Hello, this is my first tractor JD 4100. I got it the other day, it ran fine for quite a few hours, multiple times I turned it on and off with no problems. When I tried this morning it would not turn over. Lights work, I hear 2 clicks when I turn the key to on, will not turn over at all. Checked to see PTO and transmission were in neutral, they were. Changed gears to make sure it wasn't stuck in low or high gear. Jumped a wire from one side of the starter to the other and it turns nicely but doesn't start still. Seat switch seems to work, I hear a click under the hood when I engage it. Checked voltage through seat switch, does 12v run through all 4 connections when engaged or just certain ones? I believe I found the neutral safety hooked to 2 screws on the side of the transmission. Had 12v there. How do I check to see if that has made a connection with this safety circuit, in other words where does it come out so I can check the other side to make sure the proper voltage is there? I am also charging the battery even though I have 12.5 v there just to be 100% it's not the battery. Have not touched the PTO switch very much so I haven't even tried there yet. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
John deere 4100 safety switch or bad battery?
- Thread starter Zsnydes
- Start date
beenthere
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2001
- Messages
- 18,090
- Location
- Southern Wisconsin, USA
- Tractor
- JD_4x2_Gator, JD_4300, JD_425, JD_455 AWS, added JD_455, JD_110, JD_X485(sold)
Suspect battery first. Get it load tested and may need a new one. Second, while load checking the battery, clean all pos and neg cable connections (both ends). Remove, brush clean, and replace.
Think you will be happy with the results.
Check back with us.
Welcome to TBN
Think you will be happy with the results.
Check back with us.
Welcome to TBN
It looks like you have eliminated the battery as the problem since you said that you get it to crank over by hot-wiring the starter. It seems most likely that you're not getting power to the fuel solenoid when you "jump" the starter.
Relative to cranking and not starting: What you may not know is that there is a solenoid on the fuel pump, and that is how the engine fuel is enabled. If there's no power to that solenoid, then the engine can crank all day but it won't start. When 12v is applied to the solenoid, then it pulls in and lets the fuel pump run. Remove 12 v, and the spring in the solenoid shuts off the fuel. Typically these solenoids have two windings. Both windings need to be energized for the solenoid to pull in, and then one winding is released to keep the solenoid from overheating, just like many AC motors that have a start winding. With my 4600, if I remove that solenoid, then the tractor will start up just by cranking, and slipping the solenoid back into place will shut it down. I've done this several times while debugging start issues. I once blew a fuse that let the engine crank, but the solenoid wasn't getting power. Pulling the solenoid let me get the machine running again and over to the shop where I could figure out what was going on. On other machines, that solenoid is connected to a linkage and you can see it moving a little lever when it pulls in. If you manually pull that lever while hot-wiring the starter, then it should fire up - just as a test.
I hope this helps.
Relative to cranking and not starting: What you may not know is that there is a solenoid on the fuel pump, and that is how the engine fuel is enabled. If there's no power to that solenoid, then the engine can crank all day but it won't start. When 12v is applied to the solenoid, then it pulls in and lets the fuel pump run. Remove 12 v, and the spring in the solenoid shuts off the fuel. Typically these solenoids have two windings. Both windings need to be energized for the solenoid to pull in, and then one winding is released to keep the solenoid from overheating, just like many AC motors that have a start winding. With my 4600, if I remove that solenoid, then the tractor will start up just by cranking, and slipping the solenoid back into place will shut it down. I've done this several times while debugging start issues. I once blew a fuse that let the engine crank, but the solenoid wasn't getting power. Pulling the solenoid let me get the machine running again and over to the shop where I could figure out what was going on. On other machines, that solenoid is connected to a linkage and you can see it moving a little lever when it pulls in. If you manually pull that lever while hot-wiring the starter, then it should fire up - just as a test.
I hope this helps.
Last edited:
CADplans
Elite Member
Your tractor could be one of the machines that falls into the
"Needs a relay added"
category.
The starting issue you have is discussed often here at TBN,,
Here is a thread that has almost 100 posts on the topic,, with ALL sorts of things to try.
www.tractorbynet.com
My recommendation is to always try starting with jumper cables attached to your known good truck battery.
That will eliminate one set of possible issues.
The other thing to do is kinda hard to understand.
There is a thermistor that is temperature sensitive.
Once you try to crank the engine, the thermistor heats up,,
While the thermistor is hot, NOTHING you can do will allow the tractor to start until the thermistor to cool.
I had a thermistor problem, my minimum restart time was over a minute,
I replaced the thermistor, and restart time dropped to about 10 seconds.
So, once you turn the key to "crank" for whatever reason,,
always wait for at least one minute before trying to crank again.
When you have the problem resolved, then you can figure out your thermistor cooling time,,
"Needs a relay added"
category.
The starting issue you have is discussed often here at TBN,,
Here is a thread that has almost 100 posts on the topic,, with ALL sorts of things to try.
B2400 starting problem finally solved
Since last summer, when I tried to start the tractor, most times it would take up to 10 or so tries turning the ignition key on and off to finally start. With each try, I could hear the starter solenoid click. I cleaned the battery terminals, battery clamps, and ground connection to the frame...
www.tractorbynet.com
My recommendation is to always try starting with jumper cables attached to your known good truck battery.
That will eliminate one set of possible issues.
The other thing to do is kinda hard to understand.
There is a thermistor that is temperature sensitive.
Once you try to crank the engine, the thermistor heats up,,
While the thermistor is hot, NOTHING you can do will allow the tractor to start until the thermistor to cool.
I had a thermistor problem, my minimum restart time was over a minute,
I replaced the thermistor, and restart time dropped to about 10 seconds.
So, once you turn the key to "crank" for whatever reason,,
always wait for at least one minute before trying to crank again.
When you have the problem resolved, then you can figure out your thermistor cooling time,,
I second the comments on the thermistor by @CADplans. Since that component tends to be unreliable, I replaced it with a pushbutton switch with my 4600. So when you turn on the key, if you have the pushbutton depressed, you'll hear the solenoid click. Then the button can be released and the tractor runs. This also works as a sneaky security feature. Nobody is going to be able to start the tractor unless they know about that button.