ym276 won't start

[ejb]

ym276 won\'t start

Hi Guys.

I have a repair question I need help on.

I have a Yanmar 276 it great shape, its about 10-15 years old but it won't start unless I jump it.

Without exception, when I put the charger/starter attached to the battery terminals, it starts right up. (Which believe it or not is how I have been startingit for the past 3 years).

I assumed this was a dead battery, but its not. I put a brand-spanking new one in and it made no difference. Before I keep buying expensive parts and replacing them even though they don't need it, can anyone give me any precise advise on how to track down this problem?

I am guessing some sort of short, but don't know how to confirm or track it down.

BTW: Without jumper cables, when I turn the key, the dummy lights come on but not even a clicking sound or a turning over sound...completely dead. As soon as I put the jumper on, it starts right up, first time, every time. I am puzzled. Why can the jumper cables start it, but not a new battery???

Thanks.

/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[TBrad]

Re: ym276 won\'t start

ejb,unless there are supernatural forces involved here,the problem has to be in where cables connect to battery post. Try cleaning or replacing cable ends and have battery load tested. I would suspect ground cable connection to frame, but if you're hooking booster cables directly to battery terminals, that can't be it.

 

[lens12]

Re: ym276 won\'t start

It could be at ground or at the starter. Put jumper cables on crank engine . Feel for hot spots in the starting circuit. Where it is hot is where your bad connection is. Be careful , they can get very hot.

 

[clifst2310]

Re: ym276 won\'t start

One other place to look is at the starter itself. I was having similar problems with the starter in my YM2310. I took the starter out, disassembled it and cleaned the starter. I took alot of gunk out of the starter, lubricated the bushing surfaces, and checked the wear points. Now it acts like a new starter. I was charging and jumping the tractor before. The brushes were in excellant shape.

 

[roger_scotty]

Re: ym276 won\'t start

EJB, something isn't adding up here. If it starts "without exception" when you hook the charger to the battery terminal clamps, then maybe you have something bad in the where the terminal clamp attaches to the battery, just as TBrad said. I once hooked up a new battery only to find that it had come with a thin plastic film "protecting" the terminal. Zero voltage.....boy, did I feel dumb.
The only other possibility - and I've done this one too - is that the new battery is just as dead as the old one.
Anywhere past the terminal connectors, the tractor can't see any difference between a good battery and a good charger. And unless the charger is an industrially heavy unit then a good battery will have more amps.

 

[kubmech]

Re: ym276 won\'t start

Something real simple to try first. Pull the battery terminals off and clean the cable ends real good. See if that does anything for you. Sometimes they get so dirty that a wire brush is'nt enough. They sell a terminal cleaner that will srape the crud off and make them nice and shiny again. Or a pocket knife will do in a pinch.

 

[ejb]

Re: ym276 won\'t start/still no

OK, I took some of the suggestions here, but still no luck./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

I took my tester and tested it across the battery terminals directly and consistently got around 12.61V reading. I then tested across the outside of the battery terminal clamps (to rule out the charge not making it out of the battery and into the wires) and got the same reading 12.61V.

I also tested the positive lead on the battery terminal and then the negative on various parts of the frame. I could 50/50 get the same reading (as I suspect you should since all the ground does is connect to the frame) but couldn't always get the reading..maybe that means nothing and was just grease and/or dirt preventing a good connection.

The other thing I tried is hooking up the tester to my batter charger (which has a "jump" mode). When I did this I get a reading of 14.7V so that tells me that the tractor is happy enough to crank if it gets 14.7V, but not if it gets 12.6V out of the battery...puzzling.

Does this information help anyone give me any more hints on how to track down the problem?

I don't want to get into pulling the starter of and rebuilding it or replacing it if I don't have to.

Any other readings I could take with my tester that would help diagnose??

Thanks all/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[Chillimau]

Re: ym276 won\'t start/still no

Are you getting voltage past the switch to the selinoid (sp?) I had a problem on mine where the connection between the selinoid and the switch wasn't getting full voltage and it wouldn't pull the selinoid in and start. The extra voltage of the charger might be enough to overcome this problem, if this where it.

How do you like your 5410?

Gary

 

[kubmech]

Re: ym276 won\'t start/still no

The lead to the starter solenoid should have a minimum of 9 volts to engage, any less and it wont engage. Check voltage there and see what you get. Resistence in the start circuit over a period of time will cause this voltage drop , especially the more safety switches you are running through. If you find no obvious problems the problem can be easily solved by installing a relay kit available through JD (can't remember the part number off hand) but if that turns out to be the problem this is a good fix. and I'll get you the part number. You can use just a standard relay but the kit is real nice because everything is pre-wired and ready to roll with instructions. It won't break the bank either at around 18 bucks.

 

[ejb]

Re: ym276 won\'t start/still no

Thanks for the suggestion..I'll check out that tommorrow when it is light out.

The 5410...I love it. Its a big machine (at least compared to the ym276), and does everthing I ask of it. Only problem I have with it is that due to the size, all the attachments for it a proportionally more expensive...no adding a el-cheapo back blade to it lest you tear it up on the first big rock you hit.

The ym276 is setup as a dedicated mowing machine with a belly mower, ballon/turf tires etc (no loader) so I really think of it as my lawn mower (I have a lot of lawn to mow!).

The 5410 I use for just about everthing else. Plowing, rotoilling, hauiling logs, rocks, dirt, splitting wood etc.

On occassion I wish I had a machine somewhere in between the ym276 and the JD5410 to because there are occaisons where a smaller/ligher 4wd machine with a loader would be helpful, but in general it is a good combination...perhaps when I win the lottery I can add something around 35-40HP/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

I'll let you know if I am getting voltage between the solenoid and the battery if I can figure out how to test that.