My 555E has been giving some trouble cranking. I fixed the initial cranking issue by cleaning the grounds and it worked well for a while. Now it will crank all day and usually the next day but 2 days and it needs jumping. Looking at the grounds after the ground interrupt switch the woven ground goes to the frame and then to the bottom bolt of the starter. At that same bottom starter bolt is another ground cable(black wrapped) that connects to the frame with the woven ground. Basically two grounds from bottom of starter to frame....I've tried looking at service manual and online for pics of a 555E starter so I can sort out the wiring to no avail. Also, should there be a ground somewhere on the block? Thanks for any help or pics of proper starter wiring.
Your battery is dying, why are looking at grounds? Disconnect the ground cable, charge up the battery, leave it sit for 2 days, reconnect the cable and see if it cranks. Better yet, let it sit a week. If it cranks then you have a drain in the system (most likely the alternator diodes leaking on a tractor). If it doesn't crank after a week, the battery is draining itself.
start by doing a load test on the battery if it fails get new battery, if good , do as above..I just had same issue and changed to a new battery..problem gone..and that was on an older 1980s 555..
Battery is 2-3 months old. I' m looking at grounds because a month ago it would not crank. It just barely turned over with the new battery. I had to jump it daily. One day I decided to just hook up the negative battery cables and it cranked...verifying bad grounds.... I cleaned the grounds and everything was good for a while but now it's back to needing a jump if it sits for more than a day. AGAIN; I have a woven and regular cable coming off the bottom starter bolt and both mounting to frame. Should the black one mount to the engine block somewhere? PICS ABOVE
sounds like you have other issues than just bad grounds,as the battery is being drained.....try disconnecting the ground to the battery after the battery is fully charged and wait a week or so then hook ground back and see if it cranks, if so then you have a draw on the battery and the battery is good, doesnt mean anything nowa days that the battery is new, it could be defective right from the factory ...the battery cables themselves can be bad, even with new ends on them, if they are corroded inside the plastic covering that will kill carrying amps when you goto start, from your pictures it looks like the whole machine is pretty rusty, there is a rust colored dust on everything..
Ha Ha! No not rust...just carolina red clay. I've been using it to grade our homesite and with the long dryspell we just had everything has a red/orange coating. Thanks for the tips...I'll try it.
I use stuff called corrosion x, comes in a red can, it actually dissolves rust and keeps moisture out of electrical components, its saved many a switch that was corroded and didnt work anymore...could be time for a new starter, mine died after 40 years, ill be lucky the new chicom one works 5 years, but it hasnt turned over so fast with the new starter than I remember..
Yes, if you have two ground cables coming from the battery, then one should go to the block, IMHO. If you're suspicious of the grounds, make up some test leads (or just hook up some stranded wire) to a voltmeter. One end on the negative battery terminal (not the clamp) and one end on the body of the starter. Read what voltage you get when cranking. Then go back to the positive battery terminal and repeat. That will show you where your voltage is and isn't going. The only thing that won't show is if it's the battery that's weak, or the starter that's dragging if the cables check fine but the cranking volts at the battery drop too much. Swap out for another battery is the easiest next step for that determination.
Have you checked the tension on the alternator belt? What is the voltage reading at the battery at high idle?
Thanks fellas.......I have 1 cable at battery neg post I have a 2- A woven and regular cable coming off the bottom starter bolt and both mounting to frame. Should the black one mount to the engine block somewhere? PICS ABOVE In the meantime I'll be looking for a 555E that I can personally inspect to see those grounds and where they go.
There is always a chance that if you do find one to look at it is not connected correctly. You need a service manual to get it right.
yeah, that looks real clutzed up. I didn't realize what I was looking at before. The braided strap typically goes from the frame to block. And the insulated ground goes from battery to frame. I prefer both go to the battery and one goes to frame, one to block. IF for some reason, one wants a ground going to the starter bolt, it usually goes to the mounting base of the starter, bigger bolt and area on the starter to take the force and current. That's not going to fix the battery getting weak though.
Here is a drawing of the way mine is wired. Insulated wire from battery negative to cut off then braided to frame and then braided to starter. Then another smaller insulated wire from starter to frame. Finally insulated wire from battery positive to starter solenoid
Not the way I would have done it... Lots of places for loose connections. I'd test the voltage drops while cranking first, that will tell you where the issue is. Then fix the ugly wiring.
If by chance someone in the world has a 555E... please take a look at the drawing in above post and tell me what's off from factory compared to yours.
My 575E is similar but it also is not stock. Someone bypassed my negative cut off switch and added an extra ground cable. If your battery is going dead over a few days time it seems you may have a draw. Try turning the ground switch off when you park it and see if that solves the problem. If you have a radio you will loose the presents each time. You can disconnect one of the battery cables and connect a test light between the cable end and battery post. If a draw is present the light will light. Electrical stuff can drive you crazy.
With everything "off", disconnect negative cable from battery, put a multimeter between negative battery post and the disconnected cable, set meter to amps, you should have no more than 50 millampes ( 50ma ) of a reading. Anything more and you have a drain somewhere. Have you also checked your positive cable connections, especially at the starter.
Thanks, I'll try that today. Also Still looking for a 555E owner to chime in with how their wiring looks compared to my drawing .
Here is my setup on a '99-655e. I am 2nd owner so I don't have the complete picture, but it pretty much can be inferred. It had a cutoff which is not used, so the other owner moved them to the pic1, from the 2nd post of the cutoff (there is 2 from the neg of the 2 batts). Then the frame braid goes to the starter engine side of the case. It seems like the whole system is being grounded from that starter post (the frame braid and that back to batt?). I'm with Delmer there should be an engine ground and the starter gets a separate one. If you are getting it by going right to the neg side of the batt then I would just put the batt ones to the engine and a separate one from it to the starter. It could be that line has corroded.
A test light is an easy way to get the same info. Basically if it has enough current draw to light the light it will drain a battery.
Thanks, I'll try that today. Also Still looking for a 555E owner to chime in with how their wiring looks compared to my drawing .
OK...Finally fixed it. Initially I took the casing off the ground from battery and cleaned it with s solvent then re-wrapped it and that was stupid and cheap. I installed a new positive cable and neg. cable and now it's fixed. I let it sit for three days and cranked it on a cold 30 degree morning with no issues. So in the end don't clean a corroded cable...just replace it.
once a cable becomes corroded and it will deep inside the cable, the carrying amps drops way down..only good use for it is at the scrap yard getting a few bucks to buy lunch...