JD 400 starting issues

[Dave1234]

I have a Late 60’s John Deere 400 loader that is having some starting issues. This engine has always turned over slowly at start up.
Recently it got to be serious , in that it would not start. I have had the starter rebuilt, along with a new battery. Still the engine turns over Slowly at start up.
However once it start, it runs quite well, and if I turn it off , and restart it , it cranks over just fine.
I’m wondering if this could be an issue with the injection system?
Is it possible for the injector to leak when sitting, and filling up the compressor chamber??

 

[abuelo]

Battery connections all bright and tight ?

 

[Jim.ME]

Welcome to the forums.

I think if you had a cylinder (combustion chamber) filling with fuel from an injector it might start to try and stop dead. Fuel won't compress like air to go over TDC. Is it blowing a lot of fuel out the exhaust? Is it smoking a lot when running? To more details you can give the easier to help you.

Where are you located and how cold is it?

If it has 3-point make sure the arms are set lowered when starting so they are not trying to lift while cranking.

Make sure all other hydraulic valves are in neutral.

Rock the steering wheel back and forth rapidly while cranking and report back if that helps.

Where is the grounded end of the battery negative cable attached? If it is in the battery box those are often known to give trouble over time due to rust and corrosion between the sheet metal and its mount points, even if the cable connection to the box is clean and bright. You need a ground cable going to the chassis, ideally one of the starter mount bolts. For cables on that machine, I would use at least 1/0 cables, not the common 4 gauge found many places.

 

[rrlund]

Just throwing things out there. My 1020 had a sleeve that cavitated and seeped coolant in to a cylinder after it sat a while.

 

[Tx Jim]

Has battery ground cable attachment to tractor been relocated from rusty battery box to attaching to engine block? Does this tractor have a frt hyd pump destroking valve?

 

[Dieseltech]

Not injection system if it runs fine after starting. Make sure the battery cables are in good shape, any bubbles on the cables might mean the green corrosion cancer inside too.