MF 275 won t start

[hellothere123]

Thanks for your help.
Battery and ground ok.
Getting 16volts to solenoid
Push the start button, solenoid click but doesn t turn starter.
Battery now at 14volts.
Recharge battery.
Tried to jump solenoid with screwdriver. Spark but starter won t turn.
I ve had intermittent trouble with the neutral safety switch, but will wiggle the shifters and it usually starts.
Question is if I have a bad neutral safety switch should I still be able to jump the solenoid? Or does the previous attempt mean it s gotta be a bad solenoid?
Also is the neutral safety switch behind the dash? And if so can I jump it to see if that s the problem?
Solenoid is only 2 years old. Just replaced it.
Thanks for your wisdom

 

[da.bees]

Right out of the box I'm not understanding how you got 14 volts at the battery
and 16 volts at solenoid is insane but here's my guess as to why it won't turn
engine over. Starter locked. Stated another way,starter gear/Bendix engaged with
ring gear then didn't disengage when you let off starter. Put tractor in high
gear KEY OFF then rock tractor with rear wheel until you see fan blade move. That
might jar it loose.

 

[hellothere123]

(quoted from post at 23:28:17 06/09/23) Right out of the box I'm not understanding how you got 14 volts at the battery
and 16 volts at solenoid is insane but here's my guess as to why it won't turn
engine over. Starter locked. Stated another way,starter gear/Bendix engaged with
ring gear then didn't disengage when you let off starter. Put tractor in high
gear KEY OFF then rock tractor with rear wheel until you see fan blade move. That
might jar it loose.

I ll try it and let you know. About the voltage. I had 16 volts meaning battery properly charged. I clicked the starter once and rechecked the voltage. The voltage dropped from 16 to 14 volts after one starting attempt. I was just trying to show voltage loss.

 

[hellothere123]

I tried what you said and it didn t work. Most likely didn’t work since I have the bucket down and can’t get the tractor to rock much.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I m guessing the next step is remove solenoid and starter. Then reattach and try to start it again.

This post was edited by hellothere123 on 06/10/2023 at 08:46 am.

 

[MF#1]

You may not need to remove the starter but loosen it enough to move it enough to hear if the bendix releases. May require some shaking of the starter to release given you can't move the rear wheel as da.bees said.
IF the starter releases you should be able to jump the solenoid and it -should- start. When you jump the solenoid you are taking the neutral safety switch out of the picture. BE SURE it's NOT in gear when you do this.
The neutral safety switch is in front of the L-S-H lever with a rubber cover and two wires coming out of it on TOP of the transmission housing. Sometimes the wires aren't seated well in the switch and give you a no-start.
If this is a 275 then it didn't come with a push button switch, it had a key switch. Your push button may be going south just as key switches go bad, something else to check if the solenoid jump works.
Good Luck with it!

 

[hellothere123]

(quoted from post at 19:17:49 06/10/23) You may not need to remove the starter but loosen it enough to move it enough to hear if the bendix releases. May require some shaking of the starter to release given you can't move the rear wheel as da.bees said.
IF the starter releases you should be able to jump the solenoid and it -should- start. When you jump the solenoid you are taking the neutral safety switch out of the picture. BE SURE it's NOT in gear when you do this.
The neutral safety switch is in front of the L-S-H lever with a rubber cover and two wires coming out of it on TOP of the transmission housing. Sometimes the wires aren't seated well in the switch and give you a no-start.
If this is a 275 then it didn't come with a push button switch, it had a key switch. Your push button may be going south just as key switches go bad, something else to check if the solenoid jump works.
Good Luck with it!

I appreciate the info.
I took starter and solenoid off. Solenoid is not working. I ll get a new one and hopefully the starter is ok.
I opened the solenoid to turn it 180 but no matter it s not working.

 

[hellothere123]

I m baaack. And so excited. I replaced a defective solenoid and the tractor has worked for a while. Once again it won t start.

Possibly another bad solenoid but I think I have other problems. I ll describe what I know.

Battery and grounding are testing good. Getting proper voltage to solenoid. I click in the starter button and I also get approx 12.4 volts to small wired pin on solenoid. The tractor won t turn over.

I tried jumping the solenoid on a full charge and still nothing.

Question I have is if the solenoid is ok. Could it be the pull kill switch or could it be the safety where I have to have the tractor in neutral and not hi or low?

I m wondering this because I ve always been able to jump the solenoid. I m wondering if either the safety or the kill switch is defective and that s why I can t jump it?
I m just looking on what I possibly need to go fix. I appreciate your knowledge!

This post was edited by hellothere123 on 07/11/2023 at 08:19 pm.

 

[hellothere123]

If it is another bad solenoid, which I think is most likely, what could cause me to burn these solenoids out so fast? Last time I used it, started it with no problem. I used it for about 3 hours, turned off tractor and parked it. Decided to move tractor 10 minutes later and it won t start.
I like a good mystery but this is annoying

 

[hellothere123]

Solved. Took starter out and tested. Bendix protrudes but doesn t spin.
Most likely a flat spot on armature or brushes.

Tips for the next guy. I should have tested the starter more when I had it out. I would only hook it to power once or twice and think it was good. A little patience and repetitive tests would ve saved me a lot of headaches