3 cyl John Deere 820 starter help needed.

[fullchoke]

The tractor has been sitting all winter, and now it won't turn over. The solenoid gives a loud clunk, but that is all I get. No hint of a starter problem before this. The battery is good at 12.7V at the starter. Tried shorting across the posts on the starter, and got nothing, so I'm thinking the starter is dead. I should have checked continuity thru the starter, but thought that because nothing happened when I bridged the gap between the posts on the starter that it's a bad starter.
That leads to a bigger problem. Removing that starter. The tractor has a JD 37 loader on it, and access to the starter is very limited. Is it possible to remove the starter with the loader in place? I tried for a little over an hour before I ran out of daylight. Even without a loader, access to the upper bolt is limited, and it looks like the bottom bolt could be removed without the loader in the way. I'd buy a special tool if something will work before trying to remove that loader. Has anyone jacked the loader high enough to gain access? The tractor is in a very poor spot to remove the loader. Jacking looks sketchy, as high as the rear posts would need to be jacked to get any room.

Thanks

 

[Tx Jim]

1st thing to do is remove/clean/tighten all 4 or 6 if tractor 2 batteries cable connections. If ground cable connection doesn't attach to engine block then I suggest to relocate this cable attachment to engine block. One can manually raise the loader boom & due to loader having 1 way boom cylinders there's no need to move hyd control valve spool during boom raising. Be sure to ""carefully block the cylinders with 2 pieces of angle iron positioned & zip tied to cylinder rod"" after boom has been raised to sufficient height!!!!!!! Another option is tow start tractor engine & raise loader tom desired height then stop engine operating then immediately block boom cylinders per previous instructions.

 

[fullchoke]

I put a new battery in it, and cleaned, and added new terminals last summer. It started without a hitch every time. The power to the starter isn't interrupted with any starting attempt. The connections are good. I'm as sure as I can be the starter went bad.

Raising the bucket doesn't help with getting at the starter. I would leave the bucket on the ground. The rear stanchions for the loader are in the way. Where they attach to the tractor blocks the starter. You can touch the starter bolts with a wrench but there is no room to turn them. I should be able to jack and block the bucket, but I would need another tractor to get to it to pull it backwards to get it out from where it is. It can't go forward. Trying to pull start it then is an option, then remove the loader in it's entirety. What a pain that would be. Maybe my only option, if I can't jack up the back of the loader up high, leaving the bucket on the ground. Possibly unbolt the loader, and back it up a foot to get at the starter, if the hydraulic lines are long enough. I've never removed a loader, and this one doesn't quick attach. Has anyone run into this problem?

 

[fullchoke]

Re-installing a starter looks to be a problem, if I ever get this bad one out. Getting the top bolt started back in looks harder than getting it out. Especially with the loader on it.

 

[etpm]

The problem could be the solenoid. When the solenoid slams the pinion into mesh with the the flywheel teeth it also slams together a pair of contacts that supply power to the starter motor. These contacts can fail. I had this happen to the solenoid in my 1980/1981 Yanmar YM2310. My tractor was acting like yours. I replaced the solenoid and now all is well.
Eric

 

[Williy]

Have you tried tapping the solonoid with a hammer handle??
Sometimes this works

willy

 

[fullchoke]

I didn't think it was the solenoid because I had 12.7 volts from the battery to the solenoid, and shorting across those 2 poles on the starter resulted in nothing, but I did bump ground once doing that, and sparks flew. I was hitting the starter hard with the handle end of a 5 lb hammer with no result. With that loader post in the way the solenoid can't be touched. If it was a bad solenoid, I'd still need to remove the starter to change it. How I get around the loader is the big problem. I'm hoping someone lifted the back end of the loader framework to get at the starter, and had success. Even if I could get the bolts out of the starter, I'm not certain there's room to get the starter out. Removing the oil filter to bring the starter farther forward would give it a chance. If I knew the starter was going bad, it would not be parked where it is.

 

[fullchoke]

Maybe a box end wrench that ratchets could work if it's short and will ratchet just a little at a time. Who makes that?

 

[fullchoke]

I've been trying to think of anything to get that starter off it's bad spot. Banging on it didn't work. I'm wondering if I set another battery on it, and using jumpers hit the starter with 24 volts for a second. I've used 12 volts on a 6 volt starter to make it spin faster, has anyone tried this on a 12 volt starter? If I keep the key off, and only short across the solenoid, and starter terminals nothing should see 24 volts, I'm thinking. Bad idea?

 

[gstrom99]

Worth a try, but if it's bad - it's bad. Extra oomph won't fix it.