2 nd New Starter on 4120

[wolc123]

I bought this tractor new in 2004. I replaced the original (Bosch) starter around 2008, with an aftermarket starter (Power-Strike) that cost less than half of what an OEM replacement would have. It lasted a lot longer than the original.

I probably should have replaced the Power-Strike in 2020, when it started cranking slower in the cold, sometimes needing a jump, but I bought a new battery (old one was (8) years old), instead and that helped a little.

Last winter, it started cranking slow again. My pickup also needed a battery at the time (it still had the original year 2000 battery in it), so I bought the highest CCA one I could find for the tractor, and I put the
2 year old NAPA legend battery from the tractor into the truck. The few extra CCA’s didn’t help much on the tractor, and I still needed to jump it when it was cold out.

Now that we are almost thru summer, I decided to replace the starter again. It’s a fairly easy job. Amazon got a replacement here in (2) days for $ 109. I didn’t even bother pricing an OEM replacement this time.

I just finished installing it and it sure cranks that engine over fast. It fired up in under a second.

Other than being kind of hard on starters (fortunately they are cheap), that tractor had been trouble-free for the last 19 years.

I really had to fix the cold start issue, because I need it for clearing the snow from our (2) driveways and our neighbors on both sides. Last winter was very tough. We got hit with two blizzards. I had to jump start the tractor with my daughter’s little car on the last one (after shoveling a 30 ft long x 6 ft wide path to the tractor from it, thru snow that was 4 ft deep).

 

[Bavarian]

About 10 years ago, I had continued problems with the batteries in my semi truck. I bought the highest CCA's that the local truck supply store had. The problems continued.
An old shop owner then told me to go down to about 700 from the 1000+ CCA's.
He explained it that way: in high CCA batteries, the plates are stuffed tighter together to gain that higher capacity.
While driving down the road, the shocks cause the plates to vibrate and touch each other. They shorten out and destroy the battery internally.
The smaller batteries lasted longer.
The same could happen to the tractors too.

 

[Hoss710]

you didn't happen to mention hrs of use??

 

[wolc123]

you didn't happen to mention hrs of use??

It has just under 2000 hours on it now.

 

[beenthere]

Me thinks you are chasing down the wrong rabbit hole. But sounds like you have the fix's that satisfy your equation. Good luck.

I don't have a better answer for you.

 

[wolc123]

Me thinks you are chasing down the wrong rabbit hole. But sounds like you have the fix's that satisfy your equation. Good luck.

I don't have a better answer for you.

That was definitely the case, when the problem first started, back in 2008, shortly after the tractor’s 3 year warranty had expired. It began as a winter “no crank” whatsoever. The first part that I swapped out was the ignition switch.

One of the reasons that I bought a John Deere back then, was because that was the brand that the dealer closest to our farm sold. The new ignition switch was cheap and readily available but it did not solve the problem (I now have an extra, perfectly good one, in my parts cabinet).

When that didn’t work, I noted some excessive corrosion, on the end of the short wire on the starter, between the dc motor and the solenoid. I cleaned that off, and she cranked again.

The problem was, it wasn’t a permanent fix. As mentioned previously, one of my primary uses, for that 4wd compact loader tractor, is winter snow plowing. Many tons of road salt is used on our road in the winter. 2004 was the first year of this tractor design.

Some inexperienced designer at Bosch must have made a “material” mistake, on that original starter, that they made for those new little 4 cylinder JD Powertech engines. They must have chosen two materials in contact with each other that were too far apart on the galvanic table, a classic “rookie” design error.

Part of the reason why I did not go with an OEM replacement starter (in addition to great cost savings), was that I was not certain that the design problem would have been corrected by then. Unless someone used the tractor around great quantities of road salt, they likely would never have had the issue occur.

Another possibility is, maybe it was just “a fluke” where some incorrect material found it’s way onto my original starter during its manufacture. I couldn’t find any other examples of this issue in some fairly extensive on-line searching, so that might be the case.

The fact that there are so many sources of much cheaper aftermarket starters out there (Power-Strike, etc), leads me to believe that WAS NOT the case.

Had the fine folks at Bosch got that one right from the beginning, they wouldn’t have created a real big opening, for other manufacturers to pounce on.

Speaking of “other manufacturers”, maybe I should have tried calling that 1-800 number, that’s written on the side of my cheap 13 year old Power-Strike starter. Maybe the
brushes are worn or the windings are bad in it. With a $109 “Amazon” replacement available in two days, it wasn’t worth my time to find out.

If and when I locate the old original Bosch starter, and I get a little “spare time” this winter, I’ll combine parts from it and the Power Strike that I just removed.

My guess is that the Bosch has far superior windings and brushes inside. The resulting “Frankenstein” combination will make a fine spare, to keep in my parts cabinet, in case I only get 13 more years from my current Amazon replacement.

 

[Hoss710]

I have a 05 with the original starter in it. but less than half the hrs of yours . I will say my original battery was a mind blower!! it lasted 15 years before I had to replace it.

 

[wolc123]

I have a 05 with the original starter in it. but less than half the hrs of yours . I will say my original battery was a mind blower!! it lasted 15 years before I had to replace it.

The original battery in that tractor lasted quite a few years also, around (10) I think. The second one may have had some life left in it, when I turned it in for the core charge. I still have the 3rd one on a shelf. I will use it on the next machine that needs one. The 4th is currently in my truck and still working very good there.

The 5th (bought last year) is in the tractor now, and cranking very good, with the new Amazon starter. I’ll probably use that tractor today, on a job better suited for one of my others, just to see how it cranks cold this morning.

 

[super55]

I keep a warmer blanket on my battery in the winter and use a battery maintainer/charger for my 4400 that is my snow weapon. The heater blanket makes a huge difference in cold starts. Never even have to hit the air intake heater most of the time.

 

[wolc123]

I had a small complication this morning. One of the idiots on the job last night (me), didn’t get all (3) wires properly connected to the stud on the solenoid. I blame that on the poor lighting, in a dark corner of my pole barn, where it was parked. There was also a wrench clearance issue, caused by the block-heater option, that was installed right in front of the starter.

Fortunately, another idiot (light) on the dash, did it’s job properly this morning, indicating the battery fault.

I also overestimated the hours on this tractor (2004 JD model 4120) in my earliest post. I knew there was a “2” coming up that I was worried about. It’s got 1170 hours on it now, and it is due for an engine oil change at 1250.

I changed it the first time at 50, and then every (100) hours, until 1050. I’m going with every 200 hours, now that it is fully broken in. It has never used any oil between changes.

The only other maintenance, that I have done to it, is changing the coolant and outer air filter (a couple years ago). The fuel and hydraulic oil filters are still original, as is the hydraulic, power steering, rear and faint end oil. It has never leaked a drop of any fluid.