Can't find a good fuel shutoff solenoid for L3400 that actually works.

[Wag87]

So i have 3 L3400s and i have been having a heck of a time with these fuel shut off solenoids over the years.

Not one issue with my 5060, but every one of my 3400 solenoids have died at some point, it's part number 1A021-60017 that it calls for and i've tried Kubota's solenoid (lasted about a year, $190 at the time) and tried many others from lasting about 2 years to being bad right out of the box.

Just ordered the top rated one from Amazon and it was bad right out of the box, ordered one from complete tractor (it died within 6 months) got one from my local tractor store, it lasted about 1 year 4 months before it died, and cost more than the OEM one.

Has anyone here had any lock with any of these part numbered ones 1A021-60010, 1A021-60013, 1A021-60015, 1A021-60017

Only thing i've been able to figure out is i've modified one solenoid by cutting the plastic cover off, welding 2 pieces of metal on both sides, using another rod from another solenoid, cutting it down to the right size to push the other one in and hold it with a piece of metal welded to the other pieces so i can just flip it up to cut the fuel pressure off, just have to keep opening the hood to start and cut it off each time.

There's gotta be a better way.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

when you say 'it died' .. how so ?
I had a quick google and it looks like an 'electromagnet' with a rod... apply power and the rod moves ??
Does it require 12 volts to stop the fuel or 12 to keep engine running ?
If the coil doesn't show some resistance(say it's 'open' ) then it's an electrical failure. There are possible cures to that. just need to know more about it.

 

[Hugo Habicht]

The stop solenoid you have stops the fuel supply when the voltage is off. It has two coils, one with very low resistance of 0.375 Ω for pulling in the plunger and a second one with 15.6 Ω to hold the plunger while running.

The low resistance coil is disconnected by an internal contact when the plunger is pulled in (engine running). A fault in this disconnect contact would burn the winding, but then the 30A fuse would blow, I would think. Did that happen?

Another reason could be the holding coil dissipating too much power, for example when your alternator voltage is too high. Have you measured the battery voltage while the engine is running?

And yes, the question from GreensVilleJay: what happens when the solenoid dies? Did you measure the resistance of the two coils? Is it possible that there is a problem with the connector contact and at some stage the pulling in coil does not get enough current and the engine does not start?

Is it possible that the mechanism connected to the plunger is not running freely, so that it takes a while for it to engage and the pulling in coil gets too hot and evetually burns out? Or some of them cannot pull in the plunger at all and hence the 30A fuse blows?

Questions over questions, but remote diagnostics is difficult enough, so please answer them all best to your knowledge.

I believe that problem lies somewhere with your tractor and not with the type of solenoid. It is used in thousands of tractors and works reliably there (ok, there may be the very odd failure, but a single engine eating solenoids by the dozen as in your case is not common, I believe).

p.s.: I just read you have 3 L3400, is that correct? And how do the failures distribute over the 3 machines?

 

[Wag87]

For those staying on point with the question, i actually found some of the "same looking" OEM ones on Ebey for $35 with no stickers on them. Not sure how long they'll last but got 2 and both are working for now (unlike the 2 i got off Amazon that didn't right out the box)

Hoping these make it at least a year. If anyone has one that's made it longer, let me know.

Thanks.

 

[JasonW]

For those staying on point with the question, i actually found some of the "same looking" OEM ones on Ebey for $35 with no stickers on them. Not sure how long they'll last but got 2 and both are working for now (unlike the 2 i got off Amazon that didn't right out the box)

Hoping these make it at least a year. If anyone has one that's made it longer, let me know.

Thanks.

So you made a post about an issue, had people reply to help troubleshoot, but just skim over the questions and say you just bought more parts from eBay. Got it.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

So i have 3 L3400s and i have been having a heck of a time with these fuel shut off solenoids over the years.

Not one issue with my 5060, but every one of my 3400 solenoids have died at some point, it's part number 1A021-60017 that it calls for and i've tried Kubota's solenoid (lasted about a year, $190 at the time) and tried many others from lasting about 2 years to being bad right out of the box.

Just ordered the top rated one from Amazon and it was bad right out of the box, ordered one from complete tractor (it died within 6 months) got one from my local tractor store, it lasted about 1 year 4 months before it died, and cost more than the OEM one.

Has anyone here had any lock with any of these part numbered ones 1A021-60010, 1A021-60013, 1A021-60015, 1A021-60017

Only thing i've been able to figure out is i've modified one solenoid by cutting the plastic cover off, welding 2 pieces of metal on both sides, using another rod from another solenoid, cutting it down to the right size to push the other one in and hold it with a piece of metal welded to the other pieces so i can just flip it up to cut the fuel pressure off, just have to keep opening the hood to start and cut it off each time.

There's gotta be a better way.

You could try a sort of operational check. Jump from 12 volts to each connection separately on the solenoid. When you energize one, the hold coil, nothing should happen, since it won't have enough force to pull in. When you energize the other, pull-in coil, it should buzz as it pulls in then de-energizes. If it clicks and stays energized, something is preventing it traveling and turning off. This would result in over heating that coil. Don't energize the coils for more than a few seconds during this test.

 

[Wag87]

So you made a post about an issue, had people reply to help troubleshoot, but just skim over the questions and say you just bought more parts from eBay. Got it.

First off, didn't ask for trouble shooting this time, asked if anyone has had any luck with ones lasting longer than just a few years (we covered this on the first post diaging and corrosion issues and about some of the OEM Kubota ones not making it any longer than aftermarket) why i've taken some of the broken ones apart and made a few of them work manually.

First post is about a google search........................ ok, great.

Second post is very well laid out and very informative (Thank you Hugo Habicht) but we've already been through this. All the ones that stopped working were either "short to ground" or corroded inside.

Never gotten anything from Ebay before, but after all were failing (even the OEM ones) i started going outside the norm to find anything better. (i even took the OEM good one i still have off the one tractor, and put it on another for 4 years, and it still works fine, but another one installed failed after 2 years, so this eliminated anything with the other tractors and that it's just pour quality parts)

Was asking if anyone had bought one from somewhere and what luck they have had. I see now that was a bit much to ask.