Hi all, Would like your opinions if this warrants a new starter before I outlay the cash. Slowly, when I hit the starter button I would occasionally get a click and no starter engaging. Started happening more and more so I replaced the solenoid and the main feed from the battery to the starter. Eventually I kept hitting the starter and would get nothing, no click. If I jump with a screw driver at the starter, the solenoid will click but it takes a few to many times for it to turn over. Does this sound like a new starter is warranted? Any diagnostic suggestions? Thanks!
I am assuming that you have the stock Delco Starter, Is your battery up to voltage? Do not overlook the ground cable where it attaches to the tractor. Beyond that I would not put any money in the stock starter, a modern Nippondenso gear reduction off of a 580C-D will bolt right on with a little tweaking of the steering pump lines and can be bought online for less than you will get in a professional rebuild. the Nippon is so much superior in cranking power. I have heard others on here say that they can be found for not much over $100.00. Wire length may have to be modified to get things hooked up.
Yes Sir Melben, stock Delco starter. I did also replace the ground cable but neglected to mention it. The battery could be questionable. It's probably 5 years old. I will throw the engine starter on it later today and see if that makes a difference. Thank you for the suggestion of the Nippon. Makes sense.
Let's diagnose the problem instead of guessing. 1. Put a volt meter on the battery terminals, try to crank and when you hear the click see what the voltage reads. Record this number. 2. Connect the meter from the positive post on the battery to the big cable on the solenoid and attempt to crank it, record the reading. 3. Connect the meter from the negative terminal on the battery to the starter housing and attempt to crank it, record the reading. Post your results.
Got caught up doing garden chores. I will take a look tomorrow. Edgephoto, for points 2&3 I'm assuming ohms?
My son number 1 gave me a hand, here are partial results. Battery voltage across + and -, 12.20v. Tried about 100x but could not get it to click or turn over with meter across + and -. Put the engine boost on it and got the click for about 10x. Waited a minute or two and it started. I will put the slow charger on it tomorrow for the day to see the results. Thanks all.
No, you want to use volts. #1 when you are cranking or it is clicking read the battery voltage not when it is just sitting. Must be cranking or attempting to crank. #2 and #3 you need to measure the drop on a circuit that is in operation. Again crank or attempt to crank. Voltage measurement for #1 should not drop below 10 volts when cranking. The higher the better, Measurements for #2 and #3 should read .5volts or less.
Thanks edgephoto. Is it possible you have 2&3 reversed? It doesn't make sense to me. Sorry. 2. Connect the meter from the positive post on the battery to the big cable on the solenoid and attempt to crank it, record the reading. Should it be positive post on the battery to starter housing? Otherwise, it's the same cable. 3. Connect the meter from the negative terminal on the battery to the starter housing and attempt to crank it, record the reading. Should it be negative battery post to the big cable on the solenoid? Sorry if I'm slow on the uptake.
@PeteS Don't feel bad that you don't understand. I have been involved auto/light truck service in one form or another for 37 years. I was a technician, owned my own shop, was a technical trainer for a major luxury brand and now am a field service engineer for a large auto manufacturer. In my experience voltage drop is the hardest thing for technicians to wrap their heads around. What my 3 measurements are doing is diagnosing the power applied to your starter. Battery voltage needs to be 10v or above when cranking. You also need to make sure all the voltage is available for the starter which is what my tests #2 and #3 are checking for. If you lose more than .5v in the cables than you have an issue. The reason you do not want to use Ohms to check your cables is in high amperage circuit a very tiny resistance can cause a major problem. Ohms law comes into play. Volts=Amps x Ohms. So to find Ohms you need to divide Volts by Amps. For example if you have a 2 volt loss in your battery cable in a starter circuit we can calculate that. Let's assume the starter draw is about 300 amps. 2 divided by 300 equals .007 Ohms. If the starter draws more, and it likely would with a Diesel engine, your Ohms would be lower. Do you think if you saw a reading of .007 Ohms that you would think this is a problem, of course not? You are not going to measure that kind of precision in the field with a handheld meter, not even a Fluke. So we use voltage drop to check for problems. This guy seems to do a good job explaining stuff:
Edgephoto. I would never had guessed that you measure the voltage drop on the same cable. Below is an excellent explanation that may help others that run into this issue. Thanks
I hope this helped and you understand how a few simple measurements can diagnose your problem and save you lots of time and money.