I am a new backhoe owner. I purchased a used JD 310C this summer. Ever since I have had it, it has been very hard to crank. When I purchased it, it had only one 12 volt battery and I have since added another battery. It still does not want to crank unless I jump it off with my truck and the two batteries, and even then it is slow to turn over. Could the starter be too small? My batteries are not old and will hold a good charge. Even when charged overnight and very hot, they will not crank this backhoe. The engine is very slow to turn over and the wires going to the starter get really worm. Once it has been cranked it cranks pretty good the rest of the day. First think in the morning even starting fluid does not help because the engine does not turn over fast enough. ANY help you could provide with this matter is GREATLY appreciated. Kobb4295
sounds like you have a bad connection or bad ground do the batt cables get real hot while trying to start it
If the cables get uniformly warm, then I'm guessing the starter is on it's last legs, drawing too much current and not putting out enough power to spin the engine over as fast as it should. Many auto parts places can test starters, but if it's the original starter, I'd take it to a local rebuilder because the original starter is much better quality than most of the junk on the market. Check if the ends get hotter than the middle of the cables. Another possibility is too much load on the engine/starter, causing the starter to draw more current. How does the rest of the machine work? How does it crank when the oil is all warmed up,does it crank faster or does the engine just start faster? Have you changed all the oils, and did you check the filters for junk? Can you rock the crankshaft back and forth easily with the fan and belt? For the record, one battery will start my 610c down to zero, and colder if I bring the battery inside.
Try pulling back on the loader control valve while cranking the engine. That will take some of the load off of the hydraulic pump. Some John Deere T/L/Bs have a destroke valve that can malfunction and cause the hydraulic pump to make them crank slow when trying to start the motor.
Yes the cables will get really hot if I just keep trying to crank it. I have learned to try in short burst so to speak. I have cleaned the ground and got it really tight. The ground cable is short and connects to the battery box which is welded to the frame.
I have tried that. In fact, it will raise and/or lower the outriggers while slowly turning over. I cant tell that helps turn the engine any faster.
I was told when I bought it that they had put a new starter on because it was so hard to crank... go figure! The rest of the machine works very well. After it has run for just a few minutes it cranks good the rest of the day. It just seems to have too much load on the starter when first cranking it. You would think the hyd pump would have a solenoid controlled by pass for cranking but I haven't been able to locate one.
I have the same machine and had the same problem. Open the outside hatch door where the loader valve sits, look inside there, an unusual size red wire runs through inside there, mine was hanging in there by it self and went through the metal panel from under the dash board on its own hole with its own rubber plug, so the metal panel it goes through won't cut it, it looks to run from under the dash through that loader compartment over into the wire harness and most likely goes to the starter system some how, not sure through a relay or the starter it self because I never found that wire in the schematic. It's an odd type of sleeve connection that joins this wire inside the loader compartment, at first it didn't look like a connection because I never seen one like it before. You can pull it apart at the connection with out having to flip a tab, or anything like that, its a type of connection thats sleeved on one end and a rod like plug that goes into the sleeve, like a small round aluminum sleeve, what I found was the connection between the two had that white corrosion you find on aluminum, once I cleaned that the machine turned over perfectly every time, what a huge difference for a good long while it always cranked over and started. Now there might be a problem with the starter or the reverser safety switch, either in the starter with a dead spot, or the reverser safety switch is on its way out. Its no where as bad as before, once out of every 50 times I crank it over there is a dead spot where it won't crank over. but its not an issue for me, all I do it to keep turning the key switch on and off fast about 5 or 6 times and it cranks over. So I'll let that problem get worse before I diagnose it. Originally it took me a long time to find that wire corrosion causing the problem, when I had the dash panel unscrewed and would lift it up and down with the wires still attached to the dash panel, and while moving it up and down it would crank over intermittently (while holding the key in the crank position). So I really figured thats where the problem was. But of course there are hundreds of wires running under the dash that can point to so many things being wrong in there, but thats not where the problem was, like I mentioned it was next door inside the loader valve compartment, its just that tugging at the wires under the dash was enough to move that wire inside the loader valve compartment just enough to trigger the poor connection. Let me know if you find that particular red wire, I believe it will be red for you too... Joe
The truth comes out, so to speak. Do you mean it will raise them slowly without touching the valves? or are you using the outrigger valves as relief? if so use something else that doesn't have load on it. This 310 is an open center gear pump system, there is no "destroke" like the 410. If the outriggers raise on their own, that's the first problem to fix, the starter might still be dying from overwork.
I replaced the cables and wire wheeled the connections to good bare metal on my 401-c. Solved a problem it had for almost 15 years. If your dual batteries have good charge it should spin fast. My machine still needs the steering wheel turned back and forth at times to relieve pressure on the pump.
It only raises or lowers the outriggers if I push or pull the leaver while cranking or trying to crank. I was just trying to reduce the pressure build up in the hydraulic system.
Check the voltage at your battery and make note of the reading. Then check it at the big wire right on your starter while having someone engage the starter. The voltages should be pretty close. If they are not and the voltage at your starter is alot lower you have wiring issue (i.e. loose/bad connection, corroded wire something along those lines)
You have an open center system, should be no pressure until you use a valve, and the outriggers have "checks" on them, that I think need pressure up and pressure down, so either leave the valves alone or use a different function to test. It sounds like this has been an ongoing issue for the tractor, it might not be a bad idea to hook up a pressure gauge to see if there is any hydraulic pressure while cranking and running. Also, a few minutes with a multimeter will answer a lot of questions on the cables etc.
If your hydraulics are working during cranking the destroke solenoid is not working.
There is another ground strap , on left side of engine block , just below muffler area , and on inside of frame. Just bought a 310C, & they were having similar problems, I haven't yet.
You just gave me an idea to check mine, thanks for posting...
I had an 83 310A. It had the big long factory style battery. When it went I installed a very large capacity car battery. Worked perfect for four or five years and never had cold start issues. You may have bad connections or a bad starter.