2004 Grand L5030 will not start

[Jayhawk238]

I went to start my tractor one morning to start blowing snow, however, when I turned the key nothing happened. No clicks, grunts no nothing. I checked the battery and it was fully charged. I checked to make sure both cables were tight on both ends of them. Even though the battery had a full charge I tried jumping it anyway. Some of the dash lights would come on with turning the key. I have a friend who is a very good diesel mechanic , he owns a business that works on semi engines, he came over and checked numerous things but could not pin point the cause. He left with my shop manual to do some research. He call a couple of hours later and said he found a way to get the tractor running. What we ended up doing was to cut off a small amount of the pin in the fuel solenoid and hot wired the starter. So now to start the tractor I touch a wire from the starter to a nearby bolt. To shut the off tractor there is a wire to the manual shutoff lever on the fuel solenoid I pull on.

Does anyone have to come any ideas what might be the main cause of the tractor not starting?

The closest Kubota shop is over 100 miles away and with no trailer to haul the tractor and having to pay the dealership to pick it up plus with shop rates at over $155.00 an hour fixing the tractor myself is what I really want to do. Any help would be so much more than just appreciated.

 

[Russell King]

Ok it sounds like you have some electrical issues to deal with. Since you can hot wire it, the starter and solenoid are good. Explain how it is wired to touch a ground to start the tractor, that’s a new one for me and I don’t want to think too hard about it!

I would start with having the battery load tested to be 100% sure it is good. Don just assume it is even though it sounds good. Take it to an auto parts store for a load test. Or you can hook up a voltage meter to it and see what the voltage does during cranking and during running the engine up to higher RPMs. Then clean the connectors and the connection points for all four points of the battery cables. Check your main power fuse to be sure it is not corroded or partially damaged.

Get a large notebook and write down what you do and what the results are so you will know several days from now what you have already done. We might ask you to do it again or in a different way.

Then start looking at the power from the battery to the key switch. Is there a good 12 volts at the key switch when you try to crank the engine with the key switch?

Then you can see if you get 12 volts to the starter solenoid wire (small wire with a spade terminal) when you try to crank engine with the key. I don’t think you will.

Then research all the safety switches on your tractor and how they operate. You may be able to test them or clean them or adjust them.

But first you need to read the work shop manual and study the wiring diagram to see how the power flows to the starter. Your friend may be doing this for you and can give you better guidance than this site but we will try.

 

[Jayhawk238]

Ok it sounds like you have some electrical issues to deal with. Since you can hot wire it, the starter and solenoid are good. Explain how it is wired to touch a ground to start the tractor, that’s a new one for me and I don’t want to think too hard about it!

I would start with having the battery load tested to be 100% sure it is good. Don just assume it is even though it sounds good. Take it to an auto parts store for a load test. Or you can hook up a voltage meter to it and see what the voltage does during cranking and during running the engine up to higher RPMs. Then clean the connectors and the connection points for all four points of the battery cables. Check your main power fuse to be sure it is not corroded or partially damaged.

Get a large notebook and write down what you do and what the results are so you will know several days from now what you have already done. We might ask you to do it again or in a different way.

Then start looking at the power from the battery to the key switch. Is there a good 12 volts at the key switch when you try to crank the engine with the key switch?

Then you can see if you get 12 volts to the starter solenoid wire (small wire with a spade terminal) when you try to crank engine with the key. I don’t think you will.

Then research all the safety switches on your tractor and how they operate. You may be able to test them or clean them or adjust them.

But first you need to read the work shop manual and study the wiring diagram to see how the power flows to the starter. Your friend may be doing this for you and can give you better guidance than this site but we will try.

Thanks Russell. I will start working through your list in the morning. Hopefully I'll find the problem sooner than later!!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Most likely you have a fuse or switch issue.

Do you have a test light?
If you do, check for power on each of these fuse outputs.

 

[Jayhawk238]

Thanks, Wolfman, Will start doing that today along with the other suggestions I've received. Be nice to find out the problem is a simple fix.

 

[Jayhawk238]

Ok it sounds like you have some electrical issues to deal with. Since you can hot wire it, the starter and solenoid are good. Explain how it is wired to touch a ground to start the tractor, that’s a new one for me and I don’t want to think too hard about it!

I would start with having the battery load tested to be 100% sure it is good. Don just assume it is even though it sounds good. Take it to an auto parts store for a load test. Or you can hook up a voltage meter to it and see what the voltage does during cranking and during running the engine up to higher RPMs. Then clean the connectors and the connection points for all four points of the battery cables. Check your main power fuse to be sure it is not corroded or partially damaged.

Get a large notebook and write down what you do and what the results are so y``ou will know several days from now what you have already done. We might ask you to do it again or in a different way.

Then start looking at the power from the battery to the key switch. Is there a good 12 volts at the key switch when you try to crank the engine with the key switch?

Then you can see if you get 12 volts to the starter solenoid wire (small wire with a spade terminal) when you try to crank engine with the key. I don’t think you will.

Then research all the safety switches on your tractor and how they operate. You may be able to test them or clean them or adjust them.

But first you need to read the work shop manual and study the wiring diagram to see how the power flows to the starter. Your friend may be doing this for you and can give you better guidance than this site but we will try.

Here is a picture of the hot wire setup. The red wire is plugged-in where the wire from start switch goes. The arrow shows the bolt head I use to engage the starter.
Also, please note I had a bad fall a short time ago and broke 5 ribs in my back. So standing and even walking I can only do for a short time. Bending and twisting is also limited. Due to that I can only work on the tractor for a limited time but I will work through your suggestions. If you don't hear from me for a few days that is the reason.