-stalls-6.html

Look at the last page (6). He got a Eureka after a lot of advice.

You might want to send him a note what he finally did. He did narrow things down.

 

[leonz]

I vote for either a bad battery or a broken cell
in the battery which will kill it dead if its shifted even
a little.



2. a hair line crack in a fuse does it also.


3. the fusible link is another possibility.

Is it possible the radiator screen is plugged or you have so much debris that it does not allow the neutral safety switches to close?

 

[medicshawn]

It is under warranty I've only had it 60 days or so. As of now it has 4 hours on it. It's just that the dealers closed, and I can't currently move it so it will be challenging to load on my trailer.

I messed with both the safety switches under the seat and tried jumping them both but still no change.

Since it's cutting off when I try to move it or engage the PTO but otherwise running great I would guess it's a safety switch and I feel like it's one of the seat switches. At this point it's driving me crazy because I'm sure it's something simple.

 

[medicshawn]

So I went back and played with both seat switches. This BX has 2 seat switches one for seated operation and one for raised seat operation. I pulled both off and tried switching the seated seat for the raised seat and vice versa nothing still died. I tried activating all the safety switches and lever combinations and I did find a one that worked partially. I have a PTO selector that lets me select mid, rear or both together. I had been running it in Mid only while getting up leaves. There's a selector switch that tells the tractor when you're in rear only, If I put it in rear only and activated the seat raised lever it let me activate the PTO but not drive. I tried leaving the PTO selector in the same position but sitting on the seat and trying to drive died instantly. So I have a result but not sure where to go from here other than call the dealer on Monday.

I talked earlier about it cutting off when I engaged the PTO or tried to move. Just to clarify it's not stalling out it's cutting off as soon as I depress the pedal or barley move the PTO lever. It's not because I'm loading the engine it's cutting out due to some safety activating.

 

[dennisgw]

Medic: Sounds like you read my post. It also seems like you have isolated one of the safety switches as being OK. ie when you raised the seat and did the rear PTO lever, things were OK. In my mind, it seems like the issue is the basic seat switch. I believe the post mentioned that he played with the switch, ie trying to make and open the switch. Is this something to look at?

 

[medicshawn]

I don't thing it's the switches themselves. I tried each in the other's location, as well as jumping both of the wires going to the switches. I could operate the rear PTO with the seat raised, but not drive depressing either switch with the PTO selector in the same position. If I move the PTO selector to rear with the seat still up I can't activate the PTO or drive. It's one of the safety switches that cuts the engine while this is happening and you try to drive or operate the PTO.

 

[dennisgw]

I don't thing it's the switches themselves. I tried each in the other's location, as well as jumping both of the wires going to the switches. I could operate the rear PTO with the seat raised, but not drive depressing either switch with the PTO selector in the same position. If I move the PTO selector to rear with the seat still up I can't activate the PTO or drive. It's one of the safety switches that cuts the engine while this is happening and you try to drive or operate the PTO.

Rear PTO lever position, seat up......PTO turns, this is as it should be. BUT you can not drive with the PTO lever to rear and seat up, this will kill the engine (seat has to be down to move).

If you move PTO lever to rear ? (MMM only position), with the seat up the engine will kill. You can only move if the seat is down. Hence your "seat up" switch is good.

I'm not sure if the two switches in the seat area are identical. Switches are either normally open, or normally closed. And hence function differently in their operation when pressed. Since the seat up position switch is working, the switch to look at is the normal seat switch. If you have an ohmmeter, can you check the switch to see that it is functioning, I would not use the other switch. I assume the seat switch is a normally open switch, and that when you sit it closes and current will flow. Shorting the connectors would accomplish the same thing.

 

[radioman]

This has got me perplexed. I wonder if you tried to press both seat switches by hand with seat up and then move forward? I wonder if the switches became misaligned somehow causing it to kick in anyway?

 

[medicshawn]

I've tried every combination with the 2 seat switches. I unplugged both, I removed both from the tractor, I tried jumping both. I also tried activating bothat the same time. I'm at a loss as well. I'm hoping the dealer or someone at Kubota can identify some condition which would cause this to happen. It's something electrical and probably some sort of safety switch.

 

[radioman]

a remote possiblity- Check the fuel soleniod wire and trace it back to main harness and make sure its not shorting out. Check the wire harness condition on left side of seat from lights to underbelly and back up to engine.

 

[crazyal]

It does sound simple. But sometimes simple doesn't mean easy to find. I would take a look at the harness going to the seat and other safety switches. Maybe something came up plugged under the tractor. Does it run fine when the PTO is off? Are there any other safety switches for the PTO, like a guard?

 

[medicshawn]

I have a question for other BX owners does the parking brake need to be set or held with your foot to start it? I was thinking I read somewhere that was the case but mine doesn't require it. Just trying to think of things to look at.

I still think it's something with the seated seat switch. Maybe not the switch but some part of the wiring.

That would cut it off if you tried to move,
allow it to run with the seat up and rear PTO but not mid PTO.

The BX is so tight with the wiring snaking through the frame. I'm at work today and it's killing me.