Hour Meter

[Razorhawg]

The hour meter on my ZG127 does not work. I replaced the hour meter, but it still shows zero. Connections appear good. What is my next thing to check?

 

[Daren Todd]

Verify that it's got voltage at the terminals. Might be a blown fuse

 

[Razorhawg]

All fuses are good, and connections appear OK. It worked briefly, then zeroed out. It then recorded 1.5 hours day the other day and stopped. Still has that on the meter.

 

[flynavy]

You say "connections appear good", BUT did you use a VOM? Just because the fuse is good doesn't mean that the power is getting to the connector. After you've checked the connector for voltage and verified that you do in fact have voltage, then either the new hour meter is defective internally OR and I say OR because the wire from the hour meter to the connector could also be defective internally (under the insulation)however this is a very slight chance.
When going thru electronics school we use to mess with other guys by continually bending a wire w/o breaking the insulation, until the physical wire would break......drive people craaaazzzy while still leaving the insulation in tact
Just a thought

 

[85Hokie]

All fuses are good, and connections appear OK. It worked briefly, then zeroed out. It then recorded 1.5 hours day the other day and stopped. Still has that on the meter.

I am with flynavy, all things seem good, until they are not! Take the VOM with a pair of alligator clips and hook it up and leave it as you run the tractor, see if it will stay with a constant voltage. Maybe the internals of the meter are bad.

 

[Daren Todd]

I'm with the other guys. Usually those wiring harnesses are farmed out to the lowest bidder i've had bad crimps on quick connectors, wiring harnesses on brand new equipment missing wires coming from the control panel to the first quick connects. My bet is a bad or loose crimp in there somewhere. If it uses spade terminals to hook to the hour meter, if they feel loose, removing the female spade and a gentle squeeze to tighten the spade and reinstall might be all it needs

 

[Daren Todd]

One other thing to check is the terminals in any quick connects heading torwards your hour meter. The spade or pin terminals depending on the style have a locking pin the holds them into the connector. Sometimes you'll find one that isn't locked in or the locking pin is broke. and will back out when the connector is pressed together. Pulling the quick connect apart and a quick look will tell you if you have an issue. If one of the pins/spade sits back further then the others, then thats likely your culprit you can lock it back in with a pair of needle nose plyers or if the locks broke, then you may need to hold the wire on the back side of the connector when hooking it back up

 

[Razorhawg]

I finally got time to run the path from the meter both directions. It has connection thru the last connector to the engine from one side of the hour meter, and thru all the connectors, fuse and key switch on the other side. I also, checked the key switch and it puts voltage to the hour meter. But, still not working. I plugged it in the same as the original one, I am now wondering if it could have been reversed from the factory (if that makes a difference). My leads are blue/white to the engine, and brown to the fuse block (12v). The meter does not show anything related to polarity.

 

[Razorhawg]

I appreciate all the input, some very valid points. I am leaning towards a second faulty meter. I do not have a wiring schematic, but I think I hit all the right paths. They will probably not hand me the third meter to try, so I will live with it until I have time to load it up and haul to the dealer.