Insert key, turn on, put shuttle in neutral, wait for glo plug click signal, turn key to start = nothing, no noise, no start most of the time. Occasionally starts as normal. What say ye, brain trust? Thanks.
L3830GST with 540 hours and a one year old battery has been refusing to start.
- Thread starter tracecom
- Start date
Besides saying your machine has the GST transmission advise if it is open station of cab model. as the wiring is a bit different
Any messages appearing on the Intellipanel when this happens?
Any chance you are still under warranty?
The simple things you can do involve moving any lever, pto, transmission, seat switch while holding key in the start position hoping tthat any mal adjusted switch will be moved into a position where starting is possible.
This is the WSM troubleshoot section for a no crank situation.
Your tractor's systems are complicated and interleaved. It is not a simple clutch pedal switch any longer.
Unless you have a lot of patience after you try the lever wiggling suggested, a dealer may prove to be the fast way to get a solution.
To prove the viability of the basic start system, i.e. battery, starter, you can jump the starter.
This procedure is dangerous and extreme care needs to be taken or you could end up being run over or with a run-a-way tractor.
It is best to have someone on the tractor seat with foot firmly on the brake.
You remove the small wire from the starter solenoid. then using a screwdriver or short piece of wire you touch the battery cable terminal on the starter to the small terminal on the solenoid. There may be a small spark. The engine should crank instantly.
If it does crank then you know the problems lie in the circuit feeding power to the small solenoid terminal when the key is turned to START.
Dave
My guess, it's a Safety switch, I don't know your tractor so I don't know which switch. Hold the key in the "On" position and wiggle your butt in the seat (shifting weight front and back, side to side), wiggle the shifter to find "neutral". PTO safety, wiggle it... just keep the key in "start" position until you find the one out of adjustment.
Could be bad battery but, first I would try jumping it and see if that made any difference. Even if it did does not mean the battery is bad. If jumping it cranks fine then remove battery cables and clean the inside of the clamps and the post.
If jumping does not solve it I still would clean the clamps and cables and also the other end of the battery cables. It could be a safety switch issue, bad connection on the switch, loose connection in a switch, out of adjustment. Check to be sure the starter is not loose. Hold the key in the start position and wiggle each switch or lever that engages the switch.
If jumping does not solve it I still would clean the clamps and cables and also the other end of the battery cables. It could be a safety switch issue, bad connection on the switch, loose connection in a switch, out of adjustment. Check to be sure the starter is not loose. Hold the key in the start position and wiggle each switch or lever that engages the switch.
Thanks for all the responses. My tractor is about a 2006 model, so it doesn't have all the safety switches...no seat switch, no clutch switch, no PTO switch...I don't know what other safety switches it might have. It is not a model with a cab. I suppose I should take the battery off an have it checked; it's a DuraLast, which is not much good, but I think it may have some warranty left. Theoretically, it could be low voltage, i.e., right on the cusp of not providing enough current to operate the starter solenoid, which I don't even know whether my tractor has a solenoid switch for the starter. Too late tonight...tomorrow is another day.
North Idaho Wolfman
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Even a 2006 model will have Safety switches for the shuttle lever, and the PTO.
+1 on that. Even my 2002 has safety switches, thank the Lord it's not a T4 engine. I can deal with everything else thank you.
I think your battery is shot. I'll stick with that. I wouldn't put a Duracrap in anything. Get yourself a real battery, an Interstate and BTW, Interstate makes Kubota batteries.
old and tired, I was typing when you posted. Did not mean to duplicate your recommendations.
As to safety switches, I have a Kubota bought in 2000 and another bought used 2005 and both have several safety switches. Neither have seat switch but pto, clutch or in gear switch. One has dual ptos and switch on each.
As to safety switches, I have a Kubota bought in 2000 and another bought used 2005 and both have several safety switches. Neither have seat switch but pto, clutch or in gear switch. One has dual ptos and switch on each.
Thanks again. As to safety switches, mine has a shuttle switch and PTO. I have often started the tractor while standing on the ground, so I believe it does not have a seat switch or clutch switch. Frankly, I hope it is the battery; I can fix that without a haul to a Kubota dealer.
Before you throw away the battery, clean the battery posts and the terminals well with a good wire brush, apply dielectric grease, and re-install. Spend a couple of bucks and buy a battery post cleaner with the bottle brush attachment, it will save you a lot of grief in the future.
I replaced my 9 year old ZTR battery last year and this spring it suddenly started doing what yours did. I cleaned up the posts and terminals and it's like brand new again. A little corrosion acts like a big resistor in your circuit.
This morning, I tried the tractor and it started just fine. But I was still suspicious of the battery, so I took it off, went to Autozone where it checked "bad" on their tester. After confirming my original purchase, they exchanged it, and I left with a brand new battery. Put it on the tractor and it started right up. I suppose the battery voltage was sagging below the figure needed to operate the starter solenoid, hence a totally silent failure. Of course I still have a cheap Duralast battery, but it's new.
Thanks to each of you for your input.
Thanks to each of you for your input.
tracecom, glad it was simple. I had a pickup drove seldom, mostly on Saturday and not every one. Went to it one Saturday and battery was dead. Jumped it and drove it a fair amount that day and cutting it off a few times and it did great. The next Saturday it was dead again. So took it to part store and their tested so bad battery and bought new battery and installed it. The next Saturday the new battery was dead. Took it to the parts store and the same tester showed it to be a bad battery also. So the replaced the two week old battery (Interstate by the way) saying it happens. The next Saturday same thing. Then I said to owner of the store no way three batteries in a row are bad. They have a garage and said bring your pickup to us. It was there for most of a week before the issue was found. The long story on finding the issue turned out to be the disk eject of my radio was kept trying to eject a CD that was not in there over and over running the battery down. Sold the pickup with no working radio two years later. Just saying...
No testing, no measurements, just "no start = bad battery." /smh/
No.
It could be a hundred different things, and the fact that sometimes it starts normally suggests that it's mostly likely a connection problem. That could be in any one of the connectors, it could be in the switch, it could be in one of the safety switches.
It could also be a combination of poor connections AND a marginal battery.
those tractors had a piss poor battery ground cable, aka earth cord
if you remove the battery from the tractor and follow the earth cord down to where it's bolted to the frame you'll likely find lots and lots of rust/corrosion. In my opinion, I find it more productive to just remove the original earth cord and throw it into the next county, then make/buy a new/better one and run it down to the side of the frame somewhere and bolt it to a nice cleaned surface. Once bolted, do a voltage drop test between the earth terminal on the battery and the tractor's engine block somewhere, you want to see less than 0.5v drop ideally (the closer to zero the better) WHILE SOMEONE"S CRANKING THE ENGINE (you have to do a drop test under load). I just tie the fuel stop lever to "stop" and then have a coworker crank it while I'm watching the test meter results. If it's all ok, toss a coat of paint onto your new earth cord's connection at the frame and call it a day.
You can do the same with the positive cable, aka plus cord (drop test). That one isn't usually the issue, however I've seen plenty of them actually break the little connection at the battery, where the plus cord turns into 2 wires. That will cause problems too and there's not an easy/good fix for that, other than replacing the plus cord and sometimes the wiring harness since kubota don't offer the connector.
plus cord and earth cord are kubota's technical terminology. Jinglish language.
if you remove the battery from the tractor and follow the earth cord down to where it's bolted to the frame you'll likely find lots and lots of rust/corrosion. In my opinion, I find it more productive to just remove the original earth cord and throw it into the next county, then make/buy a new/better one and run it down to the side of the frame somewhere and bolt it to a nice cleaned surface. Once bolted, do a voltage drop test between the earth terminal on the battery and the tractor's engine block somewhere, you want to see less than 0.5v drop ideally (the closer to zero the better) WHILE SOMEONE"S CRANKING THE ENGINE (you have to do a drop test under load). I just tie the fuel stop lever to "stop" and then have a coworker crank it while I'm watching the test meter results. If it's all ok, toss a coat of paint onto your new earth cord's connection at the frame and call it a day.
You can do the same with the positive cable, aka plus cord (drop test). That one isn't usually the issue, however I've seen plenty of them actually break the little connection at the battery, where the plus cord turns into 2 wires. That will cause problems too and there's not an easy/good fix for that, other than replacing the plus cord and sometimes the wiring harness since kubota don't offer the connector.
plus cord and earth cord are kubota's technical terminology. Jinglish language.
Better to give it a good slop of dielectric grease before bolting the connection together, and afterward. It's better protection, it can be easily renewed, and it doesn't hide what's going on there like paint does.
BestBoatWire.com does great work on making cables. Choose your length, color, gauge, connector, and you'll have a marine-grade cable delivered in a few days. I have used them a lot, and the quality has always been excellent. I get the clear heat-shrink on the connectors so I can keep an eye on things. Use military terminals on the battery posts and you have an excellent setup.
British influence, likely.