Cub 154 Not Starting

[Bookman]

I went to start my 1969 Cub 154 today and nothing. Turned the key and complete silence. I have not started it for more than a year, but I keep a battery tender on it. Battery seems to be up. I cleaned the terminals and checked the negative ground, which as far as I got. Tomorrow I will check the wiring and connections for breaks etc. Is there anything that can go bad just by setting that would cause this (besides the battery and connections being corrodes)? Thanks in advance.

 

[K-Mo]

Pretty much straight forward point to point troubleshooting.
One common problem I have found on both these Cubs and older Cub Cadets is a bad connection at the Battery terminal of the ignition switch.
The connection carries a fair amount of current and heats up. As it heats up the connection breaks down and heats more. This causes the connector to loose it's tension and also begins to burn off the non corrosive finish. The connector shell may show some melting from the heat.

 

[Bookman]

Thanks. Back to troubleshooting this morning. I did clean the battery cable connections to the battery and took the back sheet metal off so clean the ground wire to the sheet metal. I will try next is running a jumper cable from the negative ground on the battery to a better ground. Maybe it is as simple as a bad ground. From there, I will check the wiring to the starter switch. Thanks much.

 

[Bookman]

Well, I tried jump starting the Cub 154 with my battery charger. Nothing...and the battery does appear charged up I put ground wire from the negative anode of the battery to three different places on the tractor where I thought there would be better grounds....nothing. Also, the lights do not work either. So appears nothing is getting electricity. The fuse looks good. So much for the easy stuff. Next step is taking some sheet metal off and testing the wiring to and from the switch. Welcome further ideas.

 

[K-Mo]

Before stripping off sheet metal, use a wiring diagram to see where you may find power such as lights, ignition or PTO switch.

Go here to get a wiring diagram--
IH 154 Manuals

 

[Bookman]

Well, I ran a jumper cable from the positive battery post to the A post on the starter/generator. The engine turned over fine. I thought maybe the ignition switch was bad. So I took it out...what a bear to get out. I rewired it and tried to start the tractor. I heard a faint click from under the dash. I assume the solenoid is stuck and bad. Any one have any good ideas on how to get a solenoid out from under a Cub 154 dash. Years ago I tried to take off the steering wheel. It is really stuck. Maybe I am going to have to cut it off and replace it but I hope not. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bookman]

I finally got it started. I got the steering wheel off and replaced the solenoid. Then the tractor would turn over but not start. I replaced some wiring and checked connections (again). It still would turn over and not start. I cleaned the points, but still nothing. So I replaced the points. With the old points out I could see they were very pitted. The new points did the trick. I got the tractor started last night. Only took about two weeks of messing around with it.