Mahindra 5035 no start

[Kas447]

Hello everyone, First time here and I have a question I hope someone has an answer to. I have a 2011 5035 that began slow starting a couple of weeks ago, and now won't start at all, just spins. Glow plug lamp on dash comes on and stays on as long as key is turned on. Only has about 500 hours on it and my local dealer is no help at all. Does this engine have glow plugs? Is the timer/relay under the dash? Any troubleshooting I can do? While not a diesel mechanic I can't an generally muddle my way through most things. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!


--Kurt

 

[burzynsr]

Check the battery and connections, timer relay should have nothing to do with slow cranking. Please define what you mean by "local dealer is no help at all". Most dealers jump on the opportunity to perform work and bill for it.

 

[JerryK]

The 5035 has a grid heater, and no glow plugs. If I remember correctly, the timer relay is in the front by the battery. You can pull the relay out and see if that gives you a little oooopf to turn over the motor, The 5035 should start without it [ I hardly ever use my grid heaters ] and the grid heater sucks about 50 amps when it is running. I would remove the battery clamps and clean them. You can get a tool [ parts store/probably Wally ] that has a male and female wire brush to clean both the male battery stud and the female cable clamp... Then clamp it back up. If you had corrosion near the battery, that can degrade and ruin the wires internal to the clamps and the battery cable itself. You could try jumping the tractor off a vehicle with a good battery. If it starts then, the battery could be bad. But the only real way to troubleshoot is with a voltmeter. Checking both the battery voltage [ which should be around 12.5 volts / 13.8 running when fully charged ] and the ground/positive cables going to the frame and the starter.

 

[JerryK]

Another thing, when you say 'slow start', do you mean cranks about normal speed [RPM] but does not fire...? That could be bad fuel, dirty air filter, dirty fuel filter, or air in the fuel line.

 

[Kas447]

Thanks for the replies! My local dealer sent a guy out, swapped out the timer relay (next to starter/pto relays) didn't fix it, he tried some ether, didn't even sputter. he then told me to bring the tractor to the shop because it's cold outside. (60 miles away) I have no way of trailering a non running tractor, plus I have a load on the forks and the bush hog attached so not sure how I would even begin to move the thing without hydraulics.

By slow starting I meant it would take 10-20 seconds of cranking before it fired up, that time then became about a minute of cranking before starting, Now it just will not start, I can spin the starter until the battery dies, and nothing. The starters rpm speed seems normal, it just never fires. I will check the battery connections. Is the grid heater on the side near where the air cleaner assembly connects to the intake manifold? There is a protected heavy gauge wire connection there. Can it be tested? Can I bypass the relay by applying 12v to the heater to see if it starts?

Thanks again,

--Kurt

 

[jb1390]

Thanks for the replies! My local dealer sent a guy out, swapped out the timer relay (next to starter/pto relays) didn't fix it, he tried some ether, didn't even sputter. he then told me to bring the tractor to the shop because it's cold outside. (60 miles away) I have no way of trailering a non running tractor, plus I have a load on the forks and the bush hog attached so not sure how I would even begin to move the thing without hydraulics.

By slow starting I meant it would take 10-20 seconds of cranking before it fired up, that time then became about a minute of cranking before starting, Now it just will not start, I can spin the starter until the battery dies, and nothing. The starters rpm speed seems normal, it just never fires. I will check the battery connections. Is the grid heater on the side near where the air cleaner assembly connects to the intake manifold? There is a protected heavy gauge wire connection there. Can it be tested? Can I bypass the relay by applying 12v to the heater to see if it starts?

Thanks again,

--Kurt

Using ether with an intake heater is a great way to blow up yourself and the tractor. That's not good that he used it. Also, even on engines without glow plugs/intake heater, since the ether is so volatile, the explosion can round over the top of the piston ring. Over time, this reduces compression when starting - which is why an engine won't start without it once it's been used for a little while.

If the engine is cranking normally, disconnecting the intake heater won't do a thing. You should be able to tell by the sound if the engine is cranking slowly. If it's cranking normally, then the connections are fine and the battery itself is fine.

DI personally think it's a fuel issue. If you have a leak or collapse in a line that's under vacuum, it will initially present itself as a slow start. Eventually, as the leak worsens, it won't start at all - since the injection pump will be trying to inject air instead of fuel.

I believe the 5035's have a primer pump. Do you know where it is? Can you bleed the system using that pump to verify there is no air before the injection pump? Have you noticed any fuel leaks?

 

[JerryK]

Yup, the grid heater is mounted on the left side [ drivers side ] of the motor. Just beneath where the big rubber hose coming from the aircleaner attaches to the intake manifold. She should still start without the grid heater, mine does all the time. You should pull the air cleaner apart and make sure the filter is fairly clean..... and mostly that some critter has not made a nest in it. This it the time of the years that they are looking for a place to overwinter [[ you would too, if you had to live outside.. ]] If the ether did not make it at least try to fire [ don't try this on your own ], then all that's left is the air.
If you have to move it, you can take a hyd jack and lift up on the FEL and then move the FEL controls to let the hyd fluid flow. This should slowly let you lift/horse it around 'nuf to unhook the quick attachment. Same with the 3 point, except you will have to pull the bush hog away from the tractor so you can pull the tractor away from the fork load.
I've worked on JD tractors and vehicles outside in this weather. Make a temporary tent out of something and stick a heater under there for a little while. Just a little heat and staying out of the wind makes a huge difference.

 

[flusher]

A diesel is pretty simple. If it's cranking and has air and fuel, it'll start.
Clean/replace the air filter(s).
Check/replace the fuel filter(s).
Check the fuel cutoff solenoid valve for proper operation.

Good luck.

 

[Kas447]

The guy that came out actually used carb cleaner, not ether, sorry for the confusion. He looked for his ether and only found carb cleaner on his truck. Anyway, I tried to jump it off my jeep, same deal spins at what sounds like normal starter speed but never starts. I also noticed that the jeep motor got pulled down a bit when I turned the tractor key to on, which I assume is the 50 amp draw on the grid heater? So maybe that is all working as it should.

I added another 5 gallons of off road diesel since I was down to about a quarter tank and cranked some more, nothing happened. I am not overly familiar with Diesel engines but there is a canister near the firewall on the left side that has fuel lines running to it, has a small plunger type thing on top. Can I loosen the hard lines going into the cylinders one at a time while cranking to purge air? (Sort of like bleeding brake lines) Is there a bleeder valve somewhere I should use instead? Or is the plunger how I purge after loosening lines?

I also pulled both air filters, cleaned them and even tried cranking without the filter in place to see, still no start. So it's looking like fuel?

--Kurt

 

[JerryK]

That canister thing is the fuel filter and has a pump lever on the top so you can prime the line. Before you go tearing into anything on the tank side of the injection pump.... first realize that diesels do not tolerate any air in those line at all. So, you have to make sure that when you are done, everything is sealed back up so it can't suck in any air... and that you have made sure the lines are filled full of fuel. You can take it all apart and put in a new fuel filter, usually you precharge the filter area with clean diesel, close everything back up. Then crack open a fitting just at the injection pump inlet, pump the lever on the top of the fuel filter assy a bunch until you get all the air out. Then tighten the fitting. If you have run it out of fuel, then you usually have to crack open a couple fittings at the injectors and crank the thing till it trys to start. Doing it in spurts so you give the starter time to cool down. This assumes that you have clean fresh fuel in the fuel tank, and that the pickup filter in the tank [ if you have one ] is not plugged... There is a fuel shutoff solenoid on the injection pump that has to be working, and needs 12v going to it to let the fuel flow. If that wire comes off, or if it is not getting voltage, OR if it is rusted shut, will keep it from starting. There is another solenoid on the injection pump that advances the timing for the first 20 min or so. But the shut off solenoid is right at the top where the fuel line goes into the injection pump.....