Kubota L3130 have dash lights but only clicks

[cletus]

Hi Guys, Have long appreciated this forum for all the great knowledge. My ever-reliable L310 wouldn't start after I'd been working for a few hours.
Pulled my car battery and it started and i got it back to the shed. Got a new battery and had to also get a new positive battery connector. Took off positive cable to replace the connector, reattached. Cleaned the single wire clip-on connector that goes to the main fuse box. Now I have all dash lights and when the glow plug goes out, only get a click. Cleaned ground strap. New battery measures about 12.4 volts on battery itself and on battery cables. Bypassed ground cable with jumper cable and no change. Checked seat safety switch and it has continuity. Have jiggled PTO and shift lever. DId measure voltage at positive starter connector when key is turned and it drops to 11.47. Haven't bypassed positive cable yet. Any other ideas? I'm thinking since all was fine till I replaced the battery and removed/replaced the positive cable that i must have messed up something or else the new battery is bad. Battery is Die-Hard gold from Advance, 750 cca. Thank you all!, cleatus

 

[Gregster613]

Hi Guys, Have long appreciated this forum for all the great knowledge. My ever-reliable L310 wouldn't start after I'd been working for a few hours.
Pulled my car battery and it started and i got it back to the shed. Got a new battery and had to also get a new positive battery connector. Took off positive cable to replace the connector, reattached. Cleaned the single wire clip-on connector that goes to the main fuse box. Now I have all dash lights and when the glow plug goes out, only get a click. Cleaned ground strap. New battery measures about 12.4 volts on battery itself and on battery cables. Bypassed ground cable with jumper cable and no change. Checked seat safety switch and it has continuity. Have jiggled PTO and shift lever. DId measure voltage at positive starter connector when key is turned and it drops to 11.47. Haven't bypassed positive cable yet. Any other ideas? I'm thinking since all was fine till I replaced the battery and removed/replaced the positive cable that i must have messed up something or else the new battery is bad. Battery is Die-Hard gold from Advance, 750 cca. Thank you all!, cleatus

Cleatus, I'm sorry I don't have any good advise to offer, but I wanted to say that you sure gave a good description of what happened and the steps you took thus far - so I'm sure that someone with experience in this situation will soon be along.

 

[airbiscuit]

Did you replace the whole positive battery cable, or just the (battery end) connector? I own a L3010 that had intermittent cranking issues. If I jumped from the positive terminal at the battery to the positive lug on the starter, all was well. The cable looked okay, but the connector at the starter was cracked/broken. So I installed a new positive cable and all was well - kind of. It's important to tighten the starter end of the cable tight enough - and no tighter. It's a copper bolt, and they don't give you a lot of threads to work with. I think I got a little more purchase on the bolt by not using a lock washer.

 

[cletus]

airbiscuit, thanks for the info. i only replaced the battery end, tomorrow i'll take the whole cable in and see if they can test it, or try a battery jumper cable from the battery to the starter. i probably overtightened it at the starter end too. i'm confident in my ability to take an easy situation/fix and either totally screw it up or make it harder to fix......

 

[CalG]

airbiscuit, thanks for the info. i only replaced the battery end, tomorrow i'll take the whole cable in and see if they can test it, or try a battery jumper cable from the battery to the starter. i probably overtightened it at the starter end too. i'm confident in my ability to take an easy situation/fix and either totally screw it up or make it harder to fix......

When chasing "juice" issues.

I often start with turning on the HEADLAMPS! noting if bright or dim.

Then giving the same assesment while the starter is being engaged.

Bad battery, high resistance etc. , will show.

Call it "voltage drop" ;-)

 

[cletus]

Thanks Guys! I checked the voltage with key turned at both places on the starter and both were above 11v, so i pulled the starter and tested it, gear would extend but not turn. Took it to local auto store to confirm and also to load test my new battery (just in case). They confirmed battery good starter bad. Now to find a good replacement. Does anyone have any recommendations on where to buy? I'll search the forums of course, but the missus is getting antsy to get tractor back in service, have to spread the last 11 loads of the 42 dump loads for our road, after Helene. Thanks again, I've long enjoyed browsing these pages.