So we received this piece of machinery on Saturday as a gift for doing such great work. It seemed a little sluggish to start. Owner said the start button was corroding and needed a little wiggle to get her juices flowing. (Possibly bad starter) So we did, ran great for about 6 HRS on a full tank. The gauge is faulty and always reads full. Some electrical work has been done by others and looks very unprofessional. Anyways we thought hell maybe it is out of diesel, so we put in 10 gallons. The solenoid on the injection pump is not getting 12V, which makes me think very bad wiring hack job. Or possible fuse blew. All fuses work except for 2. (1) 30AMP lower right and the one above. The one above was missing so I don't know what to replace it with. Replaced the 30 and still nothing. No power. Does this power wire just go to the switch side of the key or to the fuse terminal? The battery is charged and the starter well seems very sluggish, thinking about replacing it.... or rebuild... We did run over some sticks and I did see a couple in the under carriage , and the wires under there look like they have not been hooked in a long time. Any thoughts....
do a step by step of what you are doing and what goes on after you do it , hard to know the exact issue so far you got no pwer at sol / starter old or engine hard to crank so get the jumper wires out . jump starter to see if starter goes better jumped . pump the lift pump bleed for air ,if you think fuel, will it start with some spray? power the solenoid with a jumper . too many things to list and how much work and cash you got to invest . simple oil change may get it to crank better .. machine hrs? get some pics and machine details and history for better forum help . i saved lots of knuckle skin with advice here . i found a few open plugs underneath for extras that didn't come with my machine . very basic wiring lights gauges and sensors/warning indcators /buzzers / get a ebay cd/manual a must you got relays in that machine too . do you have the fusebox cover diagram . do you have a canopy for a/c - heater blower flood lights i/e missing fuse may go for those items troll the forum for issues allready posted and resolved are you ready for your new pet project i threw my hands up in the air at first but i got things repaired one at a time and i got a sweet machine cleared the dead wood made a small pond . leveled out the property . and stayed off the couch good luck fuses and relays i have 4 open
Take a look at Bobbyblades photo. See the large relay just left and down from the fuse panel, they were very bad for corroding. All those red wires send power throughout the machine. One bad connection and you have no power to that circuit or possibly several circuits. Also check the ground strap from the battery to the frame. I mean literally remove the bolt from the cable at the frame. I have seen them almost sheered right through but holding together with rust. A bad battery ground can cause a starter to seem bad. If you really want to test starter put a booster cable on the negative terminal on the battery and click it direct to the ground strap on starter then jumper solenoid live from the battery ( bucket on ground, machine in neutral park brake applied) . The fuse panels also were bad on these machines. Best to remove the side dash cover and the seat. Remove the fuse panels and check the wires in behind. As far as running the unit just put a jumper wire from the battery to the fuel solenoid. I have seen some pretty bad wiring on these units, take your time and with minimal cost you should get it going.
Hey gggraham, glad to see you back!
Some early Ks had a fuse block down below the starter, see if yours does and if so check them.
I looked into a new harness for mine. The price was staggering! I decided I could run a bunch of new wires to resolve numerous electrical issues. Thus far all have boiled down to corrosion.
check the voltage at the battery and then compare it to the voltage at the starter. If there is a significant drop in voltage at the starter most likely a bad connection. As stated above my ground strap off the battery was very corroded. I cleaned it up with sandpaper and added some dielectric grease, solved my problem
My 580k was also sluggish to turn over so got a decent battery no change, got the starter motor checked out, nothing wrong with it. A cluey bloke down the road welded a 2 inch weld from the step to the frame and wow talk about chalk and cheese it has never spun over so easily or started better since I've owned it. Gotta have a decent earth on the K model, Cheers.
That goes for all older machines. With gas tractors I hear complaints often about 6 volt systems. Perhaps 12 volt does give the advantage in very cold weather starts. 6 volt works until it is very cold. Resistance is ten times bigger problem at 12 volts that it is at 120. Resistance affects 6 volt systems many times worse at 6 volts than 12. Often people replace cables with ones that are too small. Cables with crimped on terminals will oxidize under the crimp and offer resistance. Systems depending on the iron to conduct ground to the starter will suffer resistance where metal bolts together as oxides build up. Gasketed mating surfaces are notoriously bad conductors. When starter function is sluggish having someone operate the starter while using a voltmeter across each interface of two conductors can be informative. With starters, as with other electric motors low voltage means more internal heat. A strong magnetic field offers magnetic impedance to the flow of current, limiting amperage. Weak magnetic field caused by voltage loss at bad connection, small cable, or weak battery, causes the ratio of resistance, (think toaster wire), to magnetic load to change. Keep good power to it, your starter will last longer.