John Deere 5425 won’t start as if the battery were dead but the lights work quite well

[DocJim]

Tractor battery plenty hot but it’s like the battery is dead. Lights are very bright and readily come on. When the ignition key is turned on nothing happens.

 

[jaxs]

When this happens with fully charged battery the problem is usually one of the safty switches that prevent tractor starting. It's a matter of testing switches and their connectors. Try and find a wireing diagram for your model. It will show all switches. Meanwhile if you urgently need to use tractor you can jumpstart at solinoid. Just be double certain tractor is not in gear and be aware that fel,3 point or other hydraulics can move soon as engine starts. Be carful

 

[Tx Jim]

Welcome to TBN
Ditto on possible faulty neutral start switch. Is trans gear shift in neutral & pto control in off position?

 

[5030]

Are the terminals on the battery clean and corrosion free and is the ground lug to the frame also clean and free of corrosion? Lights draw little amperage, starter draws a bunch. High resistance connections will cause the starter not to turn (besides safety switches).

 

[DLTTrekkers]

Something els...check your groundcable...clean the ground and if that does not help...lenthern your groundcable and mount it to your engine .
I had 3 tractors that I had to change the place for the ground.

 

[jaxs]

Have you checked the cable connections?

 

[Gee Ray]

Long story short if everything checks out as the people above have suggested replace the ground cable. It can look OK but the inside can be corroded and prevent the starter from rolling over.

 

[jaxs]

And if replacing ground cable doesn't help replace the postive cable because it can do the same as ground cable. If that doesn't make it start replace the ignition switch because switch contacts can be corroded and preventing good contact. If all the afore mentioned checks out replace the battery because a battry can have 12 volts and enough amps to burn lights but not enough amps to turn starter. If that doen't help,,,,,,,,,,I'm reverting to my origional suggestion to test before replacing because the list is endless and a person can spend a lot of time and money replacing parts before stumbling onto the bad one.
Hmmmm, DocJim made his first and only post 1 week ago tomorrow and hasn't been heard from since. Wonder if he's still listening or moved on to bigger things?

 

[Grumpycat]

It could always be the starter. Put your voltmeter on the starter cable and see if the tractor so much as asks the starter to start. Brushes in the starter eventually wear out. If you have power applied to the starter ask someone to hold the key (or button) while you tap the starter with a rock, hammer, screwdriver handle, whatever. When the brushes go bad there is usually one or two more starts remaining that a bit of vibration can enable. This also helps a sticky starter solenoid.

If nothing at the starter then work your way back from there toward the ignition switch. Something between the starter contact on the switch (or your separate starter button?) and the starter is preventing your starter from turning.

 

[jd110]

No one has mentioned fuses. Have you looked at them? Do gauges or warning lights on instrument panel come on when key is turned on? If fuse is blown, you may have the cold start sensor shorted out.

 

[Brown Dog]

As mentioned : it’s probably the ignition key switch.

 

[k0ua]

Lots of things to "look at" All time wasters when a simple voltmeter placed on the battery terminals will tell you what you need to know. You will need a 'helper" to try the starter while you monitor the battery voltage. If the battery voltage RIGHT ON THE BATTERY terminals themselves does not fall precipitously than the problem IS NOT all the connection, corrosion, ground terminals etc. The problem is further down the line. Keyswitch, starter relay, starter solenoid and most likely, a safety switch. BUT if the battery voltage falls like a rock, the problem is one or all of the connection problems as outlined by others. Why guess at these things when it only takes a few seconds to test and form a hypothesis of the actual problem? Get a voltmeter, and understand how to use it. One actual test that takes about 10 seconds will tell you more than all the poking, prodding, pulling and guessing in the world.

 

[k0ua]

Heck for that matter, you don't even absolutely have to have a voltmeter if you are good at estimating voltage drop by observing the lights. Turn on the lights, turn the key to start, do the lights dim a bunch? If not, it aint a connection problem. Did you hear the start relay pickup? Is it quiet enough to hear it click? If the starter relay don't click then it will never pull in the starter solenoid now will it? There can be dozens of reason's why the starter relay does not pull in. From defective key switch to many safety switches to rat chewed wiring and on and on. How are you going to troubleshoot these problems without your voltmeter and the knowledge to use it?

 

[jaydee325]

Electrical trouble shooting 101: Start with a fully charged battery that has been verified good by a load test. Most every big box auto parts store will load test a battery for free.

I have used K0ua method too, but unless you know what you are doing with a volt meter and know what you are looking for, go the load test route.

Without knowing you have a good battery, you are just wasting time.