Wife walked off. Any elec gurus today?

[Belchos]

I have been taking diesel mechanics at local JC to learn how to do repairs on diesels. OK, it's time to put this stuff to practical use. I spend a day putting on new water pump, new fan, etc., and got ready to start up my old M4000 for the first time in a year. I got my wife down there for the grand finale to show her that all the money I am spending on this is starting to pay off. I jumped up on the seat. Turned the key to "on" (or run), heated up the glow plugs. I turned the selector to start. It cranked for five or ten seconds, made a funny noise and quit. I sat there with what must have been a dumb puzzled look on my face while the negative cable at the terminal and something near the starter smoked. I turned the key to off and sat there with the continued dumb look on my face. My wife walked off. What the heck? Any similar experience? Something shake it into a short? Did the starter short out? I still have the dumb puzzled look on my face. Help! Electronics = voodoo.

 

[Willl]

Something shake it into a short?
Did the starter short out?

Any melted wiring ?,
can you get the starter to do anything now ?,
got a volt meter ?

 

[Belchos]

Yes, wires melted at starter solenoid. If I turn the key to ON the lights on the dash light up bright and normal. If i hit the starter it makes a death rattle grinding sound. If I leave the key on ON (or RUN) it will start smoking again. When I first turned the selector to START the starter sounded normal and strong. Then there was a bunch of funny noises, and the fan got jerky, and then it started smoking, then smoking bad, until I turned the key to OFF. I have a multi meter, jumper wire, and light. Not too good on any of them.

 

[RadarTech]

Add to that: what if you disconnect the starter and put a meter there.
Then try to start.. do you get voltage?

Any blown fuses?
take the starter off, secure it.
put power to it. Does it turn over?

J

 

[EddieWalker]

...while the negative cable at the terminal and something near the starter smoked.

Smoke is telling you that you have a hot wire touching ground. Are the wires new? Did the plastic rub off and touch another piece of metal? Since the starter turned for a little bit, I'm guessing it's wired correctly. I'd start with a very thorough inspection of the wires. Then check your connections to see of they are touching anything else.

Once you find it, then it's a matter of finding out what you burned out and replacing it. The solenoid might be fried, and/or there might be an inline breaker that was fried. I did that on my dozer when I rebuilt the engine. Got a wire backwards and fried an $80 breaker.

Then get a volt meter and find out where you have voltage. My guess is it's a 12 volt system, which means you should have around 13 to 14 volts with a full charged, good battery. Anyway, find out where you have power and follow the line to see where you don't. If you have power to the starter itself, but nothing is happening, then the starter is bad. Pull the starter and check it again when off the tractor. You should be able to spin the motor and have the gears pop out when you put 12 volts to the contacts from either a battery charger or jumper cables.

It's just a matter of going down the line that the power travels and eliminating the things that are working properly until you find the one that's not working.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Willl]

Sounds almost like a stuck starter solenoid.

Got a shucks near by ?, pull the starter and have them test it.

 

[MarkLeininger]

My wife walked off.

So what's the problem?

 

[J_J]

One possibility I can think of is,

If your tractor has been sitting for a year, it might be in what is called hydraulic lock, which means that one or more of the cylinders are full of water or fuel. and when the starter tried to turn over the engine, it only turned enough to lock the engine. Your crankcase might be full also. Check the oil level to verify . The starter pinion might be jammed on the ring gear. I would take the starter off, and use jumper cables to check starter.

 

[Tig]

My wife walked off. What the heck? Any similar experience?

Yeah, every now and then I that get that reaction too.

 

[Belchos]

So what's the problem?

Regarding wife walking off. There probably wouldn't be any problem except that, like a fool, I made such a big deal about my conquering of the big diesel repair job, that she got the upper hand. I hate that.
Thanks for the replies. Here's my plan (done very quietly unless I solve the problem): I'm going down there and inspect and clean all the wiring and look for anything unusual. I will check the oil and see if I can bar the engine. I'll see what damage I did when I smoked it. I'll check fuses and breakers that I can find. I'll get out my brand new multi meter and check the voltage on the battery, and then I will disconnect the battery to keep it from smoking again, turn it to ON and see what voltage I get, starting from the key. Next, I will take the starter and solenoid off and check with battery cables. I will then take them to school and check them there OR to the local starter shop (I don't know what a Shucks is). Last, if all else fails, I will do what I used to do - take it to the local Kubota dealer and bend over. It will take me some time down there fooling around like the proverbial poodle and a football, but I will ultimately report to all those who kindly made suggestions. Without the suggestions I was like a deer in the headlights, panicked into complete immobility.