Electrical help

[Jjordan2840]

G1800. I searched the forums but couldn't find the answer.
I was having a problem starting. When turning the key, the lights would come on but nothing would happen. A few times it would turn over, but slowly. If I stopped and tried again, it might turn over faster and start. If I jumped the terminals on the solenoid, it would start. That's where my most recent problem started. When I was trying to get it to the garage to work on it, my screw driver was too long and I shorted it on against the exhaust.
I heard a pop and now nothing. I checked all fuses, the fusible link next to the starter, battery voltage. All of that is good. I don't know where to go now. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[jaotguy]

get a set of battery jumper cables ....

use one ... put one end on the starter terminal ( not the solenoid ) ...

turn on the key and put in neutral .... put the other end of the cable to the positive on the battery ( it will spark a bit ) and the engine should crank if the starter is good ... if the ignition is good, it should start ....

drive it to the work shed ... remove all the big wires from the battery and starter ... clean them up , grease the ends and re-install ....finally , just loosen then tighten the bolts on the starter ( to ensure a good ground )

if it doesn't try to spin the starter when you touch the battery cables to the positive , the starter is suspect ....

if you are at the work shed ,remove the starter cable at the solenoid , check the solenoid for the "click " when you turn the key to start position .

 

[Jjordan2840]

get a set of battery jumper cables ....

use one ... put one end on the starter terminal ( not the solenoid ) ...

turn on the key and put in neutral .... put the other end of the cable to the positive on the battery ( it will spark a bit ) and the engine should crank if the starter is good ... if the ignition is good, it should start ....

drive it to the work shed ... remove all the big wires from the battery and starter ... clean them up , grease the ends and re-install ....finally , just loosen then tighten the bolts on the starter ( to ensure a good ground )

if it doesn't try to spin the starter when you touch the battery cables to the positive , the starter is suspect ....

if you are at the work shed ,remove the starter cable at the solenoid , check the solenoid for the "click " when you turn the key to start position .

Ok thanks for the help. It turned over right away. It took several tries, but it finally started. I got it to the shop, but haven't had time to dig deeper. Since it did start, is it most likely just a bad cable or connection? I hope to be able to dig into it in the next couple of days. It will help having a starting point.
Thanks for your help.

 

[jaotguy]

you just bypassed the interlocks and solenoid and wiring .....

clean the connections ( and grounds ) ... then proceed to the solenoid ( should click when turning the key to start position ) then check the interlocks ...

could be a bad solenoid , key switch , main wire connection , interlock ...

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Not sure if this would help, but on the G2160-60, I installed a relay on the interlock circuit as all the switches dropping the voltage would not have enough to power the starter directly.

David Kb7uns

 

[jaotguy]

after cleaning the terminals on the starter and battery ... and every thing is in place .... TRACTOR IN NEUTRAL

follow the big wire from the battery to the starter ... pull the spade connector off the starter solenoid ... jumper a screwdriver between that spade pin and the big post you just traced to ... it should try to start ( like when you bypassed every thing ) ... no joy ? , the solenoid is probably toasted ( bad internal contactors ) .. to verify , get a piece of steel you don't care about , and jumper between the 2 big starter solenoid posts ( it should spark and spin )
... no spin means the battery wire to the starter isn't working and no power is making it to the solenoid ....

it spins properly ? ... now trace the spade connector wire up to the switch , everything looks OK ? connect a 12volt light between the ground and the wire from the switch ... turn the key to the start position , the light should come on ( no light means the switch is bad or there is a bad wire from the switch )

 

[JRP]

Not sure if this would help, but on the G2160-60, I installed a relay on the interlock circuit as all the switches dropping the voltage would not have enough to power the starter directly. David Kb7uns

I did the same relay thing on my ZD21 and it fixed all my problems. It was a john deere kit I bought on ebay. It is very well engineered. About $30.