Deere 3038e won't start, just a click, but not the good click.

[ericstac]

I parked my deere after a mow and a few days later went to crank her up and nothing and I cannot figure out what the issue is. ullinghair:
PTO button is down, in Neutral, and parking brake up, and sitting on seat..
instrument panel only has the lower right icon lit up.. which is the engine oil pressure light i believe..
Total hours is maybe 120 hours... 2008/9 model.

When you turn the key on you hear the fuel pump clicking like normal.. but you never hear the click noise that lets you know it is ready to crank..
when you crank you get one little click from the relays in the fuse box...
When I try cranking with the headlights on the headlights do not dim.

I tried jumping the seat button because I'm not hearing the click that lets me know its okay to crank so i was thinking it was the seat button.. but that didn't help.

I swapped relays in fuse box thinking it was one of those but everything acted the same.
I checked fuses all were good, the two that dealt with starting looked good and were functioning right.

swapped battery with my car battery and same results.

tried jumping from a running car and same stuff.

tried putting in gear and turning the key for 30 seconds then going back to neutral (read on another thread) and still same issue.

banged on the starter lol, nothing..

Two things I've just noticed while typing this:

1. I was searching the forum and ended up on a post from me about a batter for this tractor back in Aug 2014.. so thats when I bought this battery lol..

2. Maybe there should be more lights on the cluster when the key is turned on?

 

[Wagtail]

Have you ensured that it is actually in the neutral position?

I ask because my 4105 has a tendency to look & feel like it is but there's a wee difference being in neutral and almost being in neutral.

(I hope that that makes sense)

 

[ericstac]

Have you ensured that it is actually in the neutral position?

I ask because my 4105 has a tendency to look & feel like it is but there's a wee difference being in neutral and almost being in neutral.

(I hope that that makes sense)

yes that makes sense and yes I tried all sorts of positions..

L, N, H

moving from H to N
moving L to N
moving H to L real fast then back to N, and vise versa.. thinking maybe it was just being stingy lol

 

[atsah]

Did you move the gear selector and the other handles that have safety switches while turning the key to see if something would happen?

 

[ericstac]

I went out this morning and while trying to start I went through the gears and messed with the PTO button and seat button and it did nothing other than click for the fuel pump.

 

[searcyfarms]

the click you are normally hearing is possibly the preheater/glow plug relay not sure if they run regardless on the 3038E but they did on my 2210 - it was a timed heat cycle it seemed - its possibly that relay is bad and it controls something else in the line of electricity to the switch/start relay - have you tried leaving the key on and can u jump across the starter to see if it crank and will run, that will tell u if its getting power to everything else and just not the starter relay/switch portion

 

[ericstac]

the click you are normally hearing is possibly the preheater/glow plug relay not sure if they run regardless on the 3038E but they did on my 2210 - it was a timed heat cycle it seemed - its possibly that relay is bad and it controls something else in the line of electricity to the switch/start relay - have you tried leaving the key on and can u jump across the starter to see if it crank and will run, that will tell u if its getting power to everything else and just not the starter relay/switch portion

I was thinking relay as well, there are three relays and I swapped all three around to see if one would stand out as bad but nothing changed.

K1. Fuel Solenoid Relay
K2. Starter Relay
K3. Glow Plug Relay

I also thought about jumping the starter but when I looked there was only one cable and I'm used to seeing two terminals and hitting it with a large screwdriver.. not really sure how to do it here.?

 

[ericstac]

Here is the starter on my deere 3038e

 

[super55]

Try running a jumper between the two leads on your neutral safety switch. It should be a shielded loom on the left side under the floorboards that goes to a sensor on the transmission. On the schematic it is #22. Part # RE12363

My 4310 had similar issues and I just pulled the two wires out of the loom and then pierce the insulation with a test light and jumped it with a paperclip just to see if it would work and it solved my issue but mine is power reverser. The sensor on mine is really buried under the floorboards to the point where I could barely see it.

 

[radios1]

Here is the starter on my deere 3038e

View attachment 574206

pull that red cover back, there's more than one wire in there, try jumping the small red wire to the battery + and see if it cranks.. it could be that the black wire needs to be grounded though, depending on the safety switch arrangement..

 

[ericstac]

Try running a jumper between the two leads on your neutral safety switch. It should be a shielded loom on the left side under the floorboards that goes to a sensor on the transmission. On the schematic it is #22. Part # RE12363

My 4310 had similar issues and I just pulled the two wires out of the loom and then pierce the insulation with a test light and jumped it with a paperclip just to see if it would work and it solved my issue but mine is power reverser. The sensor on mine is really buried under the floorboards to the point where I could barely see it.

View attachment 574207

awesome man I've been looking for that! I found the sensor, pulled it and jumped it and unfortunately no change...

 

[ericstac]

pull that red cover back, there's more than one wire in there, try jumping the small red wire to the battery + and see if it cranks.. it could be that the black wire needs to be grounded though, depending on the safety switch arrangement..

ok so I pulled the red cover and the big wire (that comes straight from the battery along with the red and the discolored black wire all attach to the same terminal. I went ahead and did what you said and ran a jumper from the positive terminal on the battery to this terminal but it didn't do anything.

 

[super55]

Does your tractor dash typically have more lights blink on startup besides only the oil light? Typically all the lights will do a self test. Couple other things to look for is to check the ground wire on the battery where it bonds to the frame. Sometimes corrosion will make a poor ground and the accessories will work but won't be able to draw the amperage to crank the starter.

It might be time to start running a test light or a voltmeter with the key in the run position and making sure you are getting voltage at all your safety switches such as the seat, PTO, etc.

If all those test out then move to the starter solenoid, When you hold the key in the start position the wire should show voltage. If it doesn't then it is most likely your ignition switch. If it does show voltage then it's either bad ground, bad battery or bad starter solenoid.

I am going to jump the gun here and say it's either a bad/corroded ignition switch or a bad ground. My Z-turn mower I have I had similar issues with no start no reason and it ended up being a similar style ignition switch.

 

[ericstac]

Does your tractor dash typically have more lights blink on startup besides only the oil light? Typically all the lights will do a self test. Couple other things to look for is to check the ground wire on the battery where it bonds to the frame. Sometimes corrosion will make a poor ground and the accessories will work but won't be able to draw the amperage to crank the starter.

It might be time to start running a test light or a voltmeter with the key in the run position and making sure you are getting voltage at all your safety switches such as the seat, PTO, etc.

If all those test out then move to the starter solenoid, When you hold the key in the start position the wire should show voltage. If it doesn't then it is most likely your ignition switch. If it does show voltage then it's either bad ground, bad battery or bad starter solenoid.

I am going to jump the gun here and say it's either a bad/corroded ignition switch or a bad ground. My Z-turn mower I have I had similar issues with no start no reason and it ended up being a similar style ignition switch.

I feel like there are more lights that come up but at this point I cannot be certain unless other 3038 owners can verify for me lol. I've tried watching YT videos of people with 3038s but no one shows the cluster while starting.

I don't have a test light or voltmeter so im going to have to rig something up for that and check what you mentioned.

 

[super55]

I feel like there are more lights that come up but at this point I cannot be certain unless other 3038 owners can verify for me lol. I've tried watching YT videos of people with 3038s but no one shows the cluster while starting.

I don't have a test light or voltmeter so im going to have to rig something up for that and check what you mentioned.

Without a simple 12v test light or low grade multimeter you are swinging in the dark my friend. That kind of limits you to blind guessing on what the problem is. You really need these two items if you are going to troubleshoot circuitry.

 

[ericstac]

Without a simple 12v test light or low grade multimeter you are swinging in the dark my friend. That kind of limits you to blind guessing on what the problem is. You really need these two items if you are going to troubleshoot circuitry.

I had to drive into town so I grabbed one while there. Will be testing tomorrow ��

 

[gimmodog]

View attachment 574206[/QUOTE]

you can start this manually by disconnecting the spade terminal connector on the bottom of the start and touch the spade terminal on the starter with a jumper wire to the hot terminal behind the red protective cover on the starter wires

 

[searcyfarms]

I hate to ask this but do we even know if the battery is good?

 

[radios1]

ok so I pulled the red cover and the big wire (that comes straight from the battery along with the red and the discolored black wire all attach to the same terminal. I went ahead and did what you said and ran a jumper from the positive terminal on the battery to this terminal but it didn't do anything.

then the black wire may be the problem. it may be running through a defective safety switch. try grounding that out to the chassis, and have someone try to start it then.. the solenoid needs both a ground and a hot to work.. just like a light bulb. 2 wires..

 

[ericstac]

View attachment 574206

you can start this manually by disconnecting the spade terminal connector on the bottom of the start and touch the spade terminal on the starter with a jumper wire to the hot terminal behind the red protective cover on the starter wires[/QUOTE]


went out this morning and check the battery, it was at 12.08.. so I did what you suggested and jumped from the spade to the hot terminal and it cranks.

I assumed I could start the tractor this way but it wouldn't ever start. it just kept cranking. I tried turning the key at the same time and made sure all the safety switches were in the correct position. checked for fuel and there is fuel.

So I'm getting it to crank this way but now I'm lost even more lol.

metered the seat safety switch as well and it was open but when I turned the key i would get 12.