Turn Key to start, no click

[elsievo]

I have a T254 about 11 years old, 516 hours. I have this intermittent no start problem in cold temperatures below 10°F. Turn the key to preheat and the relay will click, light on the dash comes on, 10 seconds later you can hear the relay click again, light goes off. Turn the key to start and nothing.

Today, it was 21°F and the engine started, no problem. I do not have a building in which to house the tractor. It is outside with a thick blanket over the hood and the vinyl cab over the cockpit.

Battery even on the cold day was 12.6V (new battery was installed in October)

I do depress the brake pedal (there is a switch underneath that the plunger is allowed to travel out when the pedal is depressed, so I'm thinking that is some kind of operator presence safety.)

The seat switch might not be present or has been bypassed as it will run without me on the seat (i.e. when I use my 3pt chipper)

Question: Would the safety switch allow preheat but not start? (If it does I may see if I can pull it and clean it)

There are 4 wires coming out of the switch activated by the brake pedal, however it is hard to tell where they end up.

I guess I'll start with continuity checks on the starter switch and see if there are any issues there.

Then voltage to the starter solenoid (is that the best place to check on the starter?) The plan is to get some wires with alligator clips to extend the multi meter leads to check that.

If anyone wants to build me a heated garage, I think that will solve my problem.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

On my T233, the key is turned to the left from off, (normally where the accessory position would be), to engage the glow plugs. If it is cold enough to need thee glow plugs, the relay engages and the lindicaotr light comes on. When the light goes out, you turn past the run position to engage the starter. And, looking at the schematic in the service manual, the glow plugs, and starter are completely sperate circuits. Which makes sense to me.

There is a safety switch on the brake pedal, so the tractor won't start without you pushing down on the brake pedal. Except the "park brake" is engaged by pushing down on the brake pedals and lifting up on a handle on the dash. So, if the park brake is engaged the brake pedal is still depressed enough to close the safety switch. Not sure they thought that through.

 

[Hay Dude]

If it happens on cold days, try lightly tapping your started solenoid with a small hammer of a larger wrench. Your solenoid is probably sticky

 

[dodge man]

Load test the battery. It’s new so probably not the battery but I’ve learned to not assume new parts are good. My guess would be Haydude has identified the problem.

 

[elsievo]

On Saturday I got underneath and squirted some WD40 on the brake "safety" switch. I cleaned what I could access on the plunger and the switch itself and worked the pedal vigorously. I also put a small squirt into the ignition switch as well. Sunday morning it was 12°F and the tractor started. This morning it was 0°F and it started again. I thinking something wasn't working right on that safety switch. Hopefully the cleaning will get me through the winter. I like the little Yanmar engine in this thing, if it turns over it starts in about 1/2 a second.

 

[elsievo]

I guess Saturday and Sunday were flukes. Another question. There is a "safety unit" part #11106642001 mounted just in front of the radiator. Of course can't find anything that would tell me what that part does. Will be warmer on Friday and Saturday so I'll clean up all the electrical connections I can access, check the continuity on the ignition etc.

 

[404nouser]

Sounds like either a starter solenoid or the switch on the pedal.
You can temporarily bypass the pedal switch to rule it out.

 

[elsievo]

Ignition checked out fine. Temps warmed up a bit and it started like it should. When I'm able to get it in the garage I'll just disconnect clean and reconnect the electrical connections, check grounds, etc. Had my glow plug timer failing to turn off yesterday, even after I turned off the ignition. Had to pull the fuse to turn it off. It's looking like I have a number of electrical issues to iron out. Thanks for the advice and things to test and look at.

 

[Gasifier]

How has your tractor been starting lately? Any new information? Does it appear to be colder temperatures related?

 

[elsievo]

It's been working fine now that it is warm. (It seems less than 20°F is when the problem occurs.) The timer on the glow plugs now takes 13 seconds when it used to be 9-10. Not sure why. It is a 2014 model so I don't think there are any fancy sensors that causes it to alter the time due to ambient temperatures. The starting issue seems cold related as there are no problems at all lately. I did find out that my block heater gets things warm enough that glow plugs are not necessary to start if I give it an hour to warm up the engine.

 

[elsievo]

Okay, season two with this problem. Symptoms: Preheat, works as it should. Turn key to start, nothing (no click).
Cold temps last couple of days, below 10°F. Tractor wouldn't start, no click. Methinks a safety switch somewhere.
Heated up the brake safety switch. Nothing. Seat Switch, Nothing
Heated the three relay looking black boxes in front of the radiator. Started.
According to the service manual the top one is the starter relay. I'm thinking that is where my problem lies. So we'll get some numbers after work and find a replacement and see if that fixes it. Looking at nothing above 10°F for the next 10 days in the forecast. You Canadians can keep your arctic air!

 

[RjCorazza]

Sounds like you are on the right track with the relays, but there may also be a safety switch on the hst pedal that could prevent starting. I briefly read through the thread and didn't see it mentioned.
Best of luck to you!

 

[Quaffer]

If it happens on cold days, try lightly tapping your started solenoid with a small hammer of a larger wrench. Your solenoid is probably sticky

Good advice, had this ****** to myself before.