MT125, no power after starter swap.

[TBringman]

Starter went out on my MT125. After installing the new starter I get nothing on the dash. I've checked all the fuses, even found the main 40a fuse, and traced all of the wiring the best I can.
Gave up for a time and tried to find a mechanic that could come work on it where it sits. Can't seem to find someone to commit on that. LS dealer wants me to bring it in to their shop. Like I can just load it up.
Spent today taking the starter off to retrace my steps. With the starter off I used a battery charger to verify that the starter works. It does. With it loose I wired it up the way it should be and hooked up the battery charger to test it while loose. I get nothing when connecting positive to the main battery terminal. I move the positive clamp to the terminal that should be the power coming back from the switch. I got a buzzing up in the engine and was able to turn the switch on and my instrument panel lights up. Turned the switch over to start and the starter bumped but did not rotate. I disconnected quickly so not to burn anything up. I know that buzzing was not supposed to be continuous. This kinda tells us what works. So when it's hooked up correctly, what could I be missing?

 

[gengine]

Hooking it up loose means that the starter isn't grounded, so it won't work. I am not familiar with LS tractors, but most starters are grounded through the housing. Even setting the starter against the engine may give it ground, but possibly not enough. I feel you have a wire in the wrong place, or possibly a wire got pushed aside and forgotten. Believe me, I've made those mistakes before.

 

[zzvyb6]

Fuse ? Battery cables reversed ?

 

[grsthegreat]

Are you sure battery cables are tight. Grab teem with your gloved hand and twist. There should be NO movement

 

[GS650GL]

Make sure you didn't miss any wires when connecting them to the new starter, it happens. Check where the negative battery cable grounds to the tractor. Make sure there is no rust or paint and the bolt is tight. There is also a braided ground cable at the back of the engine that grounds the engine to the frame in the middle of the tractor. There is a service bulletin about poor connections on that cable because of paint or rust. The battery cable clamps are poor and known to have issues also. Make sure the battery is good too. I had one that started fine and a minute later the battery failed completely and had zero volts.

 

[TBringman]

Hooking it up loose means that the starter isn't grounded, so it won't work. I am not familiar with LS tractors, but most starters are grounded through the housing. Even setting the starter against the engine may give it ground, but possibly not enough. I feel you have a wire in the wrong place, or possibly a wire got pushed aside and forgotten. Believe me, I've made those mistakes before.

Thanks for the reply. I should have stated that I was using a set of jumper cables to complete the ground back to the engine when trying to run the circuit through the switch. Good job catching that because truthfully I didn't at first....lol.
As far as a missing wire, I've checked and doubled checked hoping that's all it was. All I've got is three wires. One positive straight from the battery that goes on one post. One wire that goes on the opposite big post that runs up over the engine to the switch and control panel. The third wire is the smaller wire coming from the switch that clips in the back of the solenoid. From what I understand, all of these posts receive positive energy and the ground comes from mounting the starter to the engine. I feel that there should be a positive wire from the battery up to the control panel and switch but there's nothing there to do that. The positive cable from the battery runs straight to the starter with no other wires splitting off. Im still looking for other fuses or relays.

 

[JTKub]

I would see if that big positive battery cable will carry current. Connect a headlamp bulb or something relatively high amperage to the end of it and see if it lights to full brightness. I've seen battery cables look perfect, but internally, they are not. Green crusty corrosion works it's way inside the cable, or crimped on lugs have too much hidden corrosion inside.

 

[TBringman]

Make sure you didn't miss any wires when connecting them to the new starter, it happens. Check where the negative battery cable grounds to the tractor. Make sure there is no rust or paint and the bolt is tight. There is also a braided ground cable at the back of the engine that grounds the engine to the frame in the middle of the tractor. There is a service bulletin about poor connections on that cable because of paint or rust. The battery cable clamps are poor and known to have issues also. Make sure the battery is good too. I had one that started fine and a minute later the battery failed completely and had zero volts.

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to look for that braided wire and check the connection to the engine. I will probably buy a new battery when all is said and done but first I have to get this starter functioning. I'm not looking forward to craming the battery back into that tight cavity they've allowed for it but I'll be glad to get everything back up and running.

 

[GS650GL]

I think I see the problem. You stated that you have 3 wires at the starter and the battery cable goes on one post and another wire goes on the opposite post and a small wire goes to the solenoid. It can't work that way. Both the battery cable and the other wire should be on the same post. That's the only way to get power to the switch and fuse box. The other post is to supply power to the armature of the starter to make it spin when the solenoid is activated. Put the wire on the other post on the same one that the battery cable is on and I bet it will work. The problem just began after installing the starter so I figured it was most likely related to that, even though something else could have happened as a coincidence.