Garden Tractor Issue - Help !
 

Having an issues with my garden tractor, won't start !
Just about to put tractor away for the season, but need to use one more time to catch up the last leaves on the ground.

I believe issue is relater to the starter motor. FYI, is fully charged on battery charger and have tested with a volt meter, all good.
When I attempt to start, all I get is a clunking sound, and have traced back to the started motor. Starter motor is almost impossible to reach, buried in the frame and would have to remove several other parts to access.

Question....... Can I jump the engine bypassing the starter, by connecting a jumper cable to the positive side of battery and the Solenoid, at the engine side ?

Your battery is no good.

The voltage you are reading just shows a surface charge.

The battery does not have enough cranking amps to engage the starter.

Assuming it is a 12v system, jump the battery with your car.

In the spring get a new battery at WalMart. Bring the old one to avoid a core charge.

When you get the new battery get on with the most CCA available that will fit in your tractor. I replaced my battery last month with one from Lowe's. Magna something. It cranks so fast there is no starting sound, just the engine running.

Every home owner tool box needs at the minimum a battery load tester.

I have a CA/CCA tester as shown in the attached video.

http://youtu.be/FUgWNpz34-g

Oh, how I agree with this. I have a Deere LA135 that I bought in 2010, still had the original battery. A couple weeks ago, battery was dead. Went to the JD dealer to see what they had for a battery. My original was a 120 (maybe 150?) CCA. Replaced it with a 300CCA battery, and holy cow, it starts it up so much faster/easier. The best part was the price, $55.

And FWIW, I agree with the other posters that your battery is likely nearing its end of life.

The engine side of the solenoid should connect directly to the starter motor so I am not sure how you would be bypassing it. I am confused by the question but maybe I can learn something. If you bypass the starter to start the engine what will turn the engine over to start it?

About the initial question: To determine the problem I would want to hear the "clunking sound" and determine if it is from the starter itself or the solenoid.

Yes.

I think what he was trying to explain was that he wanted to go "around/bypass" the solenoid.

On a lot of these tractors the solenoid is mounted on the frame.

Original Question....... Can I jump the engine bypassing the starter?

You could never bypass the starter. That makes no sense if your trying to use electricity to get it going.

See if your tractor has a hand crank on the front or use the rope pull cord similar to an outboard motor. :)

Often to by pass the solenoid a lot of mechanics just use 2 heavy duty screwdrivers to short out the terminals depending on the shape of the solenoid.

If you have one of those black plastic "can" solenoids..with the two smaller activator posts in the front.. (Used to call these "Ford" solenoids) Give that a good rap with your screwdriver handle..Then jump the tractor with your car..That clunk may just be the starter bendix screwing up because of your voltage drop..

Having a number of antique tractors, I find cleaning the ground cable that is attached to the frame can fix a slow starter motor.

Here we go again....
 

Tractor was running fine last Fall, put it away with Stabil in the gas, and put dryer sheets all over the engine, every place I could tuck them in.....

This Spring I went to start and had power, but just heard a 'click' sounds. The all went dead ?
Arggggggg ! same issue as before I thought ?

I checked the battery, and it had 12+ volts, checked the ground all OK, followed the positive lead from battery to the starter motor, all good.

So now I’m thinking the vermin ate some wire again, and they did !
I completely removed the engine cowling, and air filter, and found a baseball size nest, with a broken wire. OK I thought, just replace and splice in a new piece of wire and I would be good to go.

Turned the key and no lights on dash, nothing, zip !
I then checked the 15 amp fuse, in the electrical system, and replaced it. Turned ignition key again, no power. Now totally perplexed thought maybe it is still a ground issue ? On that thought, I connected a jumper cable from tractor battery ground, the other end to the base of the starter motor, but still now power to dash.

I’m at my wits end, only thing I have checked yet, is the actual ignition switch.
Someone mentioned to me, a ‘diode’ in the electrical system tied to ignition switch,
and if that went bad, no way you could start engine.

Is there ‘any’ way I can start the engine, without using the key/ignition switch ?

And yes, I already tried jumping the battery off my car !

Thoughts ?

Ensure your safety switches are functioning correctly.

And just because voltage is good doesn't mean the battery is good. Load test is the answer.