JD 2240 starting problems

[JimR]

My neighbor, a farmer , has a 2240 that is causing him some grief lately. I stopped over to see if I could help him fix it today. The tractor sometimes starts and most of the time doesn't. The neutral safety switch is new and works. There is 12 volts at the ignition switch. You can jump the black solenoid wire on the back of the ignition by pulling it off and running a hot wire to it. The tractor will start right up. Juice does flow to the black wire terminal if you turn the key to start. Here is where the problem lies. It appears that the amps may be down on the 12 volt power wire and does not have enough juice to make the starter solenoid work using the key switch. If you have a voltmeter connected to the hot wire to the ignition and turn the ignition to start the voltmeter drops to "0" but not all the time. Is there some kind of relay somwhere that makes the starter work besides the starter solenoid? I noticed that there is a Bosch module under the hood but have no idea what it is used for. Also, none of the idiot lights or gauges work. I also tried running a 12 volt wire directly from the battery to the red wire terminal on the ignition and almost burned up his wiring harness. This really confused the heck out of us as this terminal has 12 volts positive on it at all times. Totally lost on a green machine.

 

[mfreund]

Did you load test the battery??? It sounds like the battery has 12v but no amps to pull in the starter solenoid. If the battery passes the mustard then also really check the battery cables. The ends could have "rotted" off and are not letting enough amps to the starter. I would bet on the later because you got it running by jumping the solenoid. Hope this helps!!

 

[JimR]

The batteries are fine as the starter works time and time again if I run a hot wire to the solenoid wire. We think the tractor may have a bad circuit breaker for the ignition switch. I'm waiting for him to get some spare time so we can mess around with it again. I wish I had a load meter to check the amps at the hot wire for the ignition. That is where I think the problem lies. All the wires and terminals look good. But who knows what lurks under all that dirt and 30 years of use.

 

[dcyrilc]

Did you ever find the problem with the starter? I have a 2240 with starter problems as well. Sometimes when I turn the key, all it does is click - other times it spins over and starts within a sec or two.

 

[JimR]

Did you ever find the problem with the starter? I have a 2240 with starter problems as well. Sometimes when I turn the key, all it does is click - other times it spins over and starts within a sec or two.

The owner of that tractor had the complete dash/engine wiring harness changed out. The tractor runs fine now. There had to have been a short in it somewhere. The JD mechanic that did the work said that there has been many problems with the wiring on this model tractor. We also changed out the neutral safety switch.

 

[dcyrilc]

Thanks for the update. I'll keep that in mind as I continue looking at mine.

 

[JimR]

Thanks for the update. I'll keep that in mind as I continue looking at mine.

I beleive that he also changed the ignition switch just to update all the electrical.

 

[nothinrunslikeadeere]

We have a JD 2240 and have had starting problems, all I did was move the positive wire, just moved it alittle bit, and it would start up after just getting a click.
Overall, i think it is a good tractor

 

[dcyrilc]

We have a JD 2240 and have had starting problems, all I did was move the positive wire, just moved it alittle bit, and it would start up after just getting a click.
Overall, i think it is a good tractor

Welcome to TBN.

Some more information on how and where you moved the positive wire would be helpful. Are you talking about moving the positive connector on the battery? If so, then it's loose and needs to be tightened.

 

[mfreund]

Or it needs new cables.