GC2310_TLB- abrupt stop - wont turn over

[gardrail]

I was having great fun yesterday - destroying underbrush and laying waste to ruts that have pissed me off for years. Things were going well up until I climbed out of the seat to position a rotten log on the bucket... The tractor just flat out quit on me - no sputter, no clank crash, just out... The throttle was set at 3/4 to full if I remember correctly so it was turning pretty good and sounding great up until the stop. I could still hear the fuel pump going as the tractor still had the key in the on position so I was just annoyed at that point. I finished what I needed to do, climbed back on and the d@mn thing wont even turn over.

I've checked a few things so far:

* Investigated seat safety switch
* moved all pto select, and gear select levers ( hoping to jiggle a switch in the off chance a switch was going bad on me )
* Checked the inline fuse down near the starter
* Checked the ignition switch itself (some corrosion in the rubber cup, but the connections seem sound)
* Checked both grounds, both are solid - doesn't look like they've been fussed with
* Battery voltage was sitting at ~ 12.4v... (attempted to charge it up some, but still no cranking - was a futile attempt i know...)
* Tried tapping the starter - i vaguely remembered my dad doing that on a starter that was going bad at one point to get it to do its thing... (nada)

The only things left for me to check at this point which is scaring the crap out of me is to see if the engine turns by hand (which direction, cw or ccw?) which is the most scary as I don't want to have to replace the engine due to a seize condition... and the final thing is to take a jumper cable and bypass the entire starter circuit and see if the starter functions when hooked directly up to the battery.


Have I missed anything else that this could possibly be? If the starter functions - then there's probably a bad microswitch somewhere in this thing... I have a feeling the previous owner stored this thing outside at one point in its life...


-------edit after morning check ----


I checked the flywheel to see if it would move at all - the flywheel is free spinning (moved it forward an inch, and back and inch). I was afraid the flywheel was jammed and the whole d@mn thing was hosed. Now all I need to do is check the starter.

If all I have to do is replace a starter on a used tractor with 278 hours on it - I'll be very pleased. I would be happier if it was something cheaper than a 300.00 unit though

 

[Chooglin]

You say you moved them,these levers have to be in the neutral positions when you leave the seat of the tractor,otherwise it will STALL.
be sure all levers are in neutral positions and try starting it.

 

[Don87]

Disconnect the seat safety switch, and put a jumper in for test purposes before you do anything else.

 

[gardrail]

switches switches!

I found the problem - one of the plastic arms is broken clean off of the neutral select switch. I think it may be going bad anyways as even after jiggling it to get it started one time, the next time I tried to start the thing it going i had to keep fiddling with the thing.

At least it's back in the garage - I'll have to order a replacement.


I'd much rather replace a 10.00 switch, than a 300.00 starter, or 3k engine any day

 

[Chooglin]

Glad to hear it was something simple !!!

 

[ray66v]

Unfortunately, lawyers have added many potential fail points on these tractors.

When these things happen you need to get a schematic out, and test every one of the safety switches. (I usually just jump them).

If it ever becomes necessary, the starter and alternator can be rebuilt by a local rebuilder, for probably half the cost of new.

 

[irvingj]

Glad to hear you got it-- I get the idea that 300 hrs on these things is not much at all (assuming hey haven't been beaten too badly...).

Yep, there sure are a lot of ways to shut these things down; I'm just waiting for one of those danged switches to quit, but so far no problems.