Intermittent starting problem

fshafly2 · Mar 28, 2010

I have a MX5000 with less than 200 hours on it. Twice in the past few months, the tractor unexpectedly quit running when I got out of the seat (pto was off and gears were in neutral). Yesterday when it happened, I had a difficult time getting the tractor started. I shifted gears and back into neutral, lifted the seat and "tweaked" the microswitch lever a few times, and shifted the pto engage/disengage. Eventually, the tractor did start - but not immediately after trying anything. Twice more since I had to play games to get it to start again after I had turned it off. Yet sometimes it starts right away.

Any suggestions on what to do about this?

-fsh

amigauser · Mar 28, 2010

fshafly2 said:
I have a MX5000 with less than 200 hours on it. Twice in the past few months, the tractor unexpectedly quit running when I got out of the seat (pto was off and gears were in neutral). Yesterday when it happened, I had a difficult time getting the tractor started. I shifted gears and back into neutral, lifted the seat and "tweaked" the microswitch lever a few times, and shifted the pto engage/disengage. Eventually, the tractor did start - but not immediately after trying anything. Twice more since I had to play games to get it to start again after I had turned it off. Yet sometimes it starts right away.

Any suggestions on what to do about this?

-fsh

I think you already have the right idea. It sounds like one of the safety switches is out of adjustment or has an issue. You could try jumpering one switch at a time to see if the issue goes away.

jcaron2 · Jun 15, 2010

fshafly2 said:
I have a MX5000 with less than 200 hours on it. Twice in the past few months, the tractor unexpectedly quit running when I got out of the seat (pto was off and gears were in neutral). Yesterday when it happened, I had a difficult time getting the tractor started. I shifted gears and back into neutral, lifted the seat and "tweaked" the microswitch lever a few times, and shifted the pto engage/disengage. Eventually, the tractor did start - but not immediately after trying anything. Twice more since I had to play games to get it to start again after I had turned it off. Yet sometimes it starts right away.

Any suggestions on what to do about this?

-fsh

Fsh, did you ever figure out the problem?

fshafly2 · Jun 15, 2010

Yes - it was "operator error". I did talk to the dealer's service tech and he told me where to look for the microswitch to the gear shift (I had been tweaking the microswitch to the seat). I was putting the tractor in "neutral" (or more like "out-of-gear"), the shift lever would not necessarily go and rest against the microswitch. Once I saw how it was supposed to work, no more problems.

Easy fix, lol.

-fsh

jcaron2 · Jun 15, 2010

fshafly2 said:
Yes - it was "operator error". I did talk to the dealer's service tech and he told me where to look for the microswitch to the gear shift (I had been tweaking the microswitch to the seat). I was putting the tractor in "neutral" (or more like "out-of-gear"), the shift lever would not necessarily go and rest against the microswitch. Once I saw how it was supposed to work, no more problems.

Easy fix, lol.

-fsh

I've been a victim of the same thing a number of times; that's one sensitive little switch. Move the gear shift just a hair from the true neutral position, and it'll trigger the OPC timer relay, which shuts off the fuel pump solenoid... a little while AFTER you get out of the seat, making it that much more difficult to diagnose!

Glad you found the problem.
Josh