JD 4300 Will Not Turnover

[gonediesel]

OK I had some time today to play around with it. I still can't get it to run or turnover but there is some positive news. When the turn the switch I clearly hear a click from the fuel solenoid. Then I was also able to get it to turn over by jumping from battery to one of the wires running into the starter. So I feel the starter works. I have some things I tried below. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

1. Neutral safety - This appeared to need some adjusting. I first jammed a screw driver in between the puck and the pedal to see if the puck need to be pushed in further? This did nothing. I then thought the puck must slide against the pedal to sense the location of the pedal. There was a 1/4 inch gap between the puck and the pedal. So I released the puck by about 1/4 inch so that it rides along the pedal. I really do not know how this functions. So my adjustments may not have actually done anything. I followed the wires as far as I could and they appear to be in good shape.



2. Seat safety - Same here the wires looked good as far as I could follow them.

3. Starter - The starter wires all look good as far as I could follow them. So I took a tester light and made contact with the red terminal (#2 on pic) on the starter - it lit up. I then made contact with the white wire running into the starter (#1 on the pic) with the key on and off. Tester light negative. I am not sure what this is but I was able get the starter to turn over by jumping to this. I followed this wire as far as I could and it looked fine also.



4. Switch - I pulled the dash off to clean everything up and to try and track some wires. I took the switch off and cleaned all the contacts. I placed the tester light in the only white wire going to the switch (thinking this was the same white wire at the starter) Tester light lit up. I then inspected the wire and both are numbered but are different numbers.



5. Fuse and relay panel - I pulled all fuses and relays. I cleaned the panel and all the relays which were pretty dusty. All relays looked fine and pins were clean. I then reinserted them but in different order to see if one was bad. Today I may buy a handful of them and try them out.

 

[Egon]

From your trouble shooting reports it would seem to be one of the position relative shut down switches. Start on the easiest accessible and so on. I believe seat switches are troublesome.?

Consider it as a yearly electrical maintenance program.

 

[beenthere]

What I am seeing in your item #1, is you are working with the adjustment of the cruise control magnet that holds the forward pedal in whatever position it is in when the cruise control is switched on. Don't think it is the neutral control switch.
But I may be wrong.
This is an HST tractor with the three transmission ranges, is it not?

 

[rekees4300]

What I am seeing in your item #1, is you are working with the adjustment of the cruise control magnet that holds the forward pedal in whatever position it is in when the cruise control is switched on. Don't think it is the neutral control switch.
But I may be wrong.
This is an HST tractor with the three transmission ranges, is it not?

You are correct. The neutral safety switch is located approximately 1 foot from the cruise control magnet toward the center of the tractor. It's not easy to find since it's located within the tractor's frame to protect it. But the good news is the bottom of the frame is open which allows access to the switch. The best way to find it is to manually depress either the forward or reverse pedal with your left arm while laying on your back looking up and watching the linkage move. You can see the switch being engaged/disengaged when a pedal is released/depressed. "Engaged" means the switch's button is pressed by the linkage allowing the tractor to start.

 

[coralhead]

My brother had a similar issue with his JD4300. A stick got jammed up in between the transmission the engine. There is a sensor up in between there that is hard to get to. He broke the connections off of it. It ran but after shutting down it would not start. ( I towed him out of the woods with my little Fergy 30.)

 

[gonediesel]

I had typed up a response this am and must not have hit post. Anyway after doing some more reading the "puck" is not the neutral safety switch. I did find it and also find the PTO safety switch. Both have been jumped and still no go. The only think left for me to check that I know of is the key switch. Which I have pulled and will test if I can find my voltmeter.

1. PTO safety switch - is jumped and confirmed working by hearing the relay snap when either jumping the switch or tripping the switch with the key on.
2. Neutral safety switch - is jumped and confirmed working by hearing the relay snap when either jumping the switch or tripping the switch with the key on.
3. Fuse Panel - I pulled the fuse panel to see if there were any chewed or damaged wires. Everything looked fine but very dusty.

 

[Egon]

Just a note on the safety switches. They also have to be checked for correct operation and position. Ie, does movement activate them and do they return to their neutral position?

 

[gonediesel]

Ok I tested the switch and it works. So I am now out of ideas. Any other suggestions? Again I can jump the tractor running jumper from the battery to the small white wire to the starter.

 

[Egon]

Wish I could help.

I have my own intermitent non start JD 4200hst. There are times the fuel/injector pump solenoid will not click ( engage ). The engine does turn over. Using a heat gun on the solenoid and pumping the primer lever works to get it started after which it runs
well and will start again if just shut off. Then, out of the blue, the solenoid has that loud snap and all is well. The solenoid enables/disables the injection pump.

Maybe it's the slap on the cowling or persuasive language I do not know. The solenoid has been replaced. Now I got two that work. One dealer says it has a thermistor; the other says not. If it does I still haven't found it to replace it. Looking at wiring diagrams, from manual, has not helped me.

 

[super55]

It almost sounds like the F/R potentiometers if either of them are sending a signal that the Forward or Reverse is depressed than it will send an override to not allow the tractor to turn over. All other electrical will work like the lights and turns but when turning the key you will get nothing.

I believe they are normally open switches switches so it is worth it might be worth disconnecting from underneath and see if it will start. If it starts up than you know it is one of the switches. Just be sure not to reconnect them when the engine is running if the tractor should does start.




I will see if I can pull up a schematic of the wiring system but it definitely sounds like you have a safety switch issue. JD's safety system is way over engineered where there is a multitude of things that can prevent the starter from turning.