DK35 Dead - Won't Start

[WhatIsChazaq]

Just corrected my profile. Sorry about that.

Yeah...it was a great idea and a great name for a "slow food" farm, but it just didn't work out. I'm no small business man and I guess I'm not cut out to be a small scale farmer either.

I'm back to work in the IT arena...and actually moving back to the city unfortunately.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Just corrected my profile. Sorry about that.

Yeah...it was a great idea and a great name for a "slow food" farm, but it just didn't work out. I'm no small business man and I guess I'm not cut out to be a small scale farmer either.

I'm back to work in the IT arena...and actually moving back to the city unfortunately.

Sir,

I am VERY sorry to hear that... I'm dreaming of something small scale, like duck eggs, my daughters can run and learn powerful lessons, and make people healthier.

And I hope NEVER to return to living in the city...

But I've been a computer geek for 30 years, it is all I know how to do (that will pay well enough to keep us afloat).

Be well,
David

 

[k0ua]

Hi Keith, I will have to wait until I get home, but I might have some info that could help you.
yes I was confused by the Kubota listing. As you can see I have a DK35sehst now also.

James K0UA

 

[k0ua]

Check your email... Oh I see you are an IT person.. no worries

James K0UA

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

Note: A little bitterness and venting here...my daughter learned that small town people are very intolerant of outsiders and people with different styles and skin colors. The racism was outright UGLY. This is but one of a myriad of reasons we are headed back to the city. If she was vanilla white, wore Carharts, cowboy boots and wranglers I doubt we'd have had any problems. Maybe we chose too small a town, but we checked it out pretty in depth ahead of time and it seemed to be a very family oriented and close knit community. Turned out to be too "close knit".

Anyhow...we had such a great place, and a few great neighbors. Will certainly miss the peace and quiet, the blanket of stars at night. I'm already mourning leaving behind my flock of 30 free range chickens that follow me around the like pied piper, my free range Royal Palm turkeys, etc, etc, etc.

Here are some pics to enjoy if you like:
Picasa Web Albums - Slow Belly Farm

15 Acres of the total 105 are about to go up for sale (Kioti DK35 and a few implements included!). Two homes, an amazing garden plot, ponds, fences, workshop, garages. It's a dream place for someone to pick up for a bargain.

 

[k0ua]

Ok you have another tool now..here is how I would go about it. right or wrong this is what I would do.

I believe fuse 1 the 60 amp fusible link to be good you you would have nothing, no light no buzzes etc.
find the start relay listed as relay 2 I think it is on the firewall find the 3Millimeter orange wire going into it coming from connector 003 and make sure it has 12 volts standing on it at all time.. even with key off. The the non moving contact of the start relay. find the .85 millimeter Light Blu? =LB wire coming from the PTO safety relay going to the start relay and with the hydrostat range safety switch or clutch switch if its a gear model. made by being in neutral or pushed in. and the key switch turned to start position you should have battery voltage going into the high side of that start relay coil.. If you do, and the coil does not click the contact to send power to the "bendix" solenoid to engage the starter, (measure for voltage headed to the starter solenoid. which is a 3MM red wire going to connector 12) you have a bad starter relay, replace it.. If you have no voltage on the light blue wire than head back towards the PTO safety relay the G and F terminals and determine if the safety relay is pulled up by either the automatic or the manual position of the PTO switch. it should be relaxed and the switch should be in neutral to start. Now go back to G and F the PTO safety relay, which if relaxed is just passing voltage straight thru and keep going back to connectors 061 fed by a Blue White .85MM wire or maybe black white, I have never found their wire color legend, but something blue brown, black with a white tracer this heads for the safety switch of the hydrostat range selector or the clutch, of course it should be straight thru, and then on up to the ST terminal on the key switch. It should have battery voltage on it From the AM terminal when you are in start position.. or you can start there. and work forward or.. from what you have described with dim lights and buzzy relays.. I am thinking it is a broken high resistance ground cable or positive cable.. I would yank the heck out of both and and wiggle well and would not be suprized to see one come off in your hand. Let us know your method of attack, and what you have found..

James K0UA

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Ok you have another tool now... Let us know your method of attack, and what you have found..

James K0UA

James,

This should win "most helpful post of the day" today.

AWESOME post. I hope it helps him...

David

 

[k0ua]

James,

This should win "most helpful post of the day" today.

AWESOME post. I hope it helps him...

David

Me too. I still think it is a high resistance joint issue, as they often are.. now that the battery is out of the running for the culprit..

James K0UA

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

Blue Ribbon Award for detailed directions and source documents. Headed out to dig through the electrics in about 15 minutes. thanks again.

 

[k0ua]

Blue Ribbon Award for detailed directions and source documents. Headed out to dig through the electrics in about 15 minutes. thanks again.

Good luck with it. I am going back out in the heat to weld up my spare bucket. I found a nasty crack in the factory weld of cutting edge to side cutting piece today. and have been prepping it for welding.. It is darn hot today. This is my Kubota bucket not my new Kioti bucket. I will post it up with pix when it is all done.

James K0UA

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

Nuts. Nothing. I can't make heads or tails of the wiring diagram by just trying to figure out where all the wires run in the tractor itself.

I managed to find the 60amp fuse and it is good, tested it w/ multimeter. I also confirmed full battery voltage to the hot side of the fuse housing. I bumped the turn signal switch by accident and to my surprise it blinked three times then stopped. I kept trying and it wouldn't blink again! A little while after I put the 60amp fuse back in I heard a clicking sound coming from somewhere near the instrument panel. I was moving wires around and I heard it a few times, but all the wiring in the engine compartment side is solid. Well...at least the wires to the starter solenoid, etc.

This sucks.

 

[k0ua]

Nuts. Nothing. I can't make heads or tails of the wiring diagram by just trying to figure out where all the wires run in the tractor itself.

I managed to find the 60amp fuse and it is good, tested it w/ multimeter. I also confirmed full battery voltage to the hot side of the fuse housing. I bumped the turn signal switch by accident and to my surprise it blinked three times then stopped. I kept trying and it wouldn't blink again! A little while after I put the 60amp fuse back in I heard a clicking sound coming from somewhere near the instrument panel. I was moving wires around and I heard it a few times, but all the wiring in the engine compartment side is solid. Well...at least the wires to the starter solenoid, etc.

This sucks.

I know it is hot outside, and you are frustrated, but you are very close to fixing this problem.. that clicking you heard while moving wires around is the key to this problem.. you need to find exactly what makes that happen. You my friend have what is known as an intermittent. Yeah the tractor is inoperative most of the time now. But by moving wires around you have changed that state. Wait until it and you cool down a bit, and try again..Sure you can have someone come winch it on a trailer and haul it off, and have someone else fix it, but it is gonna cost you, and think of the pure joy and sense of pride you will have when you fix it yourself. If you have the time and the will, stay with it. yeah I know, easy for me to say, but friend, I have been there many many times over the last 40 years of working on electronics. Things we Know.. It aint the battery. we also know that sometimes we can make a few things work by wiggling some wires.. Turn on the turn signal switch and start wiggling slowly and carefully. Good luck. stay with it.

James K0UA

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

I was focusing on exactly that. I'm an IT Geek, troubleshooting is my day job. The frustrating thing was I could stand there just eyeballing the wiring, tracing it with my eyes and the flashlight and I'd hear it click. I wouldn't be touching it and it would click. Is there some kind of delay relay? I walked from the barn to the garage to get a screwdriver, when I walked back into the barn I heard it click again as I rounded the corner. Makes no sense.

 

[k0ua]

I was focusing on exactly that. I'm an IT Geek, troubleshooting is my day job. The frustrating thing was I could stand there just eyeballing the wiring, tracing it with my eyes and the flashlight and I'd hear it click. I wouldn't be touching it and it would click. Is there some kind of delay relay? I walked from the barn to the garage to get a screwdriver, when I walked back into the barn I heard it click again as I rounded the corner. Makes no sense.

Maybe some arcing in a connector? This is starting to sound like a really good one. Intermittent's can be a real bear.

Do you have a trouble shooting lamp? You can make one with a tail lamp bulb and some wire and an alligator clip on the ground side and a sharp probe on the hot side of the bulb. The reason this can be helpful is because it will draw current. You may be fighting a high resistance connection. So measuring voltage will not always tell you what you want to know. For example, lets say you have a circuit that must support 5 amps of current, like say that turn signal. The source voltage is 12 volts. but put a 1000 ohms of resistance in series with it and disconnect the bulb.. if you measure on the load side of the resistor it will measure 12 volts.. but that dont mean it will support a load of 5 amps and maintain 12 volts on the load side. Of course it will still have 12 volts on the source side of the resistor.. Now lets talk about corroded connections.. they can be resistors.. source side of the connection 12 volts.. load side something else.. This may be your issue.

James K0UA

 

[Coyote machine]

WhatisC....,

You're headed in the right direction. Maybe bringing someone else into the equation to move wires while you use your meter/ test light to troubleshoot.
I would go to the connectors underneath the tractor and disconnect them one at a time until something changes, hopefully.
You could have a bent or broken pin in a harness connector that only makes a complete circuit intermittently. Your best bet it to start at the battery and work forward disconnecting each and every junction in the harness, each relay, etc.
Something will make the click go away or keep happening. I would turn the turn signal to the position it last blinked and go from there. I would not leave the tractor where anything bad could happen to the harness or tractor overnight until you have found the problem's solution. Thus disconnect the battery ground terminal whenever you're not working on it for now.

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

So we get back from picking blackberries this morning, my wife walks over to the barn, comes back and asks "Is the tractor supposed to be clicking?"

I go over to the barn and find the tractor clicking, hop up in the seat and the turn signal is on. What the heck. I turn the key over to start it, I get lights on the dash! I turn it to heat the plug, it lights up...goes out. I turn the key all the way...click...nothing, no lights. I pull the battery and check, it had been blinking the turn signal all night long and was low. Toss it on the charger for a few hours. Go back and it's at 100%. Throw it back in the tractor and I can hear the freaking clicking again as I reconnect everything.

This time however, and it never did this before...as I wiggled the ground wire the clicking kept at it from the firewall. I pull the ground wire and it checks just fine on the multi-meter. But...I'm going to replace it tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[k0ua]

So we get back from picking blackberries this morning, my wife walks over to the barn, comes back and asks "Is the tractor supposed to be clicking?"

I go over to the barn and find the tractor clicking, hop up in the seat and the turn signal is on. What the heck. I turn the key over to start it, I get lights on the dash! I turn it to heat the plug, it lights up...goes out. I turn the key all the way...click...nothing, no lights. I pull the battery and check, it had been blinking the turn signal all night long and was low. Toss it on the charger for a few hours. Go back and it's at 100%. Throw it back in the tractor and I can hear the freaking clicking again as I reconnect everything.

This time however, and it never did this before...as I wiggled the ground wire the clicking kept at it from the firewall. I pull the ground wire and it checks just fine on the multi-meter. But...I'm going to replace it tomorrow and see what happens.

What is clicking? my initial thought was the turn signal flasher, but surely you canceled the turn signals right? I am a little unclear as to what state the tractor is in now.. obviously power was flowing to flash the turn signal all night. (remember CM's warning about disconnecting the battery when you are not there to observe it?) But you still have something intermittent..I would not leave battery hooked up at all until this is resolved. "Danger Will Robinson" . Does the ground wire look sulphated/corroded (green/white powder) at all? What happens when Pull on it firmly? Crunchy inside the sheath? or seems sound in all ways?.. If it seems sound, the problem is likely further down the line, in the positive path.. corroded connector, or something else.. what is making that clicking sound if not the turn signal flasher. Flasher is on the dash side of the firewall. first thing on the left side up high.
Here is something I would want to know. with battery hooked up, take a test lamp to the hot side of the 20 amp fuse for the Lamps or the 15 amp fuse for the flashers and turn the key to the ON position. with the test lamp ground side clamped to a bare spot on the frame, does my test lamp light to full brilliance. this will test the circuit path thru the AM terminal (hot feed to the key switch) and the M terminal which is the ON position terminal out to these fuses I mentioned and all the fuses for that matter.. Look at the overall diagram. and see how the AM terminal on the key is fed thru the 60 amp fusible link. and of course the battery ground is attached to the chassis. Forget about the starting circuit for now. just concentrate on the main feed. With a good tail light bulb for a test lamp it will pull some current. and if it is not full brilliance then something is wrong heading back towards the battery. Perhaps the key switch. The key switch is a know weakness with these tractors. known to get corrosion in them. But don't let this cloud your troubleshooting. at this point it can be anything. Up to and including the main ground lead from the battery to the chassis. that you are going to replace. You are getting closer all the time. hang in there.

James K0UA

 

[WhatIsChazaq]

The battery is now disconnected.

Interesting you asked...I could not turn off the turn signal!

 

[k0ua]

The battery is now disconnected.

Interesting you asked...I could not turn off the turn signal!

Tell me exactly what you did to try to turn off the turn signal.. centered the turn signal switch? and turned the key to off? both? or what?

 

[k0ua]

also was it left turn signal or right turn signal actuated?