DK45SE Starter doing machine gun imitation

[Athrawn17]

I've been scouring the threads a bit to see it I can find this already answered and haven't been able to.

DK45SE with 400 hours. New battery in the fall. First the ignition switch works to fire up the glow plugs. Then when you go one click further to engage the starter I got nothing. I've had the 12V relay on the firewall go bad before so I went out and got a new one. Replaced it and now when I turn ignition I get a "rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat" noise like the starter is spinning but not engaging? I'm crap when it comes to engine electrical. Note before I changed the relay I polished the battery terminals and made the ground connection all shiny as well.

Trying to determine what the next steps should be for trouble-shooting.

Thanks in advance!

 

[seville009]

Even though the battery was new in the Fall, check the voltage just to make sure. Always start with the simplest stuff……

 

[Athrawn17]

Yup, will check that when I get back to the shed. Would low voltage cause that sound/starting issue?

 

[RandyT]

A poor battery connection can also cause it. The load created by the starter cause a voltage drop that caused the starter solenoid to disengage temporarily, and then when the load drops the voltage returns which allowed the starter solenoid to re-engage. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Threepoint]

Athrawn17, this sure sounds like a battery issue. Since yours is only a few months old, hopefully it's good, but just not fully charged. Do you have a portable battery charger you can hook up for a few hours?

But even after some time on a charger, just checking the voltage may not be enough. You can read 12.5V on your voltmeter, get the rapid clicking of the solenoid that you're hearing, yet still not have enough power to crank the engine. I went through this a couple of months ago with my CK3510SE. Finally put a load tester on the battery and in my case the battery was bad.

If you don't have access to a load tester, try jumping the battery with jumper cables, or a jump-starter pack. But if the battery is badly discharged, jumpstarting might not work.

 

[Athrawn17]

Yup, I have a charger/starter. I hooked that to the battery when cranking which caused the clicking. Let me grab a video of it and post which might be helpful for troubleshooting as well.

 

[Athrawn17]

So looks like 10V at the battery

 

[murphy1244]

You don't seem to be charging at all

 

[Threepoint]

Bingo. And since the solenoid started clicking only with the charger/starter hooked up, this strongly suggests your battery is either severely discharged (hopefully) or simply bad. Is it possible that you inadvertently left the key switch in the accessory position after the past use, and drained the battery down? I've done that before with my NX.

I'd disconnect the battery first (to rule out a parasitic drain), then put the charger on it long enough that it should be fully charged if good. If the voltage still doesn't come up to 12.5 or 12.8, suspect your battery.

Pain in the rear, but I'd pull the battery out and have it fully load-tested before spending much more time on this problem.

 

[Threepoint]

Also, as Murph notes, you might not be charging properly during operation. One quick thing to check there is the tension on your alternator belt. Trying to rule out the simple stuff.

 

[Athrawn17]

Ok, so was going to take a video and the darn thing started right up. I really don't like inconsistent electrical issues. Any thoughts on things I should have on hand in case this shows up again?

 

[RandyT]

I would go ahead and remove the battery terminals and clean them and the post. Could still be an intermittent connection that has now burnt through the corrosion but will return.

 

[Threepoint]

Was your battery charger still connected when the tractor finally started? Looking closely at your photo of the volt/ohmmeter probes, they may not have been in good contact with the battery posts when you took the reading. If your battery is truly at 10 V and your charger/starter is disconnected there's no way you could have started the tractor. As Randy suggests, I'd next pull and clean the battery terminals and the posts, and check for corrosion/discoloration of the copper wire at the terminal ends. Since the battery is practically new, and unless the terminals were not properly tightened a few months ago, I doubt it's a corrosion problem. Take another reading of your battery voltage. And check the belt tension.

With the simple things ruled out, you can then move on to checking charging system if necessary. Can do some of that with your voltmeter and the tractor running. I'm no sparky, but I can help a bit with that.

 

[Athrawn17]

I left the charger on it for an hour, took them off and did another voltage check. Came out to 13.3V. Tractor fired up like normal, so will keep an eye on it for now. During the winter we didn't get much snow so it didn't get used much. Spring now will be back on mowing duty, tree limb pickup/haul, and field tilling. So feeling better about it now. Did an oil and fuel filter change while the battery was charging.

I think @Threepoint you were correct that the hammering was the solenoid not getting enough voltage. Thanks all for the advice!

 

[grsthegreat]

Take the battery into auto shop and have it load tested. If its a walmart battery…simply throw it out.

 

[Robin Veerman]

Hook up a 2amp battery maintainer 24/7…
edit: Meant to say “after battery replacement” as it’s too late for the current battery.

 

[grsthegreat]

Thats all good and well, but dont expect a 2 amp charger to restore a dead battery. You can maintain a 700-1000 amp battery with one, but not charge a dead one. Ive seen too many batteries that can read good without a load, but die right out under starting load.

 

[seville009]

Ok, so was going to take a video and the darn thing started right up. I really don't like inconsistent electrical issues. Any thoughts on things I should have on hand in case this shows up again?

just always act like you’re going to take a video when you want to start it, and it’ll get scared and start right up ……. (ha ha)

 

[RandyT]

just always act like you’re going to take a video when you want to start it, and it’ll get scared and start right up ……. (ha ha)

My OEM original battery in my DK45S would turn on the dash light go through pre-heat and loose everything when the starter was hit. Loose dash lights until the key was cycled back off and on again Your can put the charger on that battery. Flip the charge swtich on and off like turning on and off a key, and it would start for a week. That battery also tested with 12 volts from the positive terminal to the plastic battery case. Faulty battery that if you put it on the charger prior to testing would test good. Had to test while in failed position due to an intermittent bad cell.

 

[IndyIan]

A poor battery connection can also cause it. The load created by the starter cause a voltage drop that caused the starter solenoid to disengage temporarily, and then when the load drops the voltage returns which allowed the starter solenoid to re-engage. Rinse and repeat.

That's what mine was, although the positive connector looked OK, there was a bit of fuzz growing out from under the wire insulation. I think the connector, wasn't all lead, and there was some kind of galvanic/oxidization going on between it and the copper. I cut the positive wire back to nice looking copper and got a good connector at the hardware store and its been fine ever since.