Ruh Roh! Click -- nothing! Dead 5010

[emcvay]

So I went to fire up my now 12 year old Mahindra 5010 and the lights came on, I waited, as I always do at least on the first start, for the glow plug light to go out and then turned the key to fire up the tractor and it went 'CLICK' and the dash died!

I checked for shorts, chewed wiring etc and couldn't see anything. I then attempted to pull fuses to check (those big square yellowish ones in the red/orange holders) and got one out but could not pull any others out.

I also removed the dash to check under it since my PTO had already quit on me again I planned to do some troubleshooting but couldn't see any issues.

it was hot, I was ticked off, I walked away.

So, now, armed with a somewhat readable schematic I plan to head back with a multimeter (I had one then and used it to check battery (12.51v) and the fuse I did pull (fine) in hopes of finding out what's wrong.

So, 2012 Mahindra 5010 -- any ideas where I should look first? I can't see any disconnected, rat chewed, frayed or shorted wires and the battery is at 12.51v so good there.

No dash lights at all now, no click sound, nothing, nadda, dead in the water as it were.

 

[WinterDeere]

1. Make sure battery is holding voltage while key is turned to crank.
2. Chase it down the line, each connection from battery to starter. The presumption, is that somewhere along the path, you're going to find a bad connection, wire, or fuse.
3. If voltage is not good on load side of solenoid, chase that back to the key switch.

Gotta love old tractors. They break a lot, but they're easy to fix!

 

[George2615]

Have you checked your ground cable connection to the frame and hot cable to starter. After checking fuses, that's where I'd look.

 

[emcvay]

Everything is connected as far as I can tell but admittedly, I was hot, po'd and not feeling well so I walked away - hood up, dash not back in, screws etc on a magnet in the porch...I'll be back in two weeks so want to get my ducks inline early

 

[etpm]

I have a 1980/81 Yanmar YM2310. When I bought it I had to figure out a wiring problem. The dash lights would come on but when I turned the key to start everything would go dead. The problem was corrosion on the negative battery cable where it was bolted to the frame. The corrosion was caused by rodent urine. The corrosion was invisible until I removed the cable from the frame.
Eric

 

[WinterDeere]

To find bad negative cable, find or make a clean spot on the frame, to attach the positive lead of your voltmeter with an alligator clip. Hell, c-clamp the thing, if you want.

Then place negative lead of voltmeter onto negative battery terminal. You should see 0 volts, as there's no real current flowing to cause a wiring drop.

Then have someone turn the key to start, while watching your meter. The starter is going to pull at least 100-200 amps, and will reveal any bad connection by showing more than a few tenths of a volt drop across this battery-to-frame wiring. If you start seeing a few volts drop, you have a bad connection.

This is one of those tasks best done with an analog meter, as autoranging digital meters often hop around too much (and too slowly) for this test. But in your case, if the connection is so bad that it rings truly "dead", you should be seeing near 12 volts steady across this connection. If all you have is a digital meter, just put it in autoranging mode, at a level appropriate for measuring 12V. You can "discover" this setting by putting meter across battery and hitting "Range" button a few times, until you get 12 volts steady on the meter, before making the test connection.

 

[WinterDeere]

I should have added to post #2 above, these voltage checks should be made with key turned to "start" position. Usually a 2-man job, unless you have good alligator clips on your meter, and manage your test lead wiring to keep it away from moving belts and fans, while you're in the seat turning the key.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I chased the same problem (2 or so years ago) thinking my battery was dying. Turned out to be the positive cable. It was the type that actually has a nut and bolt connecting the cable to the clamp. I didn't replace it, just tightened it up. As of now I'm still on the original battery, which is 12 years old so don't give up- its probably just a corroded connection.

 

[WinterDeere]

What surprises me about some of the reports of negative cable issues, is that corrosion by electrolysis should generally be isolated to the positive terminal. In one case, mouse urine was the cause, but is it common to find the negative lead failing before positive?

I store all of my equipment and most vehicles indoors, so I never see this type of corrosion myself, but I thought other machines I've seen have also had mostly positive terminal corrosion.

 

[emcvay]

Funny thing, my equipment is all outdoors. Sawmill, ATV, Tractor etc and I don't usually have an issue -- come to think of it, my vehicles also used to be always outdoors without issue.

This one was a head scratcher but I appreciate the many suggestions! I'll be checking contacts as well as fuses and relays