CK30 won't start again, must be low voltage but where.

[Coyote machine]

You can verify your battery cables by doing this: take your jumper cable negative cable and attach it to the frame of the tractor at the bolt that connects the factory battery ground cable. Then attach the other end securely to the battery negative post, (remove the factory cable and lay it aside). Then try starting your tractor. If everything works as it should then replace your negative battery cable with new ends at both battery and frame. If not, you can test the positive cable, but let's see what the negative(ground cable) shows.

 

[jimmyj]

This time I did what Coyotemachine said. Removed negative battery cable and used jumper from neg terminal on battery to frame of tractor. Not a thing, no power at all. Tried 3 different ground spots, the frame in 2 places and the bucket just in case I wasn't getting contact. Zip.

Put everything back the way it was, now even with the battery charger on not an iota of response. I'm so confused. I give up for today as I'm starting to get annoyed and that never leads to anything sensible.

I appreciate all of the help. I know this is fixable, but it's not going to be today.....

(My laptop died today also, the wife and I had an argument, mower deck belt broke ($72). LOL, just peachy. One good thing did happen, I saw a few beautiful turkeys at the back of the property in a sunbeam in the trees. That's what it's all about.)

 

[oldpilgrim]

glad I don't have your problems for the day.

We've just been getting snow all day.

 

[ritcheyvs]

... So I have power from the batter to the starter, I have power to the ignition switch but when I plug the switch into the wire harness and test across the solder connections on the back of the switch very very little, approx 2 volts makes it through the switch. With the switch on I retest the power at the starter and voila, no longer 12 volts, now 2 volts. So the switch must be my problem.

If I understand correctly, you get 12v between the big wire on the starter and chassis ground with the switch off but this drops to 2v at the starter when you turn the switch on.

Is that correct? If so, you have a battery cable problem or a battery problem. When you turn the switch to on/glow the glow plug current is causing the battery voltage to collapse (bad battery) or there is a high resistance between the battery and the tractor (chassis ground connection and/or big starter terminal.

Try this: measure the voltage across the battery terminals when the switch is turned to on/glow. If that voltage collapses, the battery is bad. If the battery voltage stays solid you have a cable problem (still). I'm not saying this is your problem but there have been multiple reports of battery cable failure inside the insulation where it's not visible.

If I misunderstood your symptoms (my first paragraph) disregard all after hello. Good luck!

 

[ritcheyvs]

This time I did what Coyotemachine said. Removed negative battery cable and used jumper from neg terminal on battery to frame of tractor. Not a thing, no power at all. Tried 3 different ground spots, the frame in 2 places and the bucket just in case I wasn't getting contact. Zip.

Put everything back the way it was, now even with the battery charger on not an iota of response. I'm so confused. I give up for today as I'm starting to get annoyed and that never leads to anything sensible. ...

This now sounds like either a bad positive battery cable (that got disturbed when you undid the negative cable)) or you somehow blew the 60 amp fuse in the wire bundle near the starter.

Proposed tests: measure voltage at starter big terminal (to chassis). Measure same but to battery negative.

 

[VictorW]

Trying to follow this but the symptoms seem to change as you do things or maybe I should read it all again. If the ignition switch seems to be the culprit and you have it all clean, check the wire connector plugs under the right foot rest. These plugs have been known to get corroded and cause several starting problems.

 

[jimmyj]

ritcheyvs - you understand perfectly.

Thanks again guys. Now that I've slept on it I'm thinking bad positive cable. It's happened to me on other tractors and I woke up in the night thinking I didn't test it properly. I'm going to give it another go if it's light enough after work tonight and do the load test as suggested by ritcheyvs.

On a side note, my 2nd personal laptop died (blue screen of death) last night. I had a pox on my house I think ha ha ha ha ha.

I will let you know what happens but the more I think of it I think maybe the pos cable sometimes works better and sometimes worse. Now I'm excited again! (this is like buying lottery tickets, excited anticipation followed by bitter disappointment, at least I am learning stuff)

 

[oldpilgrim]

CitizenOfThePlanet in the other thread I linked found a melted/shorted wire coming off of the alt. Did you check to see if yours might be the same thing?

 

[jimmyj]

CitizenOfThePlanet in the other thread I linked found a melted/shorted wire coming off of the alt. Did you check to see if yours might be the same thing?

Actually no I didn't. Add it to my list for tonight. Thanks.

 

[bumperm]

What ritcheyvs said.

Also with a voltmeter you can easily isolate your problem in just a few minutes.

With a load (current draw) on the battery (turn lights on or if you have a helper, glow plugs or similar load), measure voltage at battery terminal posts, not on the connectors, measure on the center of the terminal posts. If above 12.5 or so, good, proceed. Move the positive voltmeter lead to the wire terminal - should read the same as before. Move the negative probe to the wire terminal, should be the same. If not you can measure "voltage drop" (or loss caused by a bad connection) by measuring across that connector or length of wire. If it were the positive battery terminal bad, you would put the meter positive on the center of the battery terminal, and the meter negative on the connector - if you get a voltage reading, that is the "loss" across that connection.

This works as long as there's current flow through a circuit, you can measure from point A to point B with your meter and see what the voltage loss is through a wire or component. In a high current circuit, say a starter motor running and pulling 100 amps or more, you expect to see a loss of 1 volt or a bit more. With a smaller load, say headlights on, the loss across the wiring (if you measure from the bat positive to the positive terminal of the lamp) should be just a fraction of a volt, (e.g. 0.13 volts).

By checking this way, you won't be replacing perfectly good parts. Note that a wire seldom almost never goes bad unless it is physically damaged. More often the problem would be a poorly crimped, corroded, or loose connection. If wire corrosion itself is suspected (again rare) copper corrosion is green in color. Also a lead acid battery can have what is called a "surface charge" - wherein it looks good on a voltmeter (12.5 to 12.8 volts) but the battery has little to no capacity - if a load is applied, as ritcheyvs said, the voltage drops precipitously or "collapses". Measure across the battery with your meter will show this, as a good battery will show a small voltage drop as a load is applied, then will typically rebound a little as internal chemistry and temperature rise a bit.

good luck,

bumper