3038 no start

[retiredmgn]

Guys, my 3038e is 'no start'. Just clicking.
I cleaned the terminals, cleaned the grounding strap, charged the battery, added a jump battery - still just clicking. Plenty of available power to start.
Sudden onstart of this condition.
Any ideas what to check next?

 

[RoyJackson]

Check the fuses and relays and read your manual Trouble Shooting section.
Also, check the hot and ground on your starter. MAKE SURE YOUR RANGE SELECTOR IS IN NEUTRAL!
BTW, you didn't jumper the seat switch, did you? IIRC, you shouldn't even get the click if the seat switch is actuated.

 

[retiredmgn]

Check the fuses and relays and read your manual Trouble Shooting section.
Also, check the hot and ground on your starter. MAKE SURE YOUR RANGE SELECTOR IS IN NEUTRAL!
BTW, you didn't jumper the seat switch, did you? IIRC, you shouldn't even get the click if the seat switch is actuated.

I was stuck on this so a dealer mechanic came by. While the battery would charge up to 12.6 (enough to start the engine), once you turn the key it would drop to 12. Not enough voltage to start.
Even though I tried adding a jump with a healthy battery he said it's the last one in the chain that will govern what voltage makes it to the starter.
New battery, all fixed.
Learn something everyday.

 

[RoyJackson]

I was stuck on this so a dealer mechanic came by. While the battery would charge up to 12.6 (enough to start the engine), once you turn the key it would drop to 12. Not enough voltage to start.
Even though I tried adding a jump with a healthy battery he said it's the last one in the chain that will govern what voltage makes it to the starter.
New battery, all fixed.
Learn something everyday.

I'm glad it was just the battery...kind of surprised though. Your tractor isn't too old, is it?
I also learned something about batteries now...that "last one in the chain..." comment from the technician. Interesting...I'm assuming your battery either wouldn't take or hold a charge then.

 

[kebo]

I was stuck on this so a dealer mechanic came by. While the battery would charge up to 12.6 (enough to start the engine), once you turn the key it would drop to 12. Not enough voltage to start.
Even though I tried adding a jump with a healthy battery he said it's the last one in the chain that will govern what voltage makes it to the starter.
New battery, all fixed.
Learn something everyday.

"Last one in the chain" is bs. That tech knew nothing about Ohm's Law. Two batteries wired in parallel will have the exact SAME voltage across their terminals, minus the voltage losses in the wiring & terminal connections. If both are good and the same ampere capacity (ampacity), then they will normally share the load equally. If they are of different ampacities, then one will likely provide more energy than the other during cranking.

Now, if one of the batteries is bad (dead cell, etc) then it can and probably will pull the other good one down when you try and crank from it. With a bad battery in a two battery circuit, some weird things can happen depending on how it's bad. That's why it's best to simply swap out a suspect battery with a known good battery, and then try cranking again. That should ultimately tell you if the original battery was the reason it wouldn't crank the engine. But, glad to see you got your problem solved.

 

[retiredmgn]

I'm glad it was just the battery...kind of surprised though. Your tractor isn't too old, is it?
I also learned something about batteries now...that "last one in the chain..." comment from the technician. Interesting...I'm assuming your battery either wouldn't take or hold a charge then.

I bought the tractor a year ago.

After hours on the charger and the 'full' light would come on, my multimeter would show 12.6 volts. When the tech showed up he got the same reading. Then with the multimeter still attached, he had me turn the key and the reading would drop to 12 volts.
I'm not experienced in this stuff but I assume this comes under the heading of 'Load testing'.

Kebo,
We didn't perform this same excercise with the 2 batteries connected. However, even with the second battery freshly charged it was still a 'no start'.

 

[RoyJackson]

You might ask your dealer about the battery warranty...
I don't remember much about electrical theory either, so I don't know if the tech or Kebo is correct...but the tech was correct in it being a bad battery.

I bought the tractor a year ago.

After hours on the charger and the 'full' light would come on, my multimeter would show 12.6 volts. When the tech showed up he got the same reading. Then with the multimeter still attached, he had me turn the key and the reading would drop to 12 volts.
I'm not experienced in this stuff but I assume this comes under the heading of 'Load testing'.

Kebo,
We didn't perform this same excercise with the 2 batteries connected. However, even with the second battery freshly charged it was still a 'no start'.

 

[retiredmgn]

You might ask your dealer about the battery warranty...
I don't remember much about electrical theory either, so I don't know if the tech or Kebo is correct...but the tech was correct in it being a bad battery.

This was the first dealer service I've had with this tractor. I found out, If I get it to the dealer all work done would be under warranty. If they have to come here it is a $100 whether a tech shows up or a flatbed to haul back to the shop. Seems fair. I'm 40 miles from the dealer.
I mentioned to the tech, "If I had been able to diagnose I wouldn't have dragged you out here".
He said, "Same thing either way. That's a $130 - $140 battery and covered under warranty".
So I'll look upon this as my warranty saved me $30 - $40
Time for a trickle charger.

 

[800tundra]

Had same issue with my 3038e. Dealer replaced battery worked for a while. Then had to boost again. Ended up replacing battery again and alternator. All good now.

 

[gengine]

For those wondering, Kebo is right. A bad battery can drag both batteries down to the point of no start. Sounds like a bad cell to me. IIRC, a bad cell will take a charge, but not hold capacity to start the tractor. It's like using two 6v flashlight batteries in parallel trying to start your tractor.